Jane Goodman recently took time out of her busy schedule to showcase to CIBSE members her valuable volunteering with Climate Ambassadors. If you’re interested in taking part or finding out more about Climate Ambassadors or the CIBSE STEM Ambassador programme, please see below for details.
Jane has been a sustainability consultant and a CIBSE registered Low Carbon Consultant and Low Carbon Energy Assessor since 2009. Jane joined as a volunteer on the Department for Education-funded Climate Ambassador scheme and has been providing support for climate action in education for just over one year now.
What inspired you to volunteer as a STEM Climate Ambassador?
Firstly, I got involved because I support University Estates to incorporate energy, carbon and climate risk into the estate strategy in my day-to-day work at iDEA and so am very aware of the huge challenge that Education settings face to prepare their sites for climate resilience and to achieve Net Zero carbon by 2050. So my main driver for getting involved was to use my skills to help them develop Climate Action Plans (CAPs).
Secondly, I believe that young people are our future, so another reason to get involved was to encourage more young people into green skills careers to protect our future. Volunteering in this environment also helps to broaden educators’ knowledge of the sector, which in turn can be passed on to more children and young people.
Thirdly, supporting education establishments on their climate action journey is very rewarding and shows business commitment and investment in social value.
What contributions have you made as a Climate Ambassador?
There are so many different ways to contribute to the scheme that people of all experience levels can provide valuable support. Since becoming a Climate Ambassador I have supported two local education settings to kick start the development of their climate action plan. This involved an hour or so of my time onsite with the College / University appointed ‘Sustainability Lead’ to help them plan their approach to the CAP, understand the plans/policies already in-place, and devise an engagement plan to ensure a holistic approach to Climate Action.
I have also signed up to talk at two green skills / careers days intended to inspire young people into STEM / Climate adaptation careers.
I have found contributing to activities very rewarding, whilst the Climate Ambassadors network is very supportive with material and ideas shared to make it very easy to get involved.
Why do education establishments need Climate Ambassadors when they have Sustainability Leads within the organisation to develop the Climate Action Plan?
The Department for Education expects all Education settings to develop a Climate Action Plan before the end of 2025 and to go onto implement and develop this over the years ahead. It is an important task that all education settings should undertake to respond to climate risk and develop resilient sites, but they have limited funds and resources.
The appointed sustainability lead within the education setting is often a person that has not received any formal training with less than 20% of their time allocated to the role. In schools, the role often falls to a member of the teaching team that has expressed an interest in sustainability. In colleges and small universities, the role often falls to a member of the estates team that has expressed an interest in sustainability. Whilst large universities generally have sustainability and climate risk specialists and already have strategies aligned to climate action plans in place.
What advice would you give to someone considering becoming a STEM Climate Ambassador?
All education settings appear to be at a different stage of their journey. Most education settings have undertaken some assessments and have developed some plans, policies and strategies that can be used to support the development of a climate action plan. Helping to find what has been done is often the first step, whilst also empowering the individual leading the CAP by breaking down the task and helping them engage with disciplines across the school to gain support for the development of the plan. Be available to brainstorm and provide advice and support throughout the journey.
More information:
Find out more via the links or contact at [email protected]
