Empowering Schools for Climate Action
Teachers and Education Professionals plan Community Climate Action
Over 100 educators, governors, and school leaders gathered at St Joseph’s College in Ipswich for the Sustainability in Education Conference, a landmark event organised by the Science Hub in Essex on behalf of Suffolk County Council. Among the highlights of the day was an inspiring Community Climate Action workshop, which explored how schools can be powerful agents of change in their communities—far beyond the classroom.
The workshop, led by Community Climate Action, focused on understanding schools as anchor institutions - with the ability to influence not only students and parents, but also local councils, faith groups, cultural venues, sports clubs, and wider community networks. Participants explored practical ways schools can play a leading role in tackling the Climate and Ecological Emergency.
Through open discussions and creative exercises, attendees asked vital questions:
Who can we influence, and how?
What are we already doing for climate action, and what more could we do?
What are the barriers we face, and what support do we need to overcome them?
Creating Schools Community Engagement & Climate Action
The session generated a rich set of ideas, from student-led climate councils, to school food-growing projects, and even cross-school collaborations with local museums and councils. Educators left with a sense of purpose — and new tools to help integrate climate action into school improvement, curriculum planning and community outreach.
Joolz Thompson, Chief Executive, Community Climate Action, said:
“Schools are more than just places of learning — they are pillars of community life. This workshop showed that when teachers, governors and students come together with purpose, they can catalyse deep and lasting change—not only in schools, but across entire communities.”
Rebecca Elston-Haynes, Suffolk Climate Action Team, Suffolk County Council, added:
“It was fantastic to see such commitment and creativity from educators across Suffolk. The passion for embedding sustainability in education is clearly there — we now need to support schools with the right resources, networks and tools to turn vision into action.”
Mr Holden Cooke. Chair of Governors, Halcyon Federation said:
“As a governor, this session was incredibly helpful. It reminded me how much influence schools really have — not just in shaping young minds, but in shaping the future of our communities.”
Exploring how to empower Students for Community Climate Action
The conference fostered a peer-to-peer learning environment, laying the groundwork for an ongoing support network among Suffolk schools to share best practices and collaborate on projects — from decarbonising school buildings to empowering students with real-world climate action projects.
“By 2025, all education settings will have nominated a sustainability lead and put in place a climate action plan”. The Department for Education's (DfE)’s sustainability and climate change strategy.