SAVE THE WORLD THIS SUMMER @ London Zoo

A real conservation technology project you can share
Evidence towards a Silver CREST Award
Hands-on experience with AI, sensors, data and design
Expert feedback from conservation & technology mentors
New friends who care about wildlife, tech and the planet
More confidence presenting your ideas to an audience
A sense of purpose, capability and agency

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Your mission is to investigate a real conservation challenge and design a technology-powered solution that could help wildlife in the real world.

You’ll start by exploring how conservation teams use evidence to understand what is happening in nature: where animals move, how habitats connect, what threats they face, and where people can make better decisions.

Then your team will choose one of four challenges (scroll down to learn more), follow the evidence, explore possible solutions and build a prototype using tools such as AI, sensors, drones, data, mapping or digital design.

This is active, hands-on problem-solving. You’ll think like a conservationist, experiment like a technologist, build like an innovator and present like someone with an idea worth sharing.

Meet the team, explore London Zoo and discover the conservation challenges you could help tackle. You’ll go behind the scenes, hear from experts, begin gathering ideas and choose the mission your team wants to take on. By the end of the day, you’ll have a challenge area, a team, your first project questions and a clearer sense of how technology can help protect wildlife.

Learn how conservation problems really work through games, simulations, research and expert insight. You’ll explore the systems behind your challenge, understand what is at stake, and decide where your team could make the biggest difference. You’ll finish the day with a clearer project question, a chosen direction and a plan for what your team will build.

This is where your idea starts becoming real. You’ll take part in specialist technology workshops, explore tools such as AI, sensors, drones, data and digital prototyping, then begin building your first version.You’ll test rough ideas, get feedback from mentors, solve problems as a team and start turning your concept into something you can show.

Now your team sharpens the project. You’ll test your prototype, collect feedback, improve your solution and prepare the story behind your work. You’ll think about what your idea proves, what could be improved, and how to explain the impact clearly at the final showcase.

Return to London Zoo to complete your project, rehearse your presentation and share your solution with mentors, invited guests and families. You’ll present what you built, explain the challenge you tackled, show the evidence you followed and celebrate what your team created during the week.

"Every great project starts with a problem worth caring about." - Elena Branet, CEO Digital Camp

You will be matched with other students that matches your interests, whether you are drawn to wildlife, habitats, public engagement, data, design or technology.

You do not need to arrive with the perfect idea. You will explore the challenge, ask questions and learn from technology and conservation experts, and decide how your team could make an impact.

To guide your project, the challenges are grouped around four areas where conservation technology can make a real difference: understanding wildlife, protecting habitats, improving human-wildlife coexistence, and inspiring people to take action.

Challenge 1: Wildlife Tracking

How can technology help us understand where animals move, feed and live?

You might explore sensors, camera traps, acoustic data, mapping or AI tools that help conservationists detect patterns humans would miss.

Challenge 2: Coexistence

How can people and wildlife share the same spaces more intelligently?

You might design a tool that helps monitor local wildlife activity, reduce disturbance, or support better decisions in urban spaces.

Challenge 3: Habitat Health

How can sensors and data help us understand changes in habitats?

You might design a dashboard, monitoring system or data-led prototype that helps track environmental signals and explain what they mean.

Challenge 4: Citizen Science

How can apps, games and storytelling help the public contribute to conservation?

You might build a digital tool that helps people report sightings, classify data, learn about species or take useful action in their local area.

Challenge 1: Wildlife Tracking

How can technology help us understand where animals move, feed and live?

You might explore sensors, camera traps, acoustic data, mapping or AI tools that help conservationists detect patterns.

Challenge 2: Coexistence

How can people and wildlife share the same spaces more intelligently?

You might design a tool that helps monitor local wildlife activity, reduce disturbance, or support better decisions in urban spaces.

Challenge 3: Habitat Health

How can sensors and data help us understand changes in habitats?

You might design a dashboard, monitoring system or data-led prototype that helps track and understand environmental signals.

Challenge 4: Citizen Science

How can apps, games and storytelling help the public contribute to conservation?

You might build a digital tool that helps people report sightings, classify data, learn about species or take useful action in their local area.

The best way to understand powerful technology is not to watch someone talk about it. It is to get your hands on it, play with it, break it down, test ideas and see what you can build.

During the programme, you’ll explore how modern tools can turn curiosity into action. You’ll experiment, prototype, make decisions, solve problems with your team and discover how technology becomes most exciting when it is used to create something useful. Click on the tabs below to learn more about each of the technologies you'll be getting hands-on with.

You’ll learn how to use AI as a research, thinking and prototyping tool: how to ask better questions, organise information, explore patterns, generate ideas, test assumptions and turn messy research into clearer project decisions.

You’ll use it to support your team’s project, not replace your thinking. That means checking sources, improving prompts, comparing options and using AI to help explain your solution more clearly.

Your team might use this to create a conservation assistant, analyse survey results, organise species research, classify example data, generate project visuals or build a simple tool that helps people understand a wildlife issue.

You’ll learn how sensors help collect information from the real world: sound, movement, temperature, location, light, water quality or other environmental signals.

You’ll explore how a sensor system is designed: what you are trying to measure, where the sensor should go, what data matters, what could go wrong and how that data could support better decisions.

Your team might use this to design a wildlife monitoring system, a habitat health tracker, a smart alert for changing conditions, a bat activity concept, or a simple dashboard that turns environmental signals into useful insight.

