Overview
In this thematic review, we share lessons learned from incorporating environmental sustainability into our STEM outreach programmes and activities. These can be used by providers wanting to imbed environmental sustainability into their own outreach activities.
Key learnings and recommendations include student outcomes from environmental sustainability content, challenges to delivering successful environmental sustainability activities, and ideas for how to develop a programme or activity that includes environmental sustainability.
Lessons learned from EngineeringUK programme evaluations:
Incorporating environmental sustainability content into outreach programmes
Who this is for
- Researchers
- STEM outreach providers
- Teachers
Key findings
- Incorporating environmental sustainability content into our outreach activities helped students understand the role of engineers in creating solutions to environmental problems
- Challenges to delivering successful environmental sustainability activities include school budget, time and resource limitations
- Other challenges include students needing to engage with environmental sustainability material repeatedly and in a variety of ways
- Environmental sustainability content should be regularly adapted and updated to make sure outreach programmes remain relevant and engaging for students and schools
- Providers should link their resources with other environmental sustainability activities as well as the curriculum to enable a more holistic and sustained approach
I think it's important that students have a good climate education and that, actually, can be said for the school as a whole. We are doing a fair number of pushes too, particularly in science, to include a number of climate based activities to get students thinking about climate change and what they can do to help.
— Teacher interview from Climate Schools Programme evaluation
It [environmental sustainability] feels like a hot topic, and it affects the world now and what they'll [students] have as a world in the coming years. So, I feel like sustainability is such a good thing to ingrain when they are young. Because then it becomes common practice. I really think sustainability would be a good focal point.
— Teacher interview from Big Bang at School Blueprint evaluation
