Website – UKSSN Operations Group

“Climate change isn’t going to make any of our lives better, easier or cheaper. But we can invest now to give us all the biggest chance of a pleasant future. If we look after the wildlife and the natural world, it will help look after us.” (Nigel Doar, The Wildlife Trusts’ Head of Science and Research).

On 11 November, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) published a State of the Climate 2024 Update. The WMO State of the Climate 2024 Update once again issued a ‘Red Alert’ at the sheer pace of climate change in a single generation, turbo-charged by ever-increasing greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere. 2015-2024 will be the warmest ten years on record; the loss of ice from glaciers, sea-level rise and ocean heating are accelerating; and extreme weather is wreaking havoc on communities and economies across the world.

Great explainer video here – https://youtu.be/WL2W5uMI0jg?si=tDWLUFstIpZGa_OM

🌍 COP29 – the Pavillion for People 🌍

COP29 is in full swing in Baku, Azerbaijan. McKinsey has produced several very useful resources about COP…if you aren’t sure what it is all about have a read – What is COP (Conference of the Parties)? | McKinsey.

If, like me, you aren’t jumping on a plane to go to Baku but would really like an opportunity to get involved perhaps have a look at The Pavilion for People. The Pavilion for People experiment was launched alongside COP28 with £0 funding. 100% volunteer run, The Pavilion enabled the voices of 2,000 people from 40 countries to be heard. I have only just started to explore but it looks like a really innovative resource.

🎓 UKSSN Ops – Sustainable Procurement🎓
Significant progress has been made in the nine years since the landmark Paris Agreement, but the transition to a sustainable future is entering a new phase, marked by rising costs, complexity, and increased challenges. The purpose of the UKSSN Ops Group is to help us all navigate these challenges. The next meeting of the Ops Group is on Thursday 21st November at 16.00 where we will be discussing sustainable procurement. Nine in ten sustainability professionals say their employer will increase spending on environmental projects and initiatives in the coming year, following a contraction post-pandemic. We will be talking about –

  • What is Sustainable Procurement?
  • What are the challenges and opportunities to look out for.
  • Practical steps all schools can take to reduce the harm caused by the goods and services we buy and use to run our schools.

The link to join the meeting is on our website – UKSSN Operations Group.

🤔 Recruitment: Climate Leadership 🤔
Keir Starmer was praised this week for being ‘a shining example of climate leadership’ for confirming a new pledge for the UK to cut emissions by 81% by 2035. How much thought is going into appointing climate leaders in the education sector, bearing in mind we all must have at least one by September 2025.

  • From ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE 2024)
    ‘Schools and colleges should think about including the following information when defining the role (through the job or role description and person specification): the skills, abilities, experience, attitude, and behaviours required for the post

Q. Does your sustainability lead role come with a clearly written job description?
Q. What knowledge and skills are expected in the role?
Q. Behavioural competencies?
Q. Training, mentoring, coaching?
Q. Line management – does their line manager have an understanding of what ‘good’ looks like?

Many examples exist where the role has been given to the person who is most passionate about the environment, or perhaps has a background in science or geography. They might be the right person, but do they have the right level of training, mentoring and support to succeed?

Template job descriptions are available. The Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership (CISL) has published a research paper setting out critical behavioural competencies of effective Sustainability Leaders – https://www.cisl.cam.ac.uk/system/files/documents/a-behavioural-competency-model-for-sustainability.pdf.

Other helpful resources include:
International Society for Development and Sustainability – Sustainability leadership, UNESCO competencies for SDGs, and diverse leadership models
UNESCO key sustainability competencies – UNESCO cross-cutting and specialized SDG competencies | UN SDG:Learn

🦋 Biodiversity: Ovo Foundation Nature Prize 🦋
Our competitions – Lets Go Zero

Don’t miss out – there is under two weeks until applications close for the OVO Foundation Nature Prize. OVO Foundation and Let’s Go Zero have teamed up to boost children and young people’s access to biodiversity with 25 cash prizes of £1,000 or £250.

For a chance to win share how your school would bring students closer to nature. Bonus points if your project is in one of our target carbon reduction areas: Nature, Food, Adaptation and Resilience, Water, Culture, and Waste.

What to do in your Nature Park this autumn | Education Nature Park

Top five things to do in your Nature Park during the autumn season. From mapping your habitats to creating a vision statement, you can get planning and start your Nature Park journey through their curriculum-linked activities. Plus a webinar (4th December at 16.15) to hear from other schools already participating in the Education Nature Park initiative.

⚡ Energy: West Mercia Education (WME) Framework⚡
http://tiny.cc/7p3tzz
WME has published a new Education Decarbonisation Framework, approved by the Department for Education (DfE) and listed on the Buying for Schools “Find a Framework” website. This framework has been developed in partnership with Barker Associates and offers a compliant route to market for any education establishment in the UK to access sector-specific decarbonisation experts.

⚡ Energy: Layer Up, Power Down – Friday 15th November⚡
Layer Up, Power Down

Today is the annual Energy Sparks ‘Layer Up Power Down’ day. Last year, on average participating schools saved around 35% on their gas consumption. Layer Up Power Down Day aims to remind staff and students of an important message: heat the person not the planet! Turn heating off or down on the Friday and keep it off all weekend (subject to frost protection settings). Currently almost 10% of school gas use happens at weekends! If you are participating do let us know how you get on.

Whether you are taking part or not, start to think about winter and how best to power-down at night, weekends and over the festive period. Time to start planning.

Did you know….
Washing your clothes in cold water on shorter cycles can cut energy use by 90% per wash. Your washing machine is one of your household’s highest energy-consuming appliances. Washing smarter and more consciously happens to be one of the easiest ways to optimise energy efficiency at home….“if it’s not dirty, wash at 30.”

🎓 CPD: Sustainability Events 🎓
It is great to see an increase in regional and national events to support schools and Trusts transition to a less harmful operating model. We list and promote events on the website, here are just a few:

If you are planning an event let us know and we will share with colleagues in the network.

And finally…..share your story
Over the past 12 months the UKSSN team has been writing regular articles for Education Executive. The latest magazine includes an article from Gemma, all about her work at Wellington School. Have a read – Education Executive November December 2024 by Intelligent Media Solutions – Issuu. Copies of previous issues of the magazine are available on their website.

If you have a story to tell, please get in touch 🙏🏻. Sharing success stories is a great way to encourage colleagues to take the next step in sustainability. And if you are looking for positive news from further afield take a look at this year’s Earthshot award winners – The Earthshot Prize: Urgent Optimism & Action to Repair the Planet.

Have a great weekend,

Paul, Helen, Julie and Gemma

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Personal Data Consent

The information you submit using this form will be approved by staff before publication. If you are aged 13 or under, you will need parent/ guardian permission. For help and more details on how this data is used, please see our privacy policy.