You’ll learn how aerial views and mapping tools can help people understand places that are hard to monitor from the ground.

You’ll explore how to plan a survey, think about routes and viewpoints, consider safety and ethics, and use maps to explain what is happening across a habitat or conservation area.

Your team might use this to design a habitat mapping project, a coastline or waterway monitoring concept, a wildlife movement map, a survey plan for hard-to-reach areas or a visual tool that helps explain where action is needed.

You’ll learn how digital tools can help the public take part in conservation: reporting sightings, identifying species, classifying images, learning about local wildlife or completing small actions that support research.

You’ll explore what makes an app useful: who it is for, what problem it solves, what users need to do, how data is collected, and how the information could help conservation teams.

Your team might use this to design a citizen science app, a wildlife reporting tool, a local species guide, an education game, a public challenge, or a platform that helps communities contribute useful data.

You’ll learn how to turn an idea into something people can understand, test and improve by learning and practicing the 4-step design thinking process.

You’ll create sketches, diagrams, mock-ups, app screens, dashboards, physical models or simple working demos that show how your solution could work in the real world.

Your team might build a clickable app prototype, a data dashboard, a sensor system concept, a model of your solution, a visual demo of your technology or a presentation-ready prototype that clearly shows the problem, solution and impact.

Are aged 14-18
Care about wildlife, technology, climate, science, design or problem-solving
Want to build something real, not just sit and listen
Enjoy working with other motivated students
Are curious about how technology can help the planet
Want to build confidence presenting your ideas
Would like a stronger project story for school, university or future applications
Want to meet experts and learn how real-world projects are built

A full week of structured, hands-on learning designed to take students from first inspiration to final showcase. Each day combines expert input, team challenges, project work, reflection and practical evidence-building.

Students will be supported by mentors across conservation, technology, education and innovation, helping them understand the challenge, make decisions, develop their idea and prepare their final presentation.

Students will work in small teams to investigate a real challenge, choose a direction, divide responsibilities, build their solution and support each other through the full project journey.

The programme is designed to help students gather evidence that can support a nationally recognised Silver CREST Award, including templated research notes, project planning, design decisions, testing, reflections and final presentation materials.

Throughout the week, students will learn how to explain their ideas clearly and tell the story behind their project before presenting their project at a final showcase. giving them the chance to practise public speaking, receive feedback and celebrate what they have built with their team.

Students will spend key parts of the programme at London Zoo, exploring conservation challenges in a real-world setting, with additional project-building sessions hosted at partner venues in London.

Hands-on sessions will introduce students to the tools shaping modern conservation, from AI and data to sensors, drones, mapping, apps and digital prototyping, with each workshop connected back to their team project.

Students will turn their ideas into something tangible, such as an app concept, dashboard, monitoring system, physical model, AI-supported tool, citizen science platform or presentation-ready demo.

Lunch will be provided during programme days where included by the venue, helping students stay focused, energised and ready for the day’s activities.

By the end of the week, students will have a collection of project evidence they can continue developing, use for future job and further study applications, and proudly share with parents, teachers or mentors.

At Digital Camp, students do not just learn theory. They build, test, pitch and present real ideas.

Students as young as 14 have worked with expert mentors on ambitious projects, including autonomous lake-cleaning robots, citizen science education apps and clean-energy concepts.

One Digital Camp student team developed a kinetic tile project that generated clean energy from footsteps, worked with mentors from Vodafone and Microsoft, pitched to industry professionals and went on to win £60,000 in funding.

Other students have used their project work to support university applications, interviews and career opportunities with leading organisations.

This is what happens when young people are trusted with real problems and given the right support. Hear more from some of our amazing past students below!

The programme is designed for students aged 14-18 with a strong desire to have a positive impact in the world. No prior technology or conservation experience is required and workshops will all start at a beginner level, scaling to push those students coming in with greater experience.

The programme will take place at London Zoo and nearby partner venues in London. For safeguarding purposes further location details will be made available after ticket purchase.

The programme will run from 13–17 July. For some students who are still in term time over these dates, Digital Camp can support in securing approved school release through communications with school leaders due to the educational and work experience focus of the programme.

Students will work in teams to build a prototype solution to a real conservation technology challenge. This could be a demo, app concept, dashboard, monitoring system, design prototype, AI-supported tool, citizen science concept or another practical response.

Silver CREST is a nationally recognised award for STEM project work. Throughout the week, students will gather evidence that can support an application for the award. This programme has been designed to enable students to collect all required evidence through the worksheets and workshops included in the program.

Students will gather evidence that can support a Silver CREST Award application, but final approval is subject to the CREST assessment process.

Parents will be invited to attend the final showcase, where students present their projects and celebrate what they have built. This will take place on the afternoon of Friday 17th July at London Zoo.

Yes. A limited number of fully funded scholarship places will be available based on student motivation, financial needs, recommendations and interview. Click here to go to the application form

After booking, families will receive confirmaiton of your student ticket/s, with the full programme information pack, including timings, venue details, preparation guidance and next steps sent in the coming weeks.

We can provide an information pack and direct support explaining the educational nature of the programme, including the project work, conservation technology focus and Silver CREST evidence component, to support families when speaking with schools.

About Digital Camp

Digital Camp is an award-winning social enterprise that empowers youth to build skills and projects with impact for the AI economy. Our programmes and platform connects youth and professionals from around the world to accelerate skills and project development.

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