A London schools programme aimed at instilling messages about healthy sustainable eating, preventing food waste and recycling unavoidable food waste, has been named one of the world’s ten most inspiring sustainability programmes for young people.
The campaign, Small Change Big Difference, is one of just ten educational programmes awarded this accolade as part of a global assessment conducted by education non-profit body HundrED.
Small Change Big Difference was singled out because of its unique pioneering status and ability to create a scalable impact. The campaign, which has been running from 2017, engages pupils from reception age through to end of primary school about sustainability in food, using practical activities and experiential learning. To date, dedicated workshops, assemblies and whole school campaigns have reached more than 5,000 pupils from across 17 schools in seven London boroughs, helping them to understand issues connected with food. The programme has shown significant awareness-raising in pupils from all ages, across a range of food topics including;
- Eating the recommended daily portions of fruit and vegetables
- The environmental impacts of different foods and choosing those with lower environmental impact
- Ways to reduce food waste in their homes and at school
The Small Change Big Difference campaign is part of the TRiFOCAL London project; an innovative pilot campaign funded by the EU LIFE programme and managed by a partnership between WRAP, LWARB and Groundwork London. Peter Maddox, Director of WRAP, said “It’s very exciting for Small Change Big Difference to be recognised by HundrED for the novel way it is engaging with school children on these important issues. The campaign is unique in combining the three core themes of reducing food waste, healthy and sustainable eating, and increasing food waste recycling.
“This important accolade will help us to share our learnings from the London pilot projects and influence the development of sustainable food systems in other cities, worldwide.”
The Schools programme is delivered by Groundwork London. Lindy Kelly, Groundwork’s Chief Executive, said “We’re pleased to be recognised as education experts, creating new methods of learning in an inner-city context. The innovation of this project is evident from the impact on pupils and teachers across the capital.”
HundrED partnered with MUSE School, a sustainability driven day school in Calabasas CA, to identify ten innovations in K12* that have the potential to increase sustainability in schools across the globe. Dubbed HundrED’s Spotlight on Sustainability, the initiative shares impactful, scalable innovations that address educational solutions to overcome the growing environmental challenges facing the planet.
Innovations were scored by an advisory board, and the ten recipients selected on their scores for impact, scalability and for addressing sustainability in education in a fresh way. Saku Tuominen, CEO of HundrED, said “What the world desperately needs is evidence based and scalable education innovations on this field. Luckily there are forerunners, like the organisations behind Small Change Big Difference which have been working on this area for 2 years. Our mission is to put a spotlight on them. We express our sincere gratitude, encouragement and enthusiasm to Small Change Big Difference and the many individuals and organisations around the world who are dedicated to this common goal.”
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Notes to Editor
- *Kindergarten to year 12.
- In addition to receiving recognition at the Sustainability Summit attended by leading environmental advocates, authors and education leaders the awarded programme also featured in a dedicated video and the inaugural Sustainability in Education Report - promoted globally.
- HundrED has created an online platform that educators around the world can search, trial and review Small Change Big Difference, as well as receive free 24/7 support: www.hundred.org
- About HundrED Finnish based, HundrED.org is a not-for-profit organisation that seeks and shares inspiring innovations in K12 education. HundrED’s goal is to help improve education through encouraging pedagogically sound, ambitious innovations to spread across the world. Since 2016, HundrED has been conducting rigorous research to find and select 100 inspiring innovations of that year, annually. All the insights and selected innovations are documented, packaged and shared with educators around the world. For more information, please visit: http://www.hundred.org or follow us on Twitter at @HundrED.org or Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HundrEDorg/
- About MUSE School The mission of MUSE School is to inspire and prepare young people to live consciously with themselves, one another, and the planet. For more information, please visit: http://www.museschool.org
- About TRiFOCAL TRiFOCAL London – Transforming City FOod hAbits for Life, is an initiative being led by Resource London - the partnership between WRAP and LWARB - together with Groundwork London. The organisations won a bid with the LIFE programme of the European Commission to deliver the initiative in London, which will be a test bed for other European cities. For more information please visit: http://trifocal.eu.com
- About WRAP First established in 2000, WRAP is a not for profit organisation and registered charity whose vision is a world where resources are used sustainably. WRAP works with governments, businesses and communities to deliver practical solutions to improve resource efficiency. Our mission is to accelerate the move to a sustainable resource-efficient economy through:
i. re-inventing how we design, produce and sell products,
ii. re-thinking how we use and consume products, and
iii. re-defining what is possible through re-use and recycling
- About LWARB The London Waste and Recycling Board (LWARB) has a remit to improve waste management in the capital. LWARB has developed a circular economy route map with the aim of turning London into a circular city, and will continue to deliver a series of initiatives to accelerate this transition.
- About Groundwork London Groundwork London is a social and environmental regeneration charity (registered charity no. 1121105). For almost 20 years we’ve been at the forefront of environmental and social regeneration in London; changing places and lives for the better, in some of the capital’s most disadvantaged neighbourhoods. In today’s challenging social and economic climate, the work we do has never been more important; creating better places, improving people’s economic prospects and helping people to live and work in a more sustainable way. Our three over-arching objectives are:
- Creating better places – supporting people to work collectively to make their surroundings greener, safer and healthier and be actively involved in the way decisions are made about services in their area.
- Promoting greener living and working – helping people and businesses learn more about their environmental impact and act responsibly to reduce natural resource use and improve their health.
- Improving people’s prospects – delivering support to increase the confidence, skills, well-being and employability of those furthest removed from the labour market, in particular young people.
- For more information visit www.groundwork.org.uk/london or follow us on Twitter @GroundworkLON or on Facebook www.facebook.com/GroundworkLondon