Education & Engagement
Engagement with communities, business and other public bodies is an inherent aspect of all of the eight thematic areas however there is a distinct need to ensure that all of this engagement is co-ordinated and mutually supportive to ensure that the maximum impact can be made in terms of influence. In this respect an Engagement Plan has been compiled and will be updated and developed as further areas and opportunities emerge. This Plan encompasses and showcases the engagement activities to be undertaken, including public campaigns and provides a clear timeline of engagement activities to drive behaviour change, support staff, engage with elected members, work with schools and students, partner with local residents and businesses. Key contacts and key influencers are recorded across the PK area.
We constantly seek to engage through new opportunities and are keen to establish links as widely as possible via this web site. We recognise the scale of this challenge, acknowledging engagement plays a vital role if we are to achieve the significant societal and technological shifts required to move us from a carbon-based economy to a carbon free and resilient future.
Education has been highlighted as a theme in its own right as it is important to recognise that Climate Change will impact disproportionately on the younger members of our society. It is our duty to minimise the impact by acting now whilst preparing our children and young people for the challenges facing their generation and future ones. It is important that we ensure that our young people are climate literate as well as recognising and nurturing their interest in climate change by recognising their right to a voice and ensure their views are acted upon. This is a high impact area; the UK’s Commission on Climate Change has identified that 59% of necessary emissions reductions require some element of behavioural change to be achieved. This will be especially important in achieving our transport, buildings and waste ambitions. Using schools as conduit for education can be especially powerful as often through what a child learns, it is possible to influence behaviour in their wider family.
An Engagement Plan has been developed as a means of mapping engagement and stakeholders across a wide spectrum – this will be maintained ‘live’ and our aim to be as comprehensive as possible. The Plan maintains a database of stakeholder groups and individuals sorted by interest area and level of influence.
The Plan, amongst other things, collates a list of projects/activities linked to Engagement. For example: -
- linking with the Corporate Events team to run ‘pop-up’ stalls at regular market type events to promote general climate change activity or specific action groups work;
- developing in-house climate change training materials for Council staff and elected members;
- developing climate change induction materials as part of the overall portfolio for new elected members;
- developing climate change briefing materials or community councils;
- linking with Community Planning Partnership to have climate change activity on the ongoing agenda;
- continued support of the climate commission as it develops and engaging with residents and businesses as part of the Perth and Kinross Offer;
- developing engagement plans for young people;
- continuing to develop approaches for climate education in Learning for Sustainability;
- reviewing and revising school operations.
A climate emergency has been declared internationally and recognised by both the UK and Scottish Governments. The key long-term target is to ensure Perth and Kinross is Net Zero by 2045 at the latest. To achieve this, the majority of action required must be underway by 2030.
A key consideration in developing the Road Map is the duty placed on Councils by the UN Convention on Children’s Rights, this requires that children and young people are involved in the decisions that affect their lives and that children’s rights are always respected, protected and fulfilled by public authorities. Climate change is an issue that young people are particularly passionate about.
The main policy document related to this this is that Scotland’s “Vision 2030+ Report”. This provides a strategic plan and recommendations on how the Scottish Government will support Learning for Sustainability up to 2030. The main recommendations include: all learners should have an entitlement to Learning for Sustainability; every practitioner, school and education leader should demonstrate Learning for Sustainability in their practice; every school should have a “whole school approach” to Learning for Sustainability that is robust, demonstrable, evaluated and supported by leadership at all levels; and school buildings, grounds and policies should support Learning for Sustainability.
The following road map provides an overview of the actions which Perth & Kinross Council will undertake to increase Education and Engagement on climate change.
One of the key challenges will be ensuring that there is consistent and coordinated messaging across all the communication channels and engagement tools. If messaging is overwhelming or contradictory it can put people off making changes.
Perth & Kinross Council already has many channels into our communities and businesses. It is necessary to capitalise on this existing engagement to convey climate messages to avoid multiple teams duplicating engagement.
Perth & Kinross Council has successfully run two Youth Climate Conferences and is planning a third for late 2024. This has been an opportunity to effectively engage with children and younger people on environmental and planning topics. We aim to empower young people to help them be involved in the design and envisioning to build positive community action.
The following Key Performance Indicators have been developed to enable progress and monitor climate action related to Education and Engagement.
Key Theme |
Performance Indicator |
Baseline Value |
General |
Views on Climate Change Webpage and Social Media channels |
Reaching over 60k in 2023/24 |
Community Groups |
Number of community groups active on climate change related projects |
142 community groups and 125 climate action related projects throughout Perth and Kinross have been mapped (June 2024). |
Schools |
% of schools with Eco School Status |
27 eco schools (2024) |
| PKC Staff | Number of PKC Staff Climate Cafe members | 73 members as of June 2024 |
PKC Staff |
Staff who have completed the climate change eLearning module |
Since launching the e-learning module for Climate Change, there have been 1990 completions and 760 are ‘In progress’ (June 2024) |