www.le.ac.uk/environment

Carbon Footprinting in Schools -Pilot Project Overview

Dr Emma Fieldhouse Chrispal AnandEnvironmental Manager Carbon & Energy Manager

Environment Team, Estates & Facilities Management Division

Overview of today

• Carbon Footprinting in Schools – Overview– Background to the project– What is carbon footprinting?– What are the different roles: technical

and/or teaching?– What is expected of you

• What is happening when?

• Links to employability

Overview of today II

• CRB check

• Volunteering record card

• Committing to the programme

The Background to the Project

Background

• Students taught aspects of sustainability in schools last year, linked to National Science & Engineering Week (NSEW)

• The students prepared the materials, had workshops to support the teaching experience and delivered the teaching to school groups

• All the schools are in poor wards of the city – we are hoping to inspire some pupils to come to university when they finish school

The pilot project

• We are partnering with Groundwork Leicester & Leicestershire (GWLL) and the Schools & College Service (in the University) to go into Leicester schools, produce carbon footprints for them and teach the pupils about what we find

• This is a pilot project for 2012

• We are aiming to go into 10 schools this year – 5 affiliated to GWLL and 5 affiliated to the Schools & Colleges Service

What is Carbon Footprinting?

What is carbon footprinting?

• Carbon footprint stands for a certain amount of gaseous emissions that are relevant to climate change and associated with human production or consumption activities (Wiedmann & Minx, 2008)

• There is no single accepted definition and the units of measurement are debatable

• The University uses tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) as its unit of measurement

Why produce a carbon footprint (CF)?• Carbon footprinting for any UK business is

an important process. It helps to:

– Work out where carbon emissions are produced through the operations of the organisation and;

– Set targets to make reductions;– Help to meet legal reduction targets set in the

Climate Change Act 2008.

What are the different roles?

Technical

Teaching

Both

The different roles

• As there are different elements to this project it makes sense to divide the tasks between groups of three volunteers

• Each team will have: – 1 x technical person – 2 x teaching people

• An overview of each role is now given.

Technical Role• You will be tasked with producing the carbon

footprint for your assigned school using data provided to you by the Environment Team and/or the school

• You will visit the school at the start of the project along with your team members

• If further data to expand the carbon footprint are developed through teaching then you will need to analyse those data and include them in the footprint

Technical Role II

• Depending on the needs of the school you may be involved in an energy audit at the school to identify opportunities to make improvements

• You will liaise with your team members throughout the process to inform their teaching activities

• You will produce a report at the end of the project (using a template supplied by us) detailing the footprint and making recommendations where necessary

• You will attend an evaluation session so we can record the lessons learnt from the process

How many hours are required for the technical role?• There will be 7 hours of

training/preparation:

– Today’s overview (1 hr) – An overview of going into schools (3hrs)– Carbon footprint training (2hrs)– The initial meeting with the school (1hr)

How many hours are required for the technical role?

• There will be 8 hours of analysis,report writing and evaluation:– Energy audit walkaround (2hrs)– Carbon Footprint analysis (2 hrs)– Final report writing (3 hrs)– Evaluation of the programme (1hr)

• In total you will need to commit up to 15 hours to this project

Teaching Role

• You will attend teacher training sessions that will help you to understand how to approach the teaching

• You will contribute ideas and agree the materials to be delivered to the school pupils

• You will go into your allocated school and agree a plan of teaching and carbon footprinting with the main school contact

Teaching Role

• You will deliver any teaching, assemblies or an event as agreed with the school (this may vary totally from one school to another)

• You will liaise with your team members throughout the process to inform their carbon footprinting activities

• You will attend an evaluation session so we can record the lessons learnt from the process

How many hours are required for the teaching role?• There will be up to 13 hours of

training/preparation:

– Today’s overview (1 hr) – An overview of going into schools (3hrs)– Carbon footprint training (2hrs)– Teacher training (up to 3 hrs)– Workshop to produce the materials to teach

(3hrs)– The initial meeting with the school (1hr)

How many hours are required for the teaching role?

• There will be up to 13 hours of teaching and evaluation:– Teaching sessions (up to 5 hours)– Low Carbon Day (optional - up to 7

hours) – Evaluation of the programme (1hr)

• In total you will need to commit up to 25 hours to this project

Both technical and teaching

• You will receive all of the training for both aspects of the project and will contribute to the development of teaching materials and teaching in the schools

• If you wish to give further assistance to your technical team member then you can arrange that yourselves

• You will need to attend an evaluation session at the end of the process

• Your total hours will be up to 27 hours

Areas of overlap

• Everyone will:– attend the overview of going into

schools– take part in the Carbon Footprint

training– attend the initial meeting with the

school– take part in the evaluation of the

programme

What is expected of you?

The Commitment

• You must attend all of the training appropriate to your role

• You must support your team mates in delivering the objectives of the project

• You are representing the University and need to consider your conduct and presentation at the schools

• You must attend all agreed school meetings and events unless you are seriously ill or have some major reason why you cannot attend – this must be reported immediately to me if you cannot attend

What is happening when?

See the handout

Links to employability

Employability links

• Carbon footprint understanding relevant to all businesses and organisations

• Liaison with teachers, schools and for some of you, Groundwork

• Time management

• Public speaking

• Teaching experience

• Report-writing

• Energy auditing

• Team work

Frequently asked questions?

FAQs

Q. How will I get to the school?

A. You will travel together to the school and you will be reimbursed your bus fare or taxi fares at the end of the project

FAQs

Q. 20+ hours sounds like a big commitment?

A. For all of you, at least half or more of the time will be completed through the training you will receive before Christmas holidays. For Leicester Award students you will certainly be able to complete most of your hours with just this project

FAQs

Q. What difference will there be if I’m working in a Groundwork managed school or a University-managed school?

A. You will have a Groundwork contact for any queries. All the Groundwork schools are part of a programme called EMAS which is an environmental management system – you may find they have a more sophisticated understanding of their carbon footprints/impacts

FAQs

Q. Do I need to have any teaching experience to get involved?

A. No you don’t. This is a training/learning experience. If you have prior experience it may be helpful but it is not compulsory

Important last things!

Volunteer Record Card

• To ensure you are credited for all of the hours you do for this project, please take a volunteer record card today

• Note down all of your training and hours delivered as you go along

• Make sure you get your volunteer record card signed before you leave today!

CRB checks

• You must have a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) Check before you can go into the school

• This is to ensure the safety of the children

References

Wiedmann, T. and Minx, J. (2008). A Definition of 'Carbon Footprint'. In: C. C. Pertsova, Ecological.Economics Research Trends: Chapter 1, pp. 1-11, Nova Science Publishers, Hauppauge NY, USA https://www.novapublishers.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=5999.

www.le.ac.uk/environment

Any questions?

Email ejf13@le.ac.uk or environment@le.ac.uk with any further queries