Building a Digital Support Hub with the Department for Education

Building a sector-defining Digital Support Hub

We’re pleased to share that the Department for Education (DfE) has appointed a partnership, led by TPXimpact and supported by United Learning and Blue Marble, to build and embed a sector defining Digital Support Hub as a central service within the ecosystem of initiatives for the DfE's Sustainability and Climate Change portfolio. 

The partnership will draw on years of sector expertise, established networks and technical capability and will facilitate extensive engagement with the sector, meaning we will be designing and building from a strong position of being informed by the experience of educators. 

Helping all education settings deliver their Climate Action Plans

In April 2022, DfE launched its Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy for the education and children’s services systems. The strategy sets out how the UK education sector is to become a world leader in addressing climate change by 2030. Sustainability Leadership is a key initiative of this strategy, and the department has committed to support the development of Climate Action Plans in all settings by 2025.

We're helping DfE deliver on this ambition by supporting the creation of the Digital Support Hub aims to inspire and equip all education settings in England, providing easily accessible guidance and information to Sustainability Leads and their wider education setting to help facilitate the creation, implementation and deliver of Climate Action Plans. 

Ultimately, the Digital Support Hub will revolutionise the education sector’s trajectory towards net zero, supporting all education settings to self-assess their sustainability confidence and expertise, prompting next steps, further training and additional resources. These plans will facilitate a holistic approach to sustainability in education, covering key action in decarbonisation, adaptation, and resilience to climate-related risks to education services, green infrastructure/biodiversity, and climate education and green careers.

The online hub will include a self-assessment tool, to gauge individual sustainability capability, confidence, provide a quality-assured directory of suitable environmental sustainability courses, and a directory of quality-assured organisations that are well-placed to provide support in developing and delivering Climate Action Plans. This service will sit alongside the Climate Ambassadors programme, led by the University of Reading and The Alliance for Sustainability in Education, providing on the ground support to settings giving practical advice to progress on their sustainability journey.

Bjorn Conway, CEO for TPXimpact said:

"We’re delighted that TPXimpact has been appointed to deliver this important resource to all education settings across the country. Education settings, as part of the local ecosystem, are critical in our collective journey to net zero. As a purpose-led organisation, committed to working in close collaboration with organisations to improve outcomes for people, places and planet, we’re proud to work in support of this agenda, alongside the Department for Education and our partners, United Learning and Blue Marble."

How you can get involved

We’re conducting research to understand how a Digital Support Hub could best support education settings in England to progress with sustainability.

We’d like to hear from everyone, and in particular: 

• people working or volunteering at a nursery, school, college or university 

• students at a college or university

• parents, carers or guardians of a child or young person in an education setting

• people employed by a local authority and involved in schools.

If you’d like to get involved in the research, please complete our short survey to have your say on sustainability issues being a priority in education. 

Do you know anyone else who could take part in this survey? Please forward the link.