New alliance to support the education sector to think 'big' about sustainability
29 March 2011
The National Children's Bureau (NCB), SEEd and
Think Global are delighted to launch the Sustainable Schools
Alliance (SSA), an exciting new collaboration to make sustainable
development the norm in schools. The Alliance is being launched
today at the London School of Economics with Schools Minister Lord
Hill and with support from the Department of Education and
DEFRA.
The Alliance aims to provide a clear and compelling offer of
support to all schools in the country, which will help them to put
sustainability at the heart of what they do. The evidence for the
benefits of Sustainable Schools is stronger than ever, but with the
new government focusing on greater school freedom, it's up to NGOs,
networks, Local Authorities, schools and civil society
organisations to support schools to pursue sustainability.
SSA brings together organisations from across sectors and
covering all aspects of sustainable development including climate
change, to help schools continue the excellent work already taking
place and to encourage more schools to think 'big' about
sustainability.
Schools Minister Lord Hill said:
'Sustainability issues are an increasingly important part of our
everyday life. That's why I welcome the new Sustainable Schools
Alliance, which will help make these issues an increasingly
important part of school life.
There are already some great schools working to get their local
community involved in doing the simple things like growing their
own vegetables and better energy management. We want to encourage
more of this and I hope this Alliance will be the driving force
behind that.'
Dr Janice Lawson, SSA Chair said: 'Sustainable
Schools prepare children for life, enabling them to think and
respond critically and creatively to the challenges and
opportunities in communities near and far. Evidence shows that
putting sustainability at the heart of teaching and learning helps
schools to meet their priorities, whether that's educational
attainment, nurturing young people's interest in learning,
improving students well-being and behaviour, promoting healthy
lifestyles or saving costs."
-ENDS-
Notes to editors:
- NCB, SEEd and Think Global are leading on developing the
Alliance (in agreement with partners) because they represent and
reach stakeholders across their respective sectors. They can link
agendas around education for sustainable development, development
education and health and well-being, enabling sustainability to be
considered in a much broader context and encouraging a broader base
of supporters.
- NCB's mission is to advance the well-being of all children and
young people across every aspect of their lives. As the leading
national charity which supports children, young people and
families, and those who work with them, across England and Northern
Ireland, we focus on identifying and communicating high impact,
community and family-centred solutions. We work with organisations
from across the voluntary, statutory and private sectors through
our membership scheme and through the sector-led specialist
networks and partnership programmes that operate under our
charitable status NCB, sustainable living is about deciding and
taking control of what we value and how we want to live our lives,
empowering young people and those that support them to improve the
quality of their life within the planet's resources, while
preserving these for future generations www.ncb.org.uk/osow
- Sustainability and Environmental Education (SEEd) is an
representative, membership charity that identifies, promotes,
enables and supports environmental education and education for
sustainable development (ESD) in the UK. This is not just important
for the already active educators but also for mainstream educators.
We do this by facilitating wide stakeholder engagement processes,
promoting shared learning, building capacity and developing cross
sector partnerships. SEEd has been heavily involved in Sustainable
Schools since it began and provides an information service for
schools, supports regional and local networks and links to the
wider education sector. It also runs training and online courses,
and the annual National Sustainable Schools Conference which offers
regional workshops and a linking online conference. www.se-ed.org.uk
- Think Global is a membership based charity that works to
educate and engage the UK public on global issues. We work on a
wide range of projects with schools, NGOs, the private sector and
others. We aim to help people in the UK learn about global issues
such as poverty and climate change and find out how they can play a
part in creating a more just and sustainable world. Think Global's
members include many development and environment NGOs, as well as a
wide network of Development Education Centres, schools,
universities and other civil society bodies. Think Global manages
the Global Dimension website, which highlights almost 1,000
resources available to teachers to teach about poverty, sustainable
development and climate change in the classroom. The resources on
the website reach around 1.5 million children each year. www.globaldimension.org.uk