Overview
The sustainability and climate change strategy for education 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. Wherever you are on your sustainability journey, this non-statutory guidance and the support now available can help you get started or take the next step. Support is available to nurseries, schools and colleges and is provided by DfE through
There are many organisations providing courses, products, and services to support an education settings approach to climate change. There are also many examples of excellent practice when it comes to sustainability and climate change in the education sector, and your individual setting or trust may already have a plan in place. Where this is the case we are not suggesting that you create a new plan. 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 you have clear leadership for sustainability in place, and a climate action plan, will help your setting to
Developing and storing your climate action plans
A climate action plan is a detailed plan to enable your education setting, or trust, to progress or commence sustainability initiatives. Creating a climate action plan will allow you to take a structured and strategic route toward ensuring your setting or trust is acting toward, and educating about, sustainability. You may choose to have a climate action plan that sits within an individual setting, across a trust, or both. A holistic climate action plan should cover the following 4 areas
There is no expectation for storing a climate action plan in a specific way. However, we know many settings are proud of the action they are taking and publish their climate action plan or strategy on their website.
Having your climate action plan visible is helpful in engaging parents, the local community and external stakeholders on the journey towards sustainability. Identifying your sustainability leadership structure
Sustainability leadership can be a group of people or an individual responsible for the development and implementation of a climate action plan. Though it is up to each individual setting or trust to decide the structure of their sustainability leadership team, best practice shows that change is delivered when driven by a diverse team of passionate individuals. It is important that both educational for example, teaching staff and operational for example, estates management expertise is brought to this team. The presence of senior leaders from your organisation is critical for planning and implementation to be successful. They have the authority, capacity, and support to influence and lead strategic change within the setting. You may choose to take an individual setting approach to building sustainability leadership, set it up across a multi-academy trust if your setting is a member of one, or both. A whole-setting approach
It is important that the whole education setting, or trust, is engaged so that planning becomes action. Learners
Involving children, young people and learners is important in climate action planning. Doing so can
Senior leadership team SLT, governors, trustees and executive leaders
As senior decision makers, SLT and governors should support and drive your sustainable activity. They should
Estates management
The sustainability of your estate section of the good estate management for schools guidance explains the role of estates management in encouraging sustainability and managing energy and water use. For settings in further and higher education, a sector specific methodology for calculating carbon emissions, based on the greenhouse gas protocol, has been published by EAUC the Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges.
This follows collaboration with participants of the Platinum Jubilee Challenge, the Royal Anniversary Trust, the Association of Colleges, Colleges Scotland and Universities UK. The standardised carbon emissions framework for further and higher education aims to
Resources
Be inspired by others. The following resources, organised by sector, demonstrate how some education settings have started their journeys. They highlight some of the tools already available. This is just a small selection of examples. Many more settings are also making excellent progress. All settings
Early years settings
Schools
Multi-academy trusts
Further education settings
Higher education settings
Share your sustainability journey
We are collecting case studies for use in communications and guidance as we further develop our support. If you would like to share your experience with others, please send a live website link to your sustainability strategy or send a written submission to DfEs Sustainability and Climate Change Unit dfe.sustainabilityeducation.gov.uk