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23 February 2026
‘February 27 is World NGO Day, so we wanted to share how we have worked together. Since April 2025 Another Way, an environmental charity (NGO), and the David Ross Education Trust, an educational charity, have worked together to enhance climate change and sustainability across schools.’
Elli Clark and Chantal Mayo-Hollaway
Climate change and the curriculum: working with environmental charities to get ahead of the curve and reduce the ‘lag’ between research and the classroom
Students (in all UK nations) have been required to learn about climate change in geography since 2007-8 (UNFCCC), by 2014 there was an additional focus on the human impacts upon it (through both science and geography) and most recently the English national curriculum states that students should learn about ‘the change in climate from the Ice Age to present’. However, with such a broad statement it is difficult for educators to focus on essential elements of human actions, Net Zero and climate change.
Looking forward, climate change and sustainability education have been highlighted to be further embedded into geography curricula, and interwoven across the curriculum (Curriculum and Assessment Review 2025). This shifting focus over time has been described by Puttick (2025) with climate change and sustainability moving from a ‘peripheral concern to an urgent and defining priority’. The work that Another Way has been undertaking with the David Ross Education Trust on ‘Flipping the Climate Script’ has enabled us to be ahead of this curve, ensuring that climate education is embedded into schemes of learning, staff training and in-person workshops.
The need for climate education: how working with an environmental charity can help put this in perspective
Climate change is indisputable, with 99% (2021) of publishing scientists attributing it to anthropogenic causes (UNEP). So why do 4–7% of people in the UK believe climate change is a hoax, 17% believe it is unrelated to human activity (Difford 2025), and 33% of teenagers believe climate change is exaggerated (Horton 2024)?
IPSOS (2025) reports that around 60% of 16-34 year-olds rely primarily on social media for current affairs, where algorithm-driven echo chambers can amplify misinformation. Combined with ‘post truth, anti-intellectualism and… mistrust in expertise’ (Nicholls 2017), this has enabled the spread of dis- and misinformation, including a rise in pseudoscience and AI-generated content. Even traditional media may frame climate science as a debate ‘for balance’, further undermining clarity.
Our students are increasingly exposed to misinformation from actors with vested interests, highlighting the need to develop critical evaluation skills. Environmental charities such as Another Way support this through workshops like ‘Flipping the Climate Script’, which explicitly address misinformation and media literacy allowing students to think critically about the information they see around climate change.
60% of our students know the importance of climate change and sustainability education (Malcolm Arnold Academy green day survey) and want to know more, so we have an opportunity to shape student understanding. According to Knight (2025) 80% of students trust their science and geography teachers on this topic. This positions schools as vital spaces for strengthening climate education and helping students distinguish scientific evidence from pseudoscience.
Delivering high-quality climate education is therefore essential, but keeping pace with the volume and pace of research (Puttick and Talks 2022) with 80-90 reports published each day, is an impossible task for the busy teacher. Puttick (2025) suggests that this is creating a ‘lag’ between public discourse, research evidence, and curriculum development.
Environmental charities, such as Another Way can help to bridge this gap by synthesising key findings and sharing their own research, reducing the burden on teachers. Beyond curriculum support, environmental charities offer broader insights into young people’s experiences and can address the emotional dimensions of climate education, supporting a shift ‘towards more hopeful futures and empowering students to make a change’ a key component of climate change and sustainability education according to Rackley (2025).
Our staff found Another Way’s own surveys and research with the University of Bristol CAST (Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations), focused on what can be done about climate change incredibly helpful in understanding the young people we teach. Their findings showed 54% of young people felt that the school curriculum did not prepare them to take climate action, or teach them enough about climate change exacerbating feelings of disempowerment and eco-anxiety.
Three-quarters of young people said that taking action on climate would make them less anxious, and consequently, that they would like to get involved in climate projects more frequently. 68% wished their school made it easier for students to take climate action, for example through resources, clubs or providing project ideas (Another Way 2025). These findings were used to create a workshop and teacher CPD to tackle this discourse, challenging misconceptions around climate action and the importance of understanding what we can all do.
