'The sustainable factory': PPG education partner C3 launches digital lesson

PPG has announced the launch of a digital lesson created by partner Centrum JongerenCommunicatie Chemie (C3), a Dutch education nonprofit that introduces children and young people to chemistry and life sciences.

In the lesson, pupils create their own paint factory online, making choices in categories such as raw materials, energy, packaging and transportation that help them to learn about sustainability. The effect of their choices is shown in scores for sustainability, price, quality and the start date of the factory and they can adapt their choices to see the effect.

Rosienne Steensma, Program Lead, chemicals strategy for sustainability, Royal Association of the Dutch Chemical Industry (VNCI); Jeroen Sijbers, Director C3; and Maurice de Wit, PPG Director, production and logistics Benelux, Architectural Coatings, launched the lesson at the Nationale Onderwijstentoonstelling (NOT) education fair in Utrecht, the Netherlands.

"This lesson is a perfect tool to playfully introduce children to the complexities of sustainability. But above all, it shows that there are always choices to be made and you can influence the outcome,” said de Wit. "Together with C3, we want to build the next generation of diverse and innovative leaders in the field of science and technology. With this lesson, C3 again shows to have the knowledge, resources and network to achieve this.”

‘The sustainable factory’ lesson came about thanks to financial and content contributions from PPG, university science faculties, VNCI, and the Dutch Association of Paint and Printing Ink Manufacturers (VVVF).