If there’s any ‘perfect time’ for schools to engage with the impact of their waste, it’s now. With growing concerns about the environment, it’s become increasingly important for councils to engage with sustainability at the community level. This includes working with schools, local businesses, and council-led organisations to deliver a coordinated plan that creates a positive impact. This can be especially true for academy groups, thanks to their government funding, which gives them a direct line between the council and the school.
Councils hold a unique position, allowing them to influence schools and encourage them to have a positive impact on students and the wider community. By establishing a plan, councils can act as the catalyst necessary to nurture long-term behavioural change within your town’s next generation.
Through our work, including our project with Huntington School, we have seen how sustainable action can transform schools.
Real change begins in the classroom. Here’s how your local council can have an impact.
What are the opportunities?
Schools are the perfect bridge to reach families in your community. By connecting with schools in a positive way, you can reach people who may previously not have engaged in sustainable action. By embedding long-term recycling habits in young people, they may also encourage their parents to do the same.
Being educated by a young family member because you ‘aren’t doing it the right way’ after learning about something in school is a universal experience. School kids are always sharing what they’ve learned in school with their parents and wider family.
Why not support schools with council-led talks and classroom discussions? By meeting them at their level, you support them through their limited resources or necessary engagement.
It’s also relatively low budget. Local councils have a wealth of information to support schools and encourage them to take action. It’s highly likely that your council has run sustainability campaigns before, possibly for areas outside of education. Utilising existing plans, literature and guidelines to do this ensures that this support is low-cost and has already been proven to work elsewhere.
Are schools currently facing any challenges?
Schools in the community you serve may face a range of issues that prevent them from fully engaging in sustainability programs.
- They may have limited access to the necessary material needed to educate their students on sustainability.
- Many schools may want to meet their sustainability targets and legislative requirements, but lack the guidance needed to get on the right track.
- They may believe that the existing curriculum already covers enough about sustainability to leave a positive impact.
We can be the support schools in your local area need. By connecting us with educational institutes in your local area, schools and students can receive expert guidance on sustainability. It’s our job to guide you on the ways to improve.
In what areas can council-school collaboration leave a positive impact?
Environmental
On both small and large scales, supporting your local schools can help your area achieve a massive reduction in waste. Whether it’s better organisation of school waste before collection or personal management of small amounts of waste, everyone in the school environment can learn and adopt an engaged approach to staying sustainable.
Social
Personal waste management can also impact social aspects. This personal responsibility may ensure people tidy up after themselves. Tidier social spaces can foster civic pride and participation in community efforts. These behaviours can then be continued and built upon for generations to come, helping to establish a culture of sustainability.
Local economy.
Prioritising sustainability can help schools make long-term savings on energy, efficiency and waste-reduction costs, resulting in more to spend elsewhere. This could be used to improve their school’s services or to bolster the community by spending locally. Furthermore, by supporting local sustainability initiatives, they are more likely to succeed, thereby securing funding for similar projects in the future.
How Agecko can help.
Agecko hope to support councils across the country with effective, best-practice guidance for sustainability in schools. We can also provide the necessary tools to deliver effective management and sustainable action, resulting in access to essential programmes and data insights for future improvements.
If you want your council to influence local schools and their sustainable impact on the world, we can help. From bespoke waste management services to educational materials, we offer a diverse range of support to help you improve and achieve new net-zero goals.
