We’re over halfway through the school year and at Green Schools Project it’s been our busiest yet!

131 schools are taking part in our climate education programme Zero Carbon Schools this year – that’s 9,246 children and young people learning about and taking action on climate change across the country!

Climate education driving carbon footprint reduction

Zero Carbon Schools turns education into action by bringing together a high-quality, comprehensive learning programme with pupil-powered climate action that leads to a tangible and measurable reduction in carbon emissions.

A unique part of the programme is our bespoke carbon calculator for schools. This collects data about energy, travel, food, and purchasing and converts it into an estimate of the school’s carbon footprint. We’ve been crunching the numbers and encouragingly, lots of schools have reduced their footprint. A standout result from this year’s data is from Leyburn Primary School in North Yorkshire, who reduced theirs by an impressive 19% – from 120 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent to 97 tonnes!

Bringing pupil-powered climate action to Bristol

Thanks to funding from Bristol City Leap, Triodos Foundation and the relationships and connections made through our partnership with Future Leap, our presence and programme is growing positively in Bristol. Here are a couple of local highlights, upcoming events and projects in the pipeline:

• We now have six primary schools in and around the city taking part in Zero Carbon Schools for the first time, with 325 pupils directly involved and over 2,263 indirectly.
• We’re working in partnership with Global Goals Centre, Bristol Education Partnership, Black2Nature and others on Earth Day Heroes – a celebration of youth-led action for the climate and SDGs. (If you know a school or youth group keen to come along to the launch event on Thursday 24 April 10am-12pm at Sparks Bristol, please share with them!)
• The University of Bristol and the Cabot Institute for the Environment has invited us to share our perspectives on climate education and its impact on green skills and the future workforce at an event for academics across the university working in sustainability
• We’re welcoming a new member of the Green Schools Project team in Bristol – Loz Hennessy joins us this week as Community Climate Action Manager. She will be supporting our Bristol Zero Carbon Schools to amplify their impact and inspire climate action beyond the school gates!
• Plus, lots more interesting collaborations and partnerships in the making – watch this space…

If you’d like to find out more or discuss ideas for working together please get in touch!

Tom, Cathy, Nell and Loz can be found most weeks at Future Leap Clifton or you can email tom@greenschoolsproject.org.uk.