Product reviews for Leadership for Sustainability

The government’s recent announcement that all schools are nurseries are to have designated sustainability leads by 2025 might be viewed in some quarters as another responsibility heaped on schools already overstretched. There is no doubting that schools will need support and no better source can be found that David Dixon’s Leadership for Sustainability. Drawing on extensive experience and expertise in the field, Dixon shows how headteachers and other leaders can move beyond paying lip service to sustainability by integrating green learning throughout the school community. He achieves this by offering down-to-earth advice covering five Cs of sustainability – captaincy, curriculum, campus, community and connections. The appendices also provide a useful set of practical tools, from designing mission and curriculum statements to policies on procurement, food, waste and utilities. There are reminders of how simple actions can save money and C02, for example turning off all stand-bys can represent a saving of £124 a year and 155 kg of CO2. But this is not a dry read. It is packed with ideas on how to engage learners so that they can think critically for themselves about the global environmental challenges we face. It shows how the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals can become a reality in the life of a school. The author’s candid rather than preachy tone leaves the reader feeling that sustainable schools are within the reach of all leaders who have the courage to act. This is a book which should move all to action. Now.