Leicester has been selected as one of four councils across the country to work in partnership with Brighton and Hove City Council on a transformative whole authority approach to climate change in schools. Pioneering schools will receive bespoke all-staff training, resources to help ‘green’ your curriculum and expert support with creating a climate action plan. Schools will also be meeting DfE sustainability requirements for the end of 2025 and be a key school in a nationally significant and inspiring piece of work.
The Our Schools Our World strategy sets out to respond to recommendations for education from the Committee for Climate Change, the Dasgupta Review, Green Jobs Taskforce report and supports the delivery of the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan and Net Zero Strategy.
Why develop climate change, sustainability and environmental education in Leicester?
The environment sustains all life on earth. It provides us with nourishment, our well-being and our inspiration. Our economy thrives on a healthy environment. A growing body of research tells us that time spent in nature provides physical and psychological benefits. Our personal and cultural identities are often tied to the environment around us. However, it’s impossible not to be deeply concerned about the unprecedented environmental, social, and economic challenges we face as a global society—from climate change and loss of species and habitats, to declines in social engagement, decreasing access to nature, a growing gap between the haves and have nots, and other threats to our health, security, and future survival.
Through our education programme, we aim to support school communities in learning extensively about the environment, in developing skills to investigate their environment, in making intelligent, informed decisions about how they can help take care of it in the face of climate change and in how they can support climate justice.
The vision
‘To use the power of education to advance environmental literacy and social engagement to contribute to a more equitable and sustainable future. We will work with young people, educators, community organisations, the council and relevant partners to promote a just and sustainable city where environmental and social responsibility drive individual, institutional, and community choices.’
The challenge and the opportunity
It is estimated that by 2030, the world population of 7 billion will demand three times as many resources as the planet can supply (One Planet Living® sustainability framework – Bioregional). Meeting the needs of our global citizens—ecologically, economically, culturally, spiritually, and more—requires understanding and creative problem solving. Environmental education (EE) including knowledge of sustainability and the impacts of climate change is a process that helps individuals, communities, and organizations learn more about the environment, and develop skills and understanding about how to address local and global challenges. It has the power to transform lives and society. It informs and inspires. It influences attitudes. It motivates action. EE is a key tool in expanding the environmental movement and creating healthier and more socially-engaged communities.
Through education we have the privilege to be able to engage directly with young people who are passionate about the natural world, want to do their best to protect it and can influence their wider communities. Through their learned and lived experiences within education, we will provide opportunities to develop a broad understanding of the importance of sustainability and the causes and impact of climate change.
It must be recognised that Climate Change is a complex issue that is woven into issues around social equity, economic status, environmental integrity and shared prosperity and there are no simple solutions to ‘solve’ climate change.
Any education on climate change and sustainability must recognise and examine these complexities but it must also be an education founded on hope and it must always be solution focused.
The strategy will focus on learners of all ages and their families. It will focus on the importance of experiential, interdisciplinary education, on helping all learners develop problem solving and decision-making skills, and on understanding how to be an engaged citizen to create a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable society. The strategy lays out a philosophy and a plan for environmental education with an urgent focus on climate change education and sustainable practices to enable our children and young people to work to meet the needs of the present without compromising our ability to meet the needs of the future. We also aim to support schools in systematically moving their organisations towards a Carbon Neutral position by 2030.
We aim for the strategy to be embedded in the Leicester Education and School system over a 2-year time-frame. This work will build on some important and good sustainability and climate change work that has been developed in Brighton & Hove settings and schools but recognises the need to increase and deepen this work.
The strategy also recognised that for environmental education to be impactful, students need a connection with nature and their local environment – this connection is not initially brought about by facts or knowledge, but rather by experiential learning, fostering awe and wonder about their world. A strong correlation has been found between nature connection and pro-environmental, pro-nature, health and wellbeing. We will therefore work with schools in finding significant opportunities within the curriculum which deepen children and young people’s connection with the environment.