I’m often asked where schools can get help to support actions on the Climate Action Plan. This is the first in a series of blogs exploring what has been successful for schools and where you could go for help – in this case – local business.

The truth is that climate action at a meaningful scale requires skills, resources, and relationships that most schools don’t have sitting in a stock cupboard. Energy audits, biodiversity surveys, sustainable procurement, curriculum enrichment, green careers guidance, the knowledge needed spans disciplines that go well beyond what any one staff team can cover.

But that knowledge exists in the businesses, organisations, and individuals who are already working on these things, often right on your doorstep. The question is how to find them, approach them, and make the partnership genuinely work for both sides.

This blog isn’t about corporate sponsorship or logo-on-the-newsletter arrangements, though they can have their place and my be worth a different blog if people are interested. It’s about building real, purposeful relationships that benefit pupils and help local businesses demonstrate their own commitment to sustainability.

Why local businesses might want to work with you

Before you pick up the phone, it helps to understand what’s in it for them.

Increasingly, businesses, especially those with sustainability commitments or ESG reporting requirements, are looking for ways to demonstrate community impact. Volunteering in schools, mentoring, or practical project support all count towards that. Sending a member of staff to run a session with Year 9 costs the business relatively little; the reputational and reporting value can be significant.

Beyond ESG, there’s a genuine skills pipeline argument. Businesses that work with schools today are building relationships with future employees. For sectors facing green skills shortages such as renewable energy, engineering, construction, and land management that is a huge pull factor. (We do see this with Carbon Literacy – hence Carbon Literacy in education is a great link)

And for smaller, locally-rooted businesses, working with a school can simply be the right thing to do. Many business owners do care – they are parents and community members after all.

So don’t complicate things: “We are developing our climate action plan and think your expertise could genuinely help our pupils. We would love to explore what that might look like.”

What business partnerships can actually look like

• Expert talks and careers input

• A simple starting point – local engineer, ecologist, renewable energy developer, urban planner, or sustainable food producer comes in for a session to talk about their work. This is low-commitment for the business but it works for the pupils. I used to do something similar for my Year 6s every year for careers with my ‘Aspirations’ programme.

• It also connects climate education to green careers in a concrete way, which is increasingly important given the government’s green skills agenda.

• The Climate Ambassadors scheme

Worth knowing about if you don’t already. The DfE-funded Climate Ambassadors programme trains volunteers from businesses, universities, and the public sector to provide free, tailored support to schools developing their climate action plans. Over 250 ambassadors were active in the scheme’s first 18 months, reaching more than 80,000 learners across 500 settings.

Businesses can register their staff as Climate Ambassadors – and schools can request one through the STEM Learning platform. It’s a structured, supported route into exactly this kind of partnership.

Find out more: climateambassadors.org.uk — schools can request an ambassador, businesses can register staff.

• Practical projects on school grounds

Local landscaping companies, ecology consultancies, conservation volunteers, and environmental charities have all supported schools with practical outdoor projects. From planting and rewilding to biodiversity surveys and pond creation. These partnerships work particularly well when they’re linked to curriculum (geography, biology, PSHE) so the project has educational value beyond the event itself.

• Energy and infrastructure support

Some of the most impactful business-school partnerships have involved energy. The National Grid partnered with Solar for Schools to fund solar installations at two Birmingham secondary schools – Ark Victoria Academy and Ark Kings Academy – funding solar systems projected to save £1.2 million over their lifetime and delivering energy workshops to around 2,000 pupils as part of the project.

The government’s Great British Energy solar programme has now committed funding for solar panels at over 250 schools across England, with the first installations already in place. While this is government-led rather than a direct business partnership, local energy companies and installers are involved in delivery — and schools can explore whether local suppliers might support smaller-scale projects.

The Wey Valley Solar Schools Co-operative in Surrey is a community-owned model: local people funded solar installations on six state secondary school roofs, generating income and providing each school with discounted renewable energy.

• Curriculum enrichment and real-world briefs

Some businesses have worked with schools to set genuine sustainability challenges for pupils – essentially using school projects as low-stakes innovation opportunities. A local food producer asking a Year 10 year group to analyse their packaging waste, or a construction company briefing a design technology class on sustainable materials, turns curriculum into something with real stakes and real-world application.

The Climate Change All Change (CCAC) programme is a good model here: designers from a range of disciplines partner with primary schools to help pupils develop climate literacy through creative design challenges, championing professional practice and giving pupils genuine contact with working practitioners.

