Is the Education Sector leading the way on biodiversity?

Having recently changed career, I have found it refreshing to step into a company and industry which is doing so much to address our world's sustainability concerns head on. I have also found it very reassuring just how much can do done to drive our carbon reduction agendas and how quickly the results show.

I decided to take some time out to see what the education sector is doing with young people and how the landscape will be changing for this sector as such great ideas come to life such as the Natural History GCSE.

The Natural History GCSE is coming for UK Schools… Is your outdoor space ready?

What is Natural History?

“Natural History focuses on understanding the natural world in all its richness and diversity. Through observational study and investigation, natural history seeks to understand the complexities and interconnectedness of life on Earth in contrasting habitats. Natural History explores how our natural world has been shaped and how it continues to change, both by natural processes and through human intervention.”

It feels like nothing could be more fitting for the times we live in today.

What can you as an educator do to be ready?

Natural History, will involve active outdoor engagement, including students’ local wildlife and ecosystems, whether they live and study in urban or rural environments.

In GCSE Natural History, students will not just learn general definitions of habitats and ecosystems, they look at specific habitats, flora and fauna in depth and the interrelationships between specific examples. In GCSE Natural History, students explore the natural world at a local level so they can name, classify and understand organisms – they do not merely look at ecosystems and processes like pollution as case studies; it’s a richer, more in-depth learning experience underpinned by engagement with/observation of the natural world.

Many educational establishments are working towards ensuring they have spaces designed and put aside for such initiatives like:

1. Outdoor Green Space / Classrooms

2. Woodland creation...

either on site as a micro forest (if not on your site then on the Ground Control pre-purchased farm land), The image here illustrates how this can be a site where students can not only visit but actively plant the trees which your school, college or university commit to.

3. Wild flower spaces....

where ecosystems can re-establish themselves naturally and students can not only experience this but also use it as an educational environment.

Green light for 'game-changer' GCSE in Natural History

I have learnt that the plans to introduce a GCSE in Natural History were approved by the Department for Education (DfE) on 21st April 2022 as a part of their flagship sustainability and climate change strategy. The move is the culmination of a decade-long campaign led by naturalist Mary Colwell and other leading environmentalists. The goal is to have this new qualification live by 2025.

Mary Colwell has been the leading force behind this, she said….

“A GCSE in Natural History could be a game-changer for the nature of Britain. Everyone will have the opportunity to be nature-literate, to learn about British wildlife and how it relates to the rest of the world, which is essential for a sustainable, green future.”  - Mary Colwell.

has been a leading advocate in this space for many years and is now actively working with the education sector to help plan, equip & build, not only such initiatives as the Natural History GCSE but the wider biodiversity goals and requirements across this space. To find out more you can visit Create. Maintain. Sustain | Ground Control (ground-control.co.uk)

Ground Control reached its carbon neutral goal much faster than the originally planned date of 2025 due to its relentless focus on all things green and  sustainable. By working with a range of clients to further reduce and mitigate their own emissions and carbon footprint, Ground Control  is well positioned to support schools, colleges and universities. The case study below shows just how this is currently being achieved.

Ground Control Case Study – Pinner Park

Pinner Park School (ground-control.co.uk)

So, what have we been up to?

• More than 800 Pinner Park Primary pupils planted trees and plants in school
• Aim of the project is both to improve local biodiversity and raise awareness of its importance for the next and future generation
• Pinner Park Primary has partnered with Ground Control, a biodiversity and external maintenance business helping companies include biodiversity in their sustainability strategies post-COP-26.

Feedback from the school

Nick Waldron, Headteacher at Pinner Park Primary School said:

“Teaching about sustainability and biodiversity is very much part of our curriculum so it is exciting for the children to have the opportunity to see this in action in the real world. Planting a forest with Ground Control will be an experience they won’t forget and cement for them the importance of looking after nature and local wildlife in their own communities for the future.”

What else is Ground Control doing to support Biodiversity

With a commitment to plant one million trees by 2025, Ground Control is breaking new ground in biodiversity. In 2019, the Chancellor’s spring statement made it mandatory for all new English developments to demonstrate a 10% increase in biodiversity.

I am hoping to produce much more around how & why the biodiversity world is and should be meeting the Education Sector and I do hope you will follow my articles as they come out. For now, I wanted to thank you for your time & for reading through this article and if I can offer any help or assistance for you or someone you know, then feel free to contact me on the below details.

Scott Friday

Business Development Director      

M: 07731 982012 | T: 01277 288874 | E: scott.friday@ground-control.co.uk

Ground Control Limited, Kingfisher House, Radford Way, Billericay, Essex CM12 0EQ | www.ground-control.co.uk