What makes good climate change and sustainability education: how working with an environmental charity can support its development
According to Another Way, good climate education is science-based, empowering, nature-connected, and focused on practical actions that individuals and communities can take to build a hopeful, sustainable future, which is embodied across a school’s curriculum. In ‘Getting Our Bearings 2023’ Enser commented that best practice saw climate change interwoven throughout topics, a sentiment echoed by Owen and Witts (2025) who suggest that as climate change is a ‘super wicked’ problem* (making students feel powerless) it should be fully integrated across all topics. This is certainly a next step in our climate change and sustainability journey.
Good climate change and sustainability education should not just be delivered in geography in isolation, it must be cross curricular and move into whole school and community actions, something our green days are aiming to develop. A whole school and integrated approach aimed at empowering students and communities is something Patterson (2025) also advocates.
The Department for Education, in their latest climate change and sustainability policy update said that ‘we can positively impact, influence and inspire communities by improving the: sustainability of the environment in and around education settings, and knowledge and understanding of children and young people.’ (2025) and we would argue we have a moral obligation to do so. This is another area where working with environmental charities has been invaluable. Another Way has supported us in reviewing our existing key stage 3 resourcing, reviewing a re-write of ‘Our Future World’ unit, delivering staff training and resourcing as well as providing in person workshops for students during green days at two of our academies.
Working with an environmental charity: benefits for schools/teachers/trusts
Working with environmental charities to review units of work, identify opportunities for a different approach to climate change and sustainability education and support staff training, careers links and workshops.
The review and rewriting of our sustainability year 8 unit rebranded into ‘Our Future World’ with Another Way meant renewing the emphasis on, and ownership by, our students. This has been further informed by interactions with multiple environmental groups and educators including Kit Rackley, Climate Ambassadors, The Great Imagining and our trust sustainability lead, as well as further reading (listed below). By working closely with Another Way we have been able to get a different perspective through ‘Flipping the Climate Script’ resources. As part of this there have been increased opportunities for students to discuss and reflect on their own thoughts and feelings.
In addition, working with Another Way has enabled the development of real world green careers links including an actual interview with Another Way’s founder (if you can see it, you can be it), as well as a hopeful future planning session at the end of the unit making sure that actions are not purely focused on students, but holding people, institutions and companies to account at all levels (including our own trust).
Working with Another Way encouraged us to look at our resourcing from multiple angles and use their research to inform our teacher guidance and approach. In November, Elli took a 45 minute training session open to all 31 geography teaching staff (recorded for future use) enabling them to engage with educational research on student perceptions of climate change anxiety, taking practical actions and how it might be different at different key stages (Figure 1); thus empowering staff to approach lessons with this in mind, benefiting over 1,200 year 8 students across the trust.
Another Way’s framing has been instrumental in shifting away from a disempowered mindset about climate change to empowerment through the empowerment triangle. You can see our David Ross Education Trust teacher feedback in Figure 2.
Figure 1 – Screenshots from Another Way’s teacher training sessions to David Ross Education Trust geography teachers November 2025
Figure 2 – Another Way Staff Training and Events Feedback created by CMH
Working with an environmental charity: benefits for students
Across the David Ross Education Trust 1,800 students across three academies took part in green days, two of which were only possible with Another Way’s support. These workshops had a remarkable impact. At King Edward VI Academy, Spilsby, student perceptions changed significantly. They showed an increase in their belief that they could take action on climate change, they understood how their food choices affected the climate and they were empowered to believe that they could make a difference (Figure 3).
At Malcolm Arnold Academy all students left knowing what sustainability and climate change was, they were less worried, felt they could make a difference and raise concerns publicly and in school (all doubling), and 80% felt empowered to respond to climate change. In addition, each student went from naming a mean of 0.9 green careers to 3 from increased visibility throughout the day. There was also the added benefit of increased attendance for the day with both students and parents valuing the green day offer (Figure 4). If you would like to plan your own Green Day please feel free to reach out, or use our green day planning timeline (Figure 5) as a starting point.
