Royal Garden Party invite for climate education champion

One of the key figures behind the University’s mission to improve national climate education was a guest at a Buckingham Palace garden party in recognition of the work.

Professor Andrew Charlton-Perez, Head of the School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences, attended the royal garden party on Wednesday 3 May, in celebration of the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III, after being nominated by the Department for Education.

Together with a team of colleagues from the University and several external partners, Professor Charlton-Perez has worked closely with the UK Government to bring about improvements in how young people are taught about climate change and the environment in schools and other settings.

He was instrumental in the creation of the Climate Ambassador Scheme, which is providing bespoke advice on cutting carbon emissions and inserting climate education into teaching activities to participating schools around the UK.

‘Incredible team’

Professor Charlton-Perez said: "It was such a wonderful experience to be able to attend the Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace to celebrate the coronation.

“I feel really honoured that the work the University has been doing on improving climate education has been recognised in this way. We have an incredible team working on this at the University that I was representing including Dawn Aggas, Fiona Blair and Dylan Parkes and many other colleagues.

“I also want to say a huge thank you to all of the volunteer climate ambassadors across the UK who have given their time to help schools, colleges and nurseries. A big theme in the coronation celebrations was the personal commitment of the King towards engaging young people with nature and the climate and biodiversity crises.

“I'm looking forward to continuing work with our many partners to help make better sustainability and climate education a reality for all young people."

Partnering for the Planet

The University’s climate education work began with a Climate Education Summit in September 2021 at which partner organisations such as the Met Office, campaigners, policymakers, teachers and young people came together to discuss ways to empower the next generation with knowledge and skills to tackle the climate and ecological crises facing the planet.

This led to the creation of a national action plan, launched at the COP26 UN climate summit in Glasgow, in partnership with the Department for Education.

Find out more about the University’s work on climate education on our Partnering for the Planet website.