Mobilize Your Environmental Citizens This Go Green Week

The week commencing 9^th February 2015, marks People and Planet’s annual, national week of climate action in schools, colleges and universities. People and Planet are Britain’s largest student network which, via a series of campaigns, aims to engage and empower young people to take positive action for social and environmental justice. Go Green Week is intended to encourage students to organise activities that raise awareness in their communities of climate change, and to demand that we all take stronger action to tackle the situation.

The importance of environmental awareness and the issue of sustainability are fundamental elements of the Learning Escape’s business ethos. Our buildings use the very latest in environmentally friendly materials, methods and technologies to create learning spaces that are low impact and low maintenance; highly energy efficient to run and which naturally introduce environmental citizenship into the classroom and curriculum. Every element of the building can be part of the education experience from the recycled insulation that keeps the building warm to percussion taps that use a minimal amount of water.

Other examples of how we achieve our eco-classroom status and an A rated EPC, include ensuring that all energy using appliances are AA rated to minimise energy use and, where possible, have a smart meter to show how the use of the building by its occupants can be adapted to reduce energy wastage. We use smart lighting in conjunction with good daylighting to minimise lighting bills, and on days when natural light sources are insufficient, our buildings tell their occupants that extra lighting is necessary to ensure an optimally lit learning environment. We design with natural materials, from sustainable sources, wherever possible and minimise the requirement for high embodied energy products such as steel and concrete. Where budgets allow, we use technologies that harness the power of the sun to heat water or generate electricity.

We firmly believe that if our young people are to learn about and experience the outdoor environment they have to be out in it. Our climate dictates that we can’t sit outside under the shade of a fig tree all year, so we ensure that all the elements of our classroom design minimise the barriers between inside and out, in order to maximise the feeling of being part of nature and the good environmental citizenship that this will develop. Today’s generation of school children are our world’s future ambassadors for the changes we all need to make to be sure that the world has a long and healthy future.