Figure 3 – Student responses following Another Way workshop at King Edward VI Academy, Spilsby
Figure 4 – Feedback by students from Malcolm Arnold Academy’s on Green Day
By working with the David Ross Education Trust in this way, Another Way has the opportunity to empower a large and diverse group of young people, enhancing the impact our work can have across a wide audience. Rather than running individual workshops to smaller groups, having our resources embedded into the ‘Our Future World’ unit ensures that whole year groups of young people learn about what we do and how they can take action for the planet. Where workshops can fit into timetables (and on green days), Another Way are able to enhance and support the amazing work already done by the David Ross Education Trust team.
The impact data from the King Edward VI Academy, Spilsby’s green day shows clear increases in knowledge and understanding of the topic of ‘food for thought’, and how young people can make an impact. The CPD element of our work enables staff to ask questions and feel more confident in tackling some of the trickier aspects of the climate change discussion, and enables them to direct young people to Another Way for further learning.
One of our goals for working with David Ross Education Trust has also been widening our engagement through the Power of 10 web app. By joining the Power of 10 community, young people are able to find a community of changemakers like themselves who are working to live more sustainably. They also have the opportunity to become Regional Reps, a team of young people working with Another Way to take climate action in their communities and schools.
How could working with environmental charities support your climate change and sustainability education?
To find out more about Another Way and the Power of 10 movement head to Power of 10 or Another Way: Empowering people to be kind to our planet. Follow us on social media to find out about our latest news and projects such as our next Power of 10 Festival, for school students, in Sheffield in March. We offer fully funded workshops and assemblies to state schools on topics such as waste, food systems, ocean plastics, climate change, biodiversity, eco-anxiety, and green careers.
Workshops are delivered in person or online, tailored to schools’ needs, aiming to inspire practical environmental action, build agency, and embed sustainability education across age groups. We also have downloadable resources and toolkits for teachers, on our Power of 10 web app. The Power of 10 web app is a great resource for young people who want to take climate action in any form, you can use it with your Eco-Groups or simply guide keen young people to it to support their climate journeys. We would also love to hear from you if you would like to work with us to support your whole school or whole trust climate and sustainability journey.
Come along to the Another Way session run by Elli at the Geographical Association Conference 2026 to find out more! The GA Conference 2026 is a three day annual event for geography teachers that includes a range of lectures, workshops, research papers, field visits and networking events, find out more about the GA Conference here.
Lessons learnt from this experience
- Working with environmental charities can help to reduce the ‘lag’ between research and educators as they can help support staff in accessing the most reliable and up-to-date research on climate change and sustainability, as well as supporting the update of resourcing.
- Working with environmental charities helps to provide broader perspectives on the issues facing young people in relation to climate change and sustainability education. Many will have a wider reach than our own school catchments and the data and experience developed can be used in training to support staff in understanding the young people they teach.
- Working with environmental charities helps to enhance the delivery of climate change and sustainability education through real world experience, discussions, activities and workshops; helping to shift the focus away from inducing climate anxiety through the empowerment triangle towards a more hopeful future.
Questions to consider
- Which areas of climate change and sustainability education are you currently looking to enhance/update?
- Which local, regional or national environmental charities offer support for educators/students in this area?
- Do you currently survey your students about their thoughts, feelings and understanding of climate change, Net Zero and sustainability? Do you reassess any changes in these over time, as a result of current affairs or units of work?
- How can you give your students space to discuss their feelings towards climate change and anxiety?
- Do you ask for student and outside reviews of your educational resourcing to ensure that it is as up-to-date as possible and enables students to explore these concepts in an ethical and hopeful way?
- How can you support your students in taking practical action/empowering them? Is this something which can be provided in school, or are there outside agencies who could support with this to reduce pressure on staff?
- Do any charities, such as Another Way, offer workshops and enrichment for students?
*Super wicked problem – This is a problem which is complex and interlinked to multiple other complex issues. It is usually time sensitive, with no central authority to solve it, many problem solvers are the cause of the issue (e.g. carbon emitters), future consequences are undervalued.
Written by Elli Clark and Chantal Mayo-Hollaway
Elli Clark
Youth Engagement Lead at Another Way
Another Way is a UK-based youth-led environmental charity founded by Amy Bray empowering young people and schools to live sustainably and take action for the planet.
Chantal Mayo-Hollaway
Trust Wide Subject Lead for Geography at David Ross Education Trust
© Elli Clark and Chantal Mayo-Hollaway, and the Geographical Association, 2026
