If we are going to meet the UK’s climate and nature targets, we must put the voices of young people at the heart of the conversation. They are the ones who will be impacted the most by the climate and biodiversity crises but can often feel powerless in making change.
To combat this at East Norfolk College, students are given the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in our ‘Climate Action Plan’ and ‘Wilding’ projects, as part of the Green Schools Revolution (GSR) programme.
Through the department for education’s 2022 climate change and sustainability strategy, all education settings were advised to have a climate action plan (CAP) in place from 2025. Working with GSR, students at East Norfolk College have been put at the heart of this process.
Students have taken what they have learned through CAP and applied it to other areas. For example, the college’s debating club considered a proposition that international organisations need more power to address climate change, and our student forum often considers innovative ideas in support of climate change, such as increasing use of public transport.
This work is a perfect example of youth-led initiatives having real-world impact, with a letter to local council leaders resulting in new cycling and road improvements scheduled for parts of Great Yarmouth next year.
Bringing together experiences from environmental science, law, politics, economics and business lessons, students are using their knowledge to debate important real-world issues.
As they head into the world of work, they are armed with skills in leadership, creativity, idea pitching, collaboration and innovation alongside the experience of positively benefiting their local community.
Their enthusiasm and passion has shifted the college’s attitude to tackling our emissions too. While we are supporting students in their green missions, we have to walk the walk in our own impact and emissions.
So we are embracing as much solar power as we can afford and bringing students and teachers together to understand how we can accelerate the move towards being more carbon-neutral.
Notably, biodiversity loss can often be overlooked among the noise of the climate crisis, but this is a dual challenge we face and they need to be dealt with together. Through the Wildling programme, we are seeking to rewild 30 per cent of our grounds by 2030, in line with the government’s own 30×30 targets.
This having a direct positive impact on our natural environment and on wellbeing
Students can get first-hand experience in helping nature to recover through working on our allotment and greenhouse and leading conversations on food production and new farming methods.
Social media can often create climate anxiety. However, together as a community we can use opportunities working on projects to highlight viable environmental careers and what we can do as individuals to make a difference for future generations.
It is not just students that benefit from this work but teachers too. Youth-led initiatives encourage great enthusiasm and participation as the satisfaction they give makes students feel rewarded.
For teachers who are passionate about tackling the climate and nature crises, such programmes offer an avenue to take action that is not readily available through the current curriculum.
It is also exciting for students and teachers to come together to try new things and experiences, whether that’s new fruit or vegetables grown in our allotment or using natural dyes from plants we have grown in art projects.
Not only is this having a direct positive impact on the natural environment surrounding the college but also on students’ wellbeing. Being around nature can have a positive impact on mental health, reducing stress and anxiety, while promoting a sense of purpose, belonging and connection to the environment.
Inspiring young people to get involved with the CAP and Wilding programmes has directly led to benefits for students in the college, but also for our wider community.
As the government’s curriculum and assessment review is underway, youth-led initiatives must be seen as an invaluable tool for having a real-world impact for young people, teachers and most importantly the planet.
Environmental sustainability should be on the national curriculum and intertwined with critical thinking, throughout all educational programmes.
The 30 by 2030 is a excellent example.
The concept was originally a global initiative to conserve and protect at least 30% of the earth’s land and sea areas by 2030.
This was soon jumped upon by governments who set national initiatives using the 30 by 30 tagline (as it’s quite catchy).
Many many organisations exist primarily to make money. So through their eyes, 30% by 2030 actually represents a ceiling, prompting a wild rush to fully exploit the 70% as they now have permission…
You can see this in discourse over house building targets. Those in favour of building on the green belt will say only 10% of the UK is built on and therefore it’s underdeveloped. Those not in favour will say when you concrete over green belt, it doesn’t get replaced.
What governments and business tend not to do is say how much percent should be for food production (this is not part of the protected 30%) or public amenity (this is not part of the 30%).
What they also tend not to say is what the 30% should be made up of. For example, a 100 hectares of mature deciduous woodland habitat will have greater species diversity than a 100 hectares in a mountainous area (although it is equally important to protect both). But, the woodland habitat is more likely to be considered as habitable space and ripe for development. So you could end up with 30% protected, but in the process destroy the areas with the highest biodiversity density.
30 by 30 was never about giving up on the other 70%.