Abbotskerswell Climate
Overview
The sustainability and climate change strategy for education https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sustainability-and-climate-change-strategy/sustainability-and-climate-change-astrategy-for-the-education-and-childrens-services-systems states: “By 2025, all education settings will have nominated a sustainability lead and put in place a climate action plan”. This includes early years settings, schools, multi-academy trusts, colleges, and universities.
Why having a sustainability leadership and a climate action plan is important
Our engagement has highlighted that settings and trusts have the greatest success in driving change where there is a holistic action plan that is supported by a leadership team with the authority, knowledge, and commitment to take it forward.
Ensuring we have clear leadership for sustainability in place, and a climate action plan, will help our setting to:
- increase the confidence and expertise of your leadership team, staff, learners, and students in understanding climate change and how positive change can be achieved
- create a culture that prioritises sustainability
- share effective practice with other education settings and develop a peer-to-peer learning network
- use data to identify and prioritise action
- improve energy and water efficiency
- calculate our carbon emissions and identify ways to reduce them
- reduce operating costs
- increase resilience and start adapting to the impacts of climate change
- enhance biodiversity
- help learners develop skills and knowledge which help them to contribute to sustainability and climate change in their lives and future jobs
A whole-setting approach
It is important that our whole school is engaged so that planning becomes action.
What does this mean for our learners?
Involving children, young people and learners is important in climate action planning.
Doing so can:
- inspire their enthusiasm to help drive positive change
- increase their practical knowledge of sustainability and climate change
- give young people a sense of agency where anxiety stems from climate concerns
- create a sense of pride in their education setting
- enable them to share their knowledge and enthusiasm in their local communities
- enable them to engage their parents, carers, and wider community in sustainability and climate change