Climate change: Carmarthenshire school's zero-carbon secondary bid

Pupils say looking after the environment is "a matter of our lives"

By Tomos Lewis
BBC News

A school is hoping to become the first carbon-neutral secondary in Wales.

Ysgol Bro Dinefwr, near Llandeilo in Carmarthenshire, has been working with an energy company and suppliers in an effort to cut and offset their carbon emissions.

Plans include growing food on site, planting trees and wildlife gardens.

But an environmental expert warned there needed to be a "cultural shift" across Wales for all public bodies to reach the zero-carbon target by 2030.

Ian Chriswick, assistant head teacher at the school said: "We're looking to increase the number of solar cells on our roof space, we're also hopefully in the future going to redirect our main energy power source from the local wind turbine.

"We're going to be installing electric vehicle charge points in our car park for staff and also visitors to the area to use in the future."

Ysgol Bro Dinefwr hopes to be a pilot for other schools

Mr Chriswick said the school hoped it could be a "pilot case" and the first of many schools to become carbon-neutral.

But he admitted the school had an advantage, with the building being only five years old.

Neil Lewis, manager of Carmarthenshire Energy which has collaborated with the school, said: "We want the school spending their money on education, not on energy bills.

"So we're working on plans to create a sustainable school for the future in Ysgol Bro Dinefwr, where the business model stacks up and we can demonstrate the value of that model to other schools in Carmarthenshire and further afield."

The Welsh government set the goal for all public bodies, including schools, to be carbon-neutral by 2030 - just nine years away.

But Dr Lewis believes more urgent action is required.

"I think a cultural shift needs to happen in public bodies. It's all very well to declare a climate emergency, but you've got to act on that with a sense of urgency," he said.

"From my point of view for someone who's been doing this job for 10 years, I'm not detecting the level of urgency that climate change requires."

A Welsh government spokesman said: "It is absolutely right to say that we need a Team Wales approach to tackling climate change, one where we all work together and play our part.

"We recently published our public sector net zero reporting guide to estimate baseline emissions, identify priority sources and to monitor progress towards meeting the target collective ambition of a carbon neutral public sector by 2030."

What is Ysgol Bro Dinefwr doing?

The school has been working with organisations, companies and charities on projects including a large outdoor learning area, an outdoor performance area and a peace garden.

One of the largest projects, in collaboration with the Royal Society and Swansea University, involves using a polytunnel to investigate which plants might grow best using hydroponics technology.

It is hoped it could lead to a "vertical farm" on school walls and roofs to produce food without the need for soil.

The salad crops they are already growing will be used in cookery lessons.

They are also looking at how food is procured for the school canteen to focus on local produce and reduce transport emissions.

The school is also:

  • Creating an art wall in the outdoor learning area

  • Establishing a bee keeping area

  • Building raised beds for growing plants and vegetables

  • Building a pond

  • Creating a sensory garden for the school's autistic unit

  • Working to switch the school energy supply to be 100% renewable

Angharad says it is nice to be involved on "lots of different levels"

Angharad, a Year 13 pupil, said: "I think, especially in light of the growing environmental movement that our age group's been so involved in, it's really nice to have something where we have a real sense of agency and we can be involved on lots of different levels."

Cerys, who is in Year 12, added: "It's a matter of our lives now. I think it should be important to everyone, and this is why we've started the outdoor learning area, so that we can protect the environment and try and combat climate change."

Chloe, from Year 9, said: "This whole garden, it's supposed to focus on the environment and appreciating the world around us and I think it brings that back home to pupils in the school - because to have this area where it's full of natural beauty, it makes us appreciate what we've got here."

Cerys says protecting the environment should be important to everyone

Beyond the environmental benefits of the projects on site, teachers said they had found the pupils had engaged with subjects differently when working outdoors.

Owen Rhys, head of history, said: "This is taking them out of their comfort zone and actually showing them that they really enjoy working outdoors.

"As teachers and students we've been able to work on a project, outdoors, rather than being in a classroom, and definitely after the last year that we've had with Covid, it's been a godsend really in the fact that we've been able to take the students outside and get them to enjoy the fresh air and work with each other."

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