Seminar title: Developing an Environmental Sustainability Policy and Action Plan – a case study

Seminar brief: Environmental Sustainability is regarded as one of the fundamental challenges of our times.  The subject is held to be hugely important by today’s young people. A recent global survey found that more than 45% of those questioned said feelings about the climate affected their daily lives. Three-quarters of them said they thought the future was frightening. Many felt fear, anger, despair, grief and shame – as well as hope. So how do we build on that hope? Schools are uniquely placed, as the educators of the citizens and leaders of the future and also as  employers and prominent community organisations, to foster positive environmental awareness and behaviours, through education and by example. This interactive practical workshop will show you how to develop an Environmental Sustainability Policy and Action plan suitable for your school, whether you work for a small primary, a large comprehensive, or support schools at Trust level.

In this seminar Robin Harrison will explore:

• Why schools need an Environmental Sustainability Policy and Action Plan
• How this supports responding to the DFE sustainability agenda
• How to go about creating the Environmental Sustainability Policy and Action Plan

Take home points:

• The time to act is now
• Staff buy-in to the ethos is vital – to be effective requires a team effort
• The cumulative impact of lots of small changes

This session is for: School leaders and influencers at all levels

Speaker name/title: Robin Harrison FISBL

About the speaker: Robin Harrison has worked at Rushcliffe Spencer Academy as a School Business Manager for over 26 years, latterly specialising in strategic estate and facility management, and strategic health and safety management. In recent years he has led the development and acquisition of two new multi-million pound buildings. Robin represents Support Staff matters on the school senior leadership team. Current interests include developing a Strategic Estate Management Plan to support the significant growth of the school net capacity, the introduction of a new core value “we care for our school”, and a passion for supporting the school to improve its environmental sustainability credentials, also contributing strategically at Trust level. He has had an article on environmental sustainability published in Education Executive in January 2022, and has led conference workshops on developing environmental policy and action plans in educational settings. Robin is a Fellow of the Institute for School Business Leadership.