Brighton and Lewes Downs (The Living Coast) UNESCO Biosphere's 'Our City, Our World' environmental education programme leads the way

Introduction to the Programme

The Our City, Our World (OCOW) programme enables schools, individuals and communities to learn effectively about sustainability, climate change and the environment and to develop skills and understanding about how to address local and global challenges.

Taking a 'whole school' approach, the OCOW programme has the following four aims:

• Develop an integrated environmental education curriculum gradually and systematically ‘greening’ the curriculum and supporting the development of green skills
• Enable children and young people to develop a close connection with nature and The Living Coast to support health & wellbeing and develop pro-sustainability behaviours
• Develop school organisational systems and practices which support sustainability and local Net Zero targets
• Empower children and their families to become changemakers both personally and collectively and develop climate leadership skills in young people

Funding Success

In the last year, the Our City Our World programme won £100,000 from Let's Go Zero to strengthen its local footprint in secondary schools and roll out in other areas of the UK.

The funding has enabled the creation of regional centres in Brent, Bedford, Leicester, and North Devon (another UNESCO Biosphere) to deliver their own local version of Our City, Our World, called 'Our Schools Our World'.

National Recognition

Our City, Our World has been recognised by the Department for Education, National Education Union and National Climate Education Action Plan. In 2024, it was recently highlighted as a best-practice case study in ‘Local action for a global challenge’ – a report by the Carbon Disclosure Project about local councils’ climate actions.

More information on Our City, Our World programme

More information on Brighton and Lewes Downs (The Living Coast) UNESCO Biosphere