Real examples worth knowing about

National Grid + Solar for Schools — Birmingham

National Grid committed £2.7 million to help schools in areas of high economic deprivation install solar. The first recipients, Ark Victoria Academy and Ark Kings Academy, installed solar systems projected to save £1.2m over their lifetime and cut more than 1,153 tonnes of CO₂. Around 2,000 pupils received hands-on energy and sustainability workshops as part of the project.

Source: nationalgrid.co.uk

Great British Energy Solar Programme — England-wide

The government’s Great British Energy has funded solar installations at over 250 schools across England, with 23 already installed as of early 2026. Schools report energy bill reductions of up to 35%, with savings reinvested into education. The programme also aims to develop green skills and inspire pupils into clean energy careers.

Source: gov.uk/government/news

Wey Valley Solar Schools Co-operative — Surrey

A community-owned energy co-operative set up in 2011 installed 238kW of solar panels across six state secondary schools in Surrey. Schools receive discounted renewable energy and a share of surplus generated. An example of community finance — not corporate partnership — making infrastructure change possible.

Source: renewableenergyhub.co.uk

Climate Change All Change — National

A small charity matching professional designers with primary schools to deliver climate literacy through creative projects. Designers bring real-world practice into the classroom; pupils develop sustainability vocabulary and design-led thinking. The programme addresses the decline in design specialist teachers while building climate understanding.

Source: Chartered College of Teaching (2024)

How to find and approach local partners

You don’t need a formal procurement process. Start with who you already know.

• Parents who work in relevant sectors, e.g. renewable energy, ecology, sustainable food, built environment, local government
• Your local Chamber of Commerce or Business Improvement District – many have sustainability working groups
• Local colleges and universities
• Businesses who already supply to you – caterers, grounds maintenance, facilities – may be further along on sustainability than you’d expect
• Community energy groups, wildlife trusts, and conservation volunteers

Tip: A warm introduction always beats a cold email. Ask your business manager, governors, or parent community who they know before reaching out to strangers.

When you do make contact, be specific. Vague asks get vague responses. Be concrete about what you need: a two-hour session, a site visit, a brief for a class project. The more specific the ask, the easier it is to say yes.

What can realistically be achieved

Use this to think through what kind of partnership would work for your school right now:

Quick wins (one-off, low resource)

• Invite a local business to contribute to a careers assembly or climate lesson
• Ask a local energy company or installer for a site visit or energy audit
• Request a Climate Ambassador through the STEM Learning platform
• Connect with a local wildlife trust or conservation volunteer group for a grounds day

Medium-term projects (half-term to full year)

• Set a real sustainability brief for a class project, co-designed with a local business
• Work with a community energy group to explore solar feasibility for your site
• Establish a regular visiting practitioner programme linking to your curriculum
• Partner with a local food business or grower on a school growing project

Longer-term ambitions (multi-year)

• Develop a formal school-business sustainability partnership with shared goals
• Explore community-funded renewable energy for the school estate
• Create a green careers pathway embedded across year groups, supported by local employers
• Contribute your model to your MAT, local authority, or regional schools network

Making it stick

The partnerships that work are the ones with a clear purpose on both sides, a named contact at the business, and a member of school staff who owns the relationship.

That last part matters more than anything else. Business partnerships wither when there’s no one at the school championing them. If you can, link the partnership to your sustainability lead, your eco council, or a specific curriculum area.

And when it works, shout about it! Share it with your governors, your trust, your local authority. The more visible these partnerships are, the more other businesses will consider getting involved.

The bottom line

The expertise, resources, and enthusiasm you need are almost certainly already in your community. The barrier is rarely willingness, it’s usually just the first conversation.

Local businesses want to demonstrate their sustainability credentials. Pupils need contact with the real world of climate work. Schools need support that goes beyond what a staff team can provide alone.

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If you’d like support identifying partnership opportunities or developing your school’s climate action plan, get in touch.

References and further reading

Climate Ambassadors — climateambassadors.org.uk

STEM Learning — request a Climate Ambassador

National Grid — New partnership to help schools adopt solar power

GOV.UK — Schools to cut bills with Great British Energy solar panels

Wey Valley Solar Schools Co-operative — Renewable Energy Hub

Climate Change All Change — Chartered College of Teaching case study (2024)

DfE Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy

NGA — Environmental sustainability: a whole school approach (2024)