Empowering our children to climate action

Programme 1: Climate & Energy Education in Schools

We run an age-appropriate series of climate change workshops in primary and secondary schools & colleges, which include using two energy bicycles. The aim of these workshops is for children to understand energy generation and efficiency, the links between energy and climate change, provide constructive actions they can take to help them (and their parents!) to reduce their carbon footprints and introduce climate career options.

The key themes and content elements of our workshops across age ranges:

• Energy production and renewable energy
• The green energy and fossil fuel carbon cycles
• The link between carbon & our climate
• Carbon footprinting
• How to reduce your carbon footprint
• Climate Ambassador Program
• Gamification of carbon reduction
• Green energy career opportunities

If you would like to find out more about having a positive and enriching climate workshop at your school, please get in touch.

Programme 2: Climate Youth Climate Ambassadors

The purpose of this program is to create an active network of climate advocates in schools across North Devon, helping schools, fellow students, staff and parents to take positive, effective climate action to reduce our region’s climate footprint.

361 Energy’s Climate Ambassadors are passionate about constructively helping to reduce the carbon footprint of their schools, fellow students, parents, teachers and households. The program entails:-

• Ambassadors receive a full day of climate training from leaders in the field. This training covers:-
  • Climate science
  • The carbon cycle and CO2e
  • Climate policy
  • Personal carbon footprinting and the six areas of emissions
  • Personal carbon reduction activity
  • School carbon footprinting and school carbon reduction programs
  • Key skills and knowledge to affect climate behaviour change in schools
  • Introducing the Net-Zero Schools Challenge and how Ambassadors can help deliver it
  • Your school climate tool kit for practical action
  • How to set up and run campaigns in your school

• Ongoing support and mentoring from 361 Community Energy’s climate experts for running climate campaigns in your school
• Fortnightly climate ambassadors meeting within your school
• Quarterly ‘best practice campaigns’ webinar with all the participating schools in northern Devon and leaders and speakers from the environmental field.
• Access to the Climate Ambassador’s email forum to share ideas, best practises, and celebrate wins together
• Invitation to our Annual Climate Ambassador event and awards giving
• Ambassadors self select a school’s Ambassador to the Board of directors of 361 Energy each year, contributing to the broader response to climate change and representing young people’s views and priorities across North Devon.

We are looking to appoint Youth Ambassadors in each Primary school, Secondary school and college within Northern Devon. These Ambassadors will receive climate training, campaign training and meet via Skype every month and face-to-face once a term. They will also be able to network internationallywith other school children in other global Biosphere reserves. They will be a coordinated and essential community to disseminate information within their schools and via social media.

Programme 3: The Carbon Neutral Schools Challenge

Working with the Youth Ambassadors and the North Devon Biosphere, 361 will create a call-to-action to get all schools within Northern Devon to a net carbon neutral status. Uniquely, 361 will achieve this with the pupils; helping to review energy usage and sourcing, investigate solar generation and more and work with the schools STEM teams and youth ambassadors to help the students lead the charge with getting the carbon footprints of their schools down.

The Net-Zero School Challenge creates a way for Schools to fund projects to move closer to net-zero while engaging with the student body via sustainability projects and 361’s workshops and ambassador programs.

This is how it works

1. A school ‘rises’ to the Challenge and has a 361 Energy Carbon Audit, either through direct approaches from 361 or via our workshops or the youth ambassador program.
2. The audit baselines the school and identifies a series of projects and measures that can reduce the schools’ carbon footprint. These can range from solar panels on the roofs, to better insulation, to changes in heat sourcing. Each has a cost, payment period and CO2e tonne saving associated with it.
3. 361 helps the school to access 0% APR finance to implement measures and source implementors. Also measures can be funded via community share offer.