Newbury Building Society is collaborating with EVERFI to bring sustainability education to secondary schools throughout Berkshire.
The course, called ‘Sustainability Foundations’, has been made available free of charge for schools through Newbury’s sponsorship and partnership with digital education innovator EVERFI, Inc.
As a mutual organisation, our strategic partnership with EVERFI to deliver free sustainability education to local secondary school pupils is important. We believe strongly that building societies have a crucial role to play in tackling climate change and helping young people to explore how to build a sustainable future is just one of the ways we can do this.
Speaking at COP26, the previous Education Minister, Nadhim Zahawi, expressed the importance of placing climate change topics at the heart of education, saying: ‘Empowering teachers in every school to deliver world-leading climate change education will not only raise awareness and understanding of the problem but also equips young people with the skills and knowledge to build a sustainable future.’
The demand for education on social impact issues, such as sustainability, is something that today's students crave. Environmentalists like Greta Thunberg have highlighted the critical importance of sustainability and the need for behaviour change in the way we live our lives.
Through Sustainability Foundations, 11 to 14-year-olds explore environmental systems and understand how human health, climate change, global resource constraints, and animal welfare are all interconnected. The learning journey enables students to practice making sustainable choices, reinforcing the concept that they have the agency to create sustainable change.
We are excited about our work with Newbury Building Society: together, we will increase understanding of sustainability issues by offering the Sustainability Foundations - at no cost - to schools in Newbury and the surrounding area. The course introduces topics such as global resource constraints, the importance of biodiversity, climate change, and how to innovate for a healthy life. We are committed to bringing lasting change to communities and believe all students should have access to education on the future-defining topic of sustainability.
To learn more about the programme, click here. You can find out more about our commitment to becoming a greener building society on our Green Community pages.
