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Are you an education setting wanting to develop a climate action plan? The information below explains how the Climate Ambassador programme can support you.
We are coordinating support for a range of education settings across London to create and implement climate action plans. We aim to provide this support in a way that both empowers education settings, and is sensitive to the complex demands already placed on staff working in these settings.
- How does the Climate Ambassador programme support my school?
We increase your school’s capacity to create and implement an impactful yet feasible climate action plan (CAP). We do this by providing free training to one of your staff members, and to a Climate Ambassador that will be paired with your school:
- Your designated staff member will be signposted to further resources (including lists of specific actions your school can take). This 1.5 hour training is effectively free CPD for a staff member who is interested in becoming your school’s sustainability lead, or already has this role.
- Your school’s Climate Ambassador will receive 3 hours of training on how to support your staff member, and how to help create your education setting’s CAP using a whole school approach. Ideally, your school’s Climate Ambassador will already be a member of your school community (e.g. a parent or governor).
- The Climate Ambassador will help the staff member to identify potential leverage points, strategies for creating a whole school buy-in, and specific actions that can be taken within the education setting using a six-step process we have developed.
- How can my education setting receive this support?
We can support your school if it is part of the Climate Ambassador programme. You can take part in the programme if you work in an early years setting, primary school, secondary school, further education college or special education setting.
Please follow these steps to join the Climate Ambassador programme:
1. Email us at climate_ambassadors@ucl.ac.uk, making clear your location in London, and if you already have a sustainability lead
We’ll then respond to you, with details about:
2. How to get paired with a Climate Ambassador
3. How to register for one of our upcoming education staff training sessions- Why do education settings need a climate action plan?
The Department for Education’s recent Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy requires all education settings in England to have a climate action plan (CAP) and designated sustainability lead by the end of 2025. This means that by the end of the current school year, all education settings in England should have created a document outlining actions that make their school community more sustainable, and commenced implementation of these actions. Moreover, the requirement to have a sustainability lead means that all education settings in England should have a designated staff member that leads efforts to achieve the aims outlined by the CAP – and that this staff member be given sufficient space in their timetable for this role.
Beyond the DfE requirement, it is important that education settings in London have CAPs because they are a vehicle for creating positive change in school communities. In addition to directly positive impacts on the environment, CAPs can for instance be a tool to improve students’ engagement with nature, make exciting updates to the existing curriculum, or increase school buildings’ energy efficiency and thus cut operational costs.
Further support
If you have any further questions about becoming a Climate Ambassador, please do get in touch via email: climateambassadors_london@ucl.ac.uk.
Alternatively, you can join one our weekly drop-in sessions every Thursday between 16:30 - 17:30 through Eventbrite or using this Zoom link: https://ucl.zoom.us/j/98540048356
