From Croydon Climate Change Crisis Commission Report 2021

Headline recommendation:

High-profile school campaign

Schools provide a useful locus to tackle the climate crisis. First, schools offer opportunities to deliver effective educational campaigns and instil environment-positive behaviours in both school syllabuses and extra-curricular activities. Environmentalist theory and practice can be taught in schools. Second, as large assets with a significant footprint, schools can lead by example in pursuing emission-reduction measures, like generating renewable energy. The Commission recommends that the Council develops a high-profile campaign to reduce the emissions of all schools by 2025, including providing advice and support for all schools to become eco-schools. This campaign should directly engage children, parents, and school staff, while indirectly impacting wider community stakeholders.vii Eco-schools should be the pinnacle of this campaign. Eco-schools are pupil-led programmes that have had success worldwide. Schools register to be an eco-school and then involve a co-governance process with school staff and pupils working side by side to review the school’s environmental performance, create an action plan, and link the school’s environmental activity to the curriculum. Each eco-school approach is tailored to the school’s context and ambitions and driven by the users, resulting in positive behaviour change and the fostering of linkages with environmental organisations.

Alongside these education-based changes, the Council’s campaign should engage with senior school staff to discuss and help schools to implement operational changes that will reduce emissions. For instance, the Council could advocate for switching to renewable energy providers or installing solar panels on school buildings. The Commission recommends that the Council develops a suite of possible solutions for schools that can be delivered bespoke according to the needs and environment of each school.

Young Peopl's Rescue Mission (1995)