The internationally accepted (Brundtland) definition of sustainable development is ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’.
The Government has pledged to make this the ‘greenest government ever’, with far-reaching plans to protect the natural environment, tackle climate change and promote sustainability. In encouraging businesses, communities and individuals to take up this challenge, government departments are also required to take action to improve how the estate is managed more sustainably.
What the Department is doing
The Government is fully committed to sustainable development and the importance of preparing young people for the future. Our approach to reform is based on the belief that schools perform better when they take responsibility for their own improvement. We want schools to make their own judgements on how sustainable development should be reflected in their ethos, day-to-day operations and through education for sustainable development. Those judgements should be based on sound knowledge and local needs. An updated set of Top Tips on Sustainability in Schools is now available. The full set of good practice materials that underpin the national framework for sustainable schools is also available online.
Climate change has the potential to significantly disrupt the delivery of children’s services, with subsequent negative effects on children’s education and wider wellbeing. The Climate Change Act 2008 establishes a long-term framework to tackle climate change. The Act aims to encourage the transition to a low-carbon economy in the UK through unilateral legally binding emissions reduction targets. This means a reduction of at least 34 percent in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 and at least 80 percent by 2050.
We know that carbon emissions in the school sector arise from energy use in schools, procurement of goods and services by schools, and school travel. Action needs to be taken on all of these and at all levels in the sector.
UNESCO – United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014)
The Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD), for which UNESCO (United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) is the lead agency, aims to change the approach to education so that it integrates the principles, values and practices of sustainable development.
The Decade’s goals can be broken down into four key objectives: facilitating networking and collaboration among stakeholders in ESD; fostering greater quality of teaching and learning of environmental topics; supporting countries in achieving their millennium development goals through ESD efforts; and providing countries with new opportunities and tools to reform education.
We sit on the UNESCO ESD Coordinating Group, which includes representation from the devolved nations, to ensure our policies on education for sustainable development are developed in a supportive and cohesive way.
Sustainable Operations and Procurement
As part of the Government’s pledge to make this the ‘greenest government ever’, government departments are required to take action to improve how we manage our estate more sustainably.
Since 1999, Government has publicly reported its progress on sustainable development objectives in the management of its own estate. New challenging pan-government targets will be introduced when existing targets end in 2011.
To demonstrate our commitment to continual improvement in how we manage our buildings, we have our Environmental Policy statement displayed in building reception areas and online. This underpins our Environmental Management System (EMS), accredited to ISO14001:2004 standard, for managing our environmental impacts.
Our performance for 2009-10 shows that we have continued to improve in all areas apart from emissions from road vehicles. We have achieved all mandated mechanisms and Sustainable Procurement Action Plan targets, and are rated green or blue (exceeded target) on all SDiG targets apart from carbon emissions from road vehicles. Performance on this target has worsened for the Department and we will be taking action to reduce our vehicle travel.
We are encouraging staff to help with improving performance by being more aware of how their behaviour can make a difference including, for example, making more use of ICT communications such as video conferencing instead of travelling.
In May 2010 a new target was introduced to reduce CO2 emissions by 10 per cent within a 12-month period as part of the Government’s pledge to be the ‘greenest government ever’. The Department has invested in installing variable speed drives and upgrading building management system (BMS) software in two buildings (Sanctuary Buildings and Castle View House) and new internal and external lighting in one of our buildings (Castle View House). Estate rationalisation in Sheffield saw the Department move from a 27,000m² building (Moorfoot) to a 6,837 m² building (St Paul’s Place) by July 2010. Cumulatively, the above projects should deliver approximately 1049 tonnes of CO2 savings (10.7 per cent) by the end of the commitment period and performance included in the Sustainable Development in Government (SDiG) report.
