The MET Office predict more frequent summer heatwaves, lower rainfall in the summer, and greater rainfall in the winter. We are already feeling some of these impacts.
School grounds offer a great opportunity to reduce the impacts of climate change on the school, and wider neighbourhood. Many of these opportunities use nature, so also provide additional benefits of nature recovery and biodiversity.
Do you want to enrich your school site? Read on for information on what we provide at Essex County Council that can help your school be more climate resilient and biodiverse, and signposting to some useful resources.
Flood Resilience - Turning grey to green
Start with knowing your flood risk, and observing where rain water naturally flows and pools on your school grounds. Check your Flood Risk here: Check if you’re at risk of flooding.
Then consider installing a combination of sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) to store and slow the flow of water such as: removing concrete surfaces and planting more trees, rain gardens, water butts, green roofs and Sustainable Drainage Planters. Trees and green roofs have the added benefit of cooling building that are hot in the summer.
See some examples of our work on school grounds here. If your school is in a high flood risk area, you may be eligible to receive support for flood resilience measures, please contact environment@essex.gov for more information.
🌧️RESOURCES: Water Butts store excess rain water. Get 50% off the price of water butts for your school here: Get composting.
🌳RESOURCES: Apply for free tree packs from The Conservation Volunteers here: Trees for Schools | Trees for Cities.
WATER SHORTAGES AND WATER QUALITY
Did you know Essex is also extremely water-stressed? Only 3/5 of the drinking water consumed comes from the county itself!
The Essex Water Strategy outlines what water challenges Essex is vulnerable to and steps that can be taken to address them. Aimed at high schools, The Essex Water Your Future interactive guide - click on image below - provides a fun but high-level overview of the water challenges facing Essex, solutions, links to Essex Case studies and further resources.
This tool can be used in different class room settings, please contact floods@essex.gov.uk for more information, or suggestions to make this even more school friendly.
For more detailed information on information above please consult Section 6. Outdoor Space of the Schools Advice Pack pg 44-45