2030 SUSTAINABLE EDUCATION VISION
FOR NORTHERN DEVON

We’re absolutely thrilled to unveil the results of our team-up for a greener, brighter future in education in North Devon!

A year ago, Plastic Free North Devon established a group to collaborate with all environmental education organisations that engage with young people in educational environments across Northern Devon. Our aim was to reach a shared understanding of our collective goals for 2030 concerning behaviour, values, and green careers. We also focused on how we can unite our efforts to effectively pursue the vision we have outlined.

Our massive survey of nearly 1000 children from Northern Devon's classrooms aged Year 5-13, and additional insights from school staff at 8 local primary and secondary schools highlighted that schools needed support with delivering an active, whole-school approach to education FOR sustainability, which focuses on both knowledge, skills and collaborative action to holistically tackle environmental issues while fostering children's resilience and empowerment to safeguard their mental health in the changing world.

Here are some of the main findings from our research:

  • Over ¾ of the surveyed children find environmental issues PERSONALLY IMPORTANT and 62% feel anxious about the planet’s future.

  • Kids don’t just want to learn ABOUT environmental issues, they want to be a part of the solutions that DO SOMETHING about them!

  • The children come up with many creative and practical ideas about improving their schools’ sustainability and well-being; from improving school grounds and minimising waste to better career advice and opportunities to make every future job greener.

Check out the short 2030 Sustainable Education Vision document to see our findings and how they could translate into a brighter and greener future for our schools and future generations.

directory of organisations

To help make the vision a reality, we have worked with our partner organisations to compile the support available in our area into a Directory of Organisations.

This resource combines ideas from children and school staff with the Department for Education's requirements to showcase concrete actions. We hope that schools can easily use these actions to explore and design their own Path to sustainability based on their unique priorities and interests.

We hope that you find these insights and resources useful!

thank you

Many thanks to the following organisational partners and schools who helped to create this project:

Organisations

361 energy CIC, Barn Owl Trust, Beaford Arts, Braunton Countryside Centre, Coastwise, North Devon, Devon Science, Exeter Science Centre, Exmoor National Park, North Devon Coast National Landscapes, Growing Devon Schools Partnership, Let's Go Zero, Ministry of Eco Education, National Trust, North Devon UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, Parkdean Resorts, Planet & People CIC, Quirk Theatre, Recycle Devon, Seaful, Skern Lodge, South West Coast Path Association, Spark UK (Devon) CIC, Sustainable Business Resource, The Devon Wildlife Trust, The Gardeners Co. CIC, North Devon District Council, Torridge District Council, University of Exeter, Young Enterprise, The Network of Environmental Educators in Devon.

Schools:

Bideford College, Braunton Academy, Caen Community Primary School, Clawton Primary School, Combe Martin Primary School, Kingsley School, Marwood Primary School, Parracombe Church of England Primary School, PETROC, Pilton Community College, Southmead Primary School, The Park Community School, West Buckland School, Witheridge Church of England Academy.