What a schools roundtable revealed about the future of

Written by our assistant director for public sector decarbonisation, Simon Pettett

Although we asked what matters most in decarbonisation, the conversation didn’t stay focused on buildings, boilers or funding for long.

It quickly broadened to leadership, collaboration and how sustainability can become part of everyday school life. 

Participants talked about biodiversity, food waste, outdoor learning, careers education and pupil engagement. Rather than seeing sustainability as a separate initiative, they described how it can support wider educational outcomes and become part of a school's culture.

There was also an important reminder that engaging communities starts with listening. Participants talked about speaking to families first, finding out what matters to them and starting from where individual schools and communities are, rather than assuming the same approach will work everywhere.

Making activity visible matters too. Celebrating achievements, sharing tangible outcomes and making a school's environmental commitments clear can help build interest and engagement within the school and beyond its gates.

Having worked on school decarbonisation programmes for many years, I've seen how the conversation has evolved. Funding, technology and delivery remain important. However, organisations are increasingly asking a different set of questions.

How do we build confidence? How do we create momentum? How do we make sustainability a part of the way we work rather than a one-off project?

These questions reflect a wider shift. Successful decarbonisation is not only about improving buildings. 

It is also about creating the right conditions for lasting change.

What struck me was that very little time was spent discussing why schools should decarbonise. Instead, the conversation focused on how to make it happen.

Participants spoke openly about finding time within busy organisations, securing leadership support and building the confidence needed to take action. 

Leadership came through particularly strongly. Senior leaders can be critical drivers of progress, but participants also recognised that building their confidence and engagement takes time. One approach will not work for every organisation. 

Some participants highlighted sustainability alongside educational outcomes and school performance. Others focused on making support visible and building knowledge and confidence.

The group also discussed the challenge of managing an ever-growing range of guidance, frameworks and resources.

What organisations value most is not necessarily more information. They want practical examples, trusted networks and opportunities to learn from others who have already faced similar challenges.

The ambition is there. The challenge now is turning that ambition into action – and, crucially, sustaining it over the long term.

Although the roundtable focused on schools, I suspect many organisations across the public sector would recognise similar barriers. Whether you're working in education, housing or local government, progress often depends as much on people and organisational capability as it does on technical expertise.

One of the things that I've always valued about working with schools is their willingness to share experiences openly, and that was evident throughout the session.

Participants were just as willing to discuss challenges as they were to celebrate successes. Those honest conversations often provide the most valuable learning.

The discussion also highlighted something we perhaps don't acknowledge enough: every decarbonisation project leaves a legacy beyond the building itself.

Projects create practical knowledge, stronger partnerships and greater confidence among the people involved.

Organisations learn what works, what doesn't and how to navigate challenges along the way. That learning has value beyond any single project.

A school that has successfully engaged senior leaders, involved pupils in sustainability initiatives or overcome delivery challenges can help others move forward more quickly. The lessons learnt in one setting often have relevance far beyond that organisation or sector.

The more opportunities we create to share experiences, the greater the value of every project becomes.

The conversation around public sector decarbonisation is maturing.

It is no longer only about technology or funding. It is increasingly about leadership, confidence and embedding sustainability into the way organisations think, plan and work.

At Salix, we're fortunate to hear these conversations across a range of sectors. One of our roles is to identify common themes and create opportunities for organisations to learn from one another.

Every sector faces unique challenges, but many of the solutions are shared.

Delivering successful decarbonisation projects will always matter,. but their greatest legacy may not simply be the technology installed or the carbon reduction achieved.

It may be the knowledge, capability and confidence that remains long after a project is complete. By sharing that learning across the public sector, every project has the potential to deliver value far beyond the buildings it improves.