#OnlyOneEarth: Supporting Professional Development for a Sustainable Future

“In the end, we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; and we will understand only what we are taught.” ― Baba Dioum

Here in the North Devon UNESCO Biosphere, we have always believed in the need to inspire a positive and sustainable future by connecting people and nature; to do this we need to celebrate and support the importance of education.

The importance of sustainability needs to be interwoven into every fabric of our society, but most importantly, it needs to start with the education of our youngsters –therein lies our future.

“There are exciting times ahead as we work collaboratively to prioritise education for sustainable development.” ― Andy Bell

Andy Bell and Sarah Jordan were recently interviewed for The Education and Training Foundation’s (ETF)
T Level Professional Development courses, funded by the Department for Education, for the Agriculture, Environment and Animal Care, and separately Catering Route and T Level courses. The courses will be available at no charge, to Further Education and Training sector colleagues, online through the ETF FutureLearn platform from September 2022, one year in advance of first T Level delivery.

Cerian Ayres, National Head of Technical Education at the ETF said, "Education is an enabler - Providing access to inclusive, high-quality learning experiences is essential if we are to prioritise sustainable development. Teachers are the single biggest external influence on learners’ progress in, engagement with, understanding and enjoyment of their subject. Placing sustainability at the heart of the curriculum and embedding sustainability throughout teaching and training will empower learners to take informed decisions, and responsible actions, for environmental integrity, economic viability, and social justice. I would therefore like to thank the North Devon Biosphere Reserve team and business partner colleagues - Peter Brend, Director - Saunton Sands Hotel and team, Sean Mackeney, CEO and Principal - Petroc College and colleagues, and Paul Coles, CEO - South West Business Council for their valuable contributions to the Education and Training Foundation’s T Level Professional Development Courses."

T Levels are new gold standard, Level 3 technical qualifications, that have been delivered since September 2020 by teachers and are designed to bring Education and industry closer together so that learners have a ‘clear line of sight to work’ and gives a purposeful and visual signpost to young people. The North Devon Biosphere Team are really pleased to be supporting the professional development of teachers, managers, and leaders in the FE sector, who will be working to deliver positive outcomes for learners here in North