The education system, like all other sectors of the economy, has a responsibility to meet the British government's 2050 goal of full decarbonization. However, as consultancy.uk notes, there are many questions and differences in how the education sector is responding to the climate crisis. To address this issue, the Climate Commission was created in 2019 to develop a strategic and sector-wide approach to addressing climate change (consultancy.uk).
Time has shown that another challenge is that a number of colleges do not have the expertise to deal with these issues. What was needed was a climate action roadmap for educational institutions in the UK to establish how institutions with varying degrees of maturity could respond to climate change. The Climate Commission engaged the consulting firm Nous Group to develop the roadmap. Nous Group, a consulting company, operates in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, providing services to educational institutions, the health care sector and social security.
Twelve colleges, including Basingstoke College of Technology, Bridgend College, Brooksby Melton College, Cambridge Regional College, Capel Manor College, Dumfries and Galloway College, Dundee and Angus College, Fircroft College, Gloucestershire College, Kingston Maurward College and Stockton Riverside College, were considered in developing the road map (consultancy.uk).
The roadmap developed includes both early steps, such as establishing a sustainability committee, a sustainability study of an educational institution, and more advanced steps, such as the use of renewable energy by educational institutions and the incorporation of sustainability courses into the curriculum. The roadmap prepared by the Nous Group is based on a number of existing materials, such as the EAUC Guide to Sustainability in Further Education, the Sustainability Leadership Scorecard, etc.
Steve Frampton, president of the Association of Colleges, offered positive comments on the roadmap and feedback on Nous Group's work, highlighting the professional leadership in developing the roadmap and the effectiveness of the interaction with the Climate Commission (consultancy.uk).
Well, the developed climate roadmap will have a positive impact in achieving the UK government's goals of net emissions by 2050, helping colleges take concrete steps toward carbon neutrality.
The UK Has Developed a Climate Roadmap for the Education Sector
