Better Planet Education: Empowering Young People for Environmental Action

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By Peter Littlewood, Director Better Planet Education

At Better Planet Education (formerly Young People's Trust for the Environment) our mission is clear: inspire the next generation to become passionate stewards of our planet.

In the 2023-24 academic year, we facilitated an impressive one million 'eco hours' – our estimation of total time spent learning on our website, teaching from our lesson plans, and engaging with our environmental education programs.

How do we achieve this impact? It's a combination of hard work and a diverse range of resources and services developed over years to help young people and teachers learn about the natural world and environmental stewardship. We reach an audience of well over a million annually, despite being a small charity with just two staff members.

Our recent rebrand to Better Planet Education in August has come after extensive feedback from our core audience – young people and educators. With this change, we are launching an exciting new website. This intuitive, user-friendly interface streamlines access to premium resources on nature and environmental issues, catering to all levels of understanding and providing engaging content for teachers, parents and young people.

A key feature we're excited about is 'Young People's Voices', a section giving young people the opportunity to share their essays, articles and videos on environmental issues they're passionate about. We already have great content available and hope to see rapid growth in the coming year.

Young people aged 16 to 24 can apply to become one of our Young Trustees via the new website. Since 2014, our Young Trustee board has worked as advisers to the Director and Trustees. We've even seen two Young Trustee alumni become full Trustees of the charity, including Amy Jiang, aged 22, who joined in July after being involved since 2018. This youth input provides valuable insights on what young people care about and how best to communicate with them.

Our core services remain accessible on the new site, including:

A library of over 200 factsheets on animal species and environmental issues
News articles
Free lesson plans and assembly plans for teachers
Educational videos

Teachers can book free talks through our website. Since Covid-19, we've expanded this service to offer online presentations via Zoom or Teams to schools anywhere in the UK, in addition to in-person talks for local schools. This efficiency allows us to reach more students while schools appreciate the flexibility, with every participating school expressing interest in rebooking.

Primary schools across the UK can participate in Better Planet Schools, our online environmental education platform. Schools choose three 'modules' to study each academic year, with each module providing work and activities for a classic term. From September, we'll be offering 10 modules, allowing schools to participate for over three years without repeating topics.

Better Planet Schools provides lesson plans and activities on key environmental issues such as energy conservation, food and farming, waste reduction and recycling and increasing biodiversity in school grounds. We've designed the program to be flexible, accommodating various school schedules and approaches. Some schools deliver modules to entire year groups or key stages, while others use activities for eco clubs.

Our focus is on empowering young people to take action on environmental issues. Schools that submit a report upon completing a module receive two certificates – one for the school and another that can be personalised for each participating child.

Better Planet Education offers numerous ways to get involved, whether you're a teacher, parent, teenager or primary school student. We provide resources and opportunities for environmental education and action, fostering a generation of informed and passionate planet stewards.

From our comprehensive online resources to interactive programs and youth leadership opportunities, Better Planet Education is committed to making environmental education accessible, engaging and impactful. By enhancing the accessibility and appeal of our resources, we aim to inspire even greater engagement and passion for environmental stewardship among young people.

We invite you to explore our new website, engage with our resources and join us in our mission to create a better planet through education and action. Whether you're looking to learn, teach, or take direct action, Better Planet Education has something for everyone committed to environmental stewardship. Visit us online and become part of our growing community of planet protectors!