On Friday the 14th of November, Colchester Zoological Society welcomed around 80 teachers to a Teacher Climate Action Planning CPD Day.
Deputy Mayor of Colchester, Cllr Andrew Ellis, attended the event showing his support for this initiative ahead of his Mayoral role in 2026 in which he plans to focus on wellbeing, community, green spaces, gardening, and the restorative power of nature.
From improving energy efficiency, and increasing biodiversity on school grounds, to embedding climate education across the curriculum, Colchester Zoological Society’s CPD Day was designed to help schools take achievable steps towards sustainability.
Directly supporting wider local and regional climate goals, by equipping schools to lead on sustainability within their communities, this event was designed to help build a generation of young people who understand the importance of environmental responsibility and community action.
Throughout the day, teachers joined in on workshops and discussions led by local councils, education networks, and environmental organisations, focused on turning ambition into measurable impact.
With the aim to support schools from across the region in developing their school-based Climate Action Plans (CAP), the event was a huge success. Teachers took away a clear action framework, resources, and support to implement change within their school.
CZS would like to thank the following organisations who kindly presented to all the teachers at the CPD day, without these vital contributions the day would not have been as successful and provided the outcomes intended: Colchester City Council, Essex County Council, Essex Local Nature Recovery, Climate Ambassadors, National Education Nature Park, Let’s Go Zero Schools, ProVeg, Ministry for Eco-Education, Net Zero Carbon Ltd.
“This has been the perfect fit for CZS as a conservation focused organisation. We hope to build on this and stay in touch with all the teachers that came to the event to support them in delivering their Climate Action Plans” – Stella Ramey, Conservation Education Manager at CZS
Here at CZS we are committed to conservation and caring for wildlife and wild places, therefore assisting schools with their climate action plan was the perfect opportunity for us to help raise the importance of sustainability and the impact on the environment.
