Learning and Education is about investing in our future, and our students live in an era of climate emergency where we all need to be constantly addressing climate issues. As global citizens, we must do our part and take responsibility. What we learn and put into action now helps the Earth’s future and, therefore, our future. As a group of schools, we must prioritise sustainability now to ensure that our students have bright futures wherever their lives may take them. The ISP Futures programme focuses on Education for Sustainable Development, to give the next generation all the skills and knowledge necessary to handle the social and environmental changes that will occur in the near future. I know that many of our schools are already doing inspiring things to make their schools more sustainable and to embed sustainability into the curriculum. As an organisation, we want to support that and encourage this way of thinking and life even more. Six core commitments as an organisation within the ISP Futures programme:Reduce the environmental impact of ISP through carbon offsetting by reforestation through our partnership with Tree-Nation.Reduce the environmental impact of ISP by supporting schools and offices to become more sustainable.Raise awareness of environmental issues amongst ISP staff, students and wider school communities.Support students to develop their knowledge and understanding of environmental issues including biodiversity, deforestation, the carbon cycle and climate change.Support students to develop valuable transferable skills such as event organisation, project management, teamwork etc. 6. Provide opportunities for school staff and students to connect on environmental issues and solutions and learn from each other. The Futures programme itself has two core components that we will continue to highlight and promote each year: The ISP Forest Through a partnership with the charity, Tree Nation, ISP will plant one tree for every student and member of staff in accredited reforestation projects around the world. In 2020/21 we have committed to planting one tree per student and staff member within ISP. That amounts to over 50,000 trees and we will continue to plant trees each year for new students and staff who join the group. Additionally, as one of our international learning opportunities, a number of students and staff members will, in future years, have the opportunity to visit planting sites in different countries to learn first-hand about the reforestation projects. Take a look at the ISP Forest page and learn more about the importance of tree planting. ISP Change Makers ISP staff and students will participate in calls to action around international environmental days (such as Earth Day and World Environment Day). We have created a short informational video about the ISP Futures programme for you to watch and share. More information on our ISP Futures initiatives will also be shared with you by colleagues over the coming weeks and months.
