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Young Cultural Changemakers Gosport

Artificial Rockpools Combining Art and Ecology

Students in Gosport co-created a series of ceramic artificial rockpools, teaming up with a local ceramicist and eco engineering company to improve the local marine environment.

  • close up of textured concrete basin-shaped artificial rockpool form, inside the rock pool is an array of abstract ceramic forms in lots of varying shapes and textures in shades of yellow
  • two textured concrete semi circular basin-shaped artificial rockpool forms attached to a concrete panel, inside the rock pools is an array of abstract ceramic forms in lots of varying shapes and textures. in one the ceramics are reds and in the other shades of green.
  • textured concrete semi circular basin-shaped artificial rockpool form attached to a vertical panel, inside the rock pools is an array of abstract ceramic forms in lots of varying shapes and textures in shade of blue and green

In one of our most exciting projects to date, we teamed up with eco engineering company Artecology, to give students at Bridgemary School the opportunity to improve the marine environment around Gosport by co-creating artificial rockpools, known as vertipools, to improve the biodiversity in inter-tidal spaces.

The project employed local ceramicist Karen Townsend of Misty Ceramics to deliver a series of ceramic workshops to year 7 students. In total, 163 year-7s made ceramic forms, which the team at Artecology then attached to the vertipools and HexPools, creating beautiful and complex habitats.

  • secondary age girl in school uniform wearing goggles and protective gloves holds a paintbrush with peach coloured ceramic glaze for a sculpture she has made
  • a group of children gather on a beach in the winter sun, facing a man standing on a wall addressing them
  • Two girls in coats sat on beach, appear to be looking at something
  • close up image of an array of abstract ceramic forms with brightly coloured glaze and lots of varying shapes and textures
  • close up image of an array of abstract ceramic forms with brightly coloured glaze and lots of varying shapes and textures

20 students engaged in a more in-depth exploration of the themes and ceramics techniques. The students were excited by the R&D aspect of the project, which supported the strong STEAM curriculum at their school. They are the first group co-creating with Artecology to introduce colour into the artefacts they have made and have used a variety of different colours and different types of glazes and are keen to see how this affects receptivity to habitation, as part of the citizen science project legacy.

  • 100%

    said they knew more about the marine environment by taking part in the project

  • 75%

    said their behaviour in relation to the environment would change as a result of involvement* 

  • 95%

    said they thought the vertipools would make a difference to Gosport. As one put it: ​“Because it gives small marine life a chance to survive”.

*Where this was not the case, students tended to say they already behave in an environmentally friendly way.

They are keen to see their work sited in the intertidal spaces in Gosport (hopefully early in 2026) and have spoken about taking their friends and family to see the work too. (In our original consultation with Bridgemary students, 10% said they ​‘never’ go to the beach and only 27% go ​‘often’.) Improved connection to the community has been an important outcome of this project. One student told us they thought the project was important ​“Because I can contribute to something in Gosport and change something.” 

In addition to the Bridgemary students, we ran ceramic and story rockpool-themed workshops with 33 year 5s at Bedenham Primary School and 17 at Holbrook Primary School, also giving them the opportunity to create forms for vertipools and make a difference to their local community. At the time these were the youngest people to ever work on an Artecology co-create project and have the big advantage of small fingers to make intricate detail.

This is right at the sharp end of eco engineering. The work the kids have produced will outperform any manufactured solution.

Thank you to our partners on this project including: Bridgemary School, Bedenham Primary School, Holbrook Primary School, Artecology, Karen Townsend/​Misty Ceramics, Gosport Council

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