Craven College First to Sign up for Sustainable Development Goals
Craven College has become the first of the York, East and North Yorkshire colleges to publish its Streamlined Energy and Carbon Report, a full year before it becomes mandatory to do so. The college has also signed up to The SDG Accord – The University and College Sector’s collective response to the global sustainable development goals. Over the next year, the college intends to work hard to raise awareness of the 17 goals within all teaching and learning.
Craven College began its sustainability journey to reach net-zero by committing to the Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) Framework in March 2021 which is a package of regulations published by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) that came into effect from 01 April 2019. The College has fully embraced this example of cross-government working understanding fully the role all organisations have to play in reducing energy and carbon emissions and how this is central to delivering the UK’s ambition to reach net-zero by 2050.
The whole college was inspired on Staff Development Day by a talk from Steve Frampton MBE, the Further Education and Higher Education Climate Commissioner, co-constructor of the FE Climate Action Road Map for FE Colleges. Steve enlightened everyone with the fact that in a survey of 2.4 million young people aged 7 to 17, 74% of them had stated climate emergency as the current major issue.
Steve says, ‘As these are our current and future students, then we need to take note as students are at the heart of all that we do.’
This road map has helped Craven College to set targets for the future, for example, on food, transport and energy whilst working collaboratively towards the government targets and this has now been published as a Sustainability Pledge.
Lindsey Johnson, Principal said, ‘As the UK is hosting the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow in November 2021, there is no better time for Craven College to start our journey on the FE Climate Road Map and commit to the SECR Framework. Our SECR Report is now published ahead of schedule as well as our Sustainability Pledge It is important for us as a college and as part of the local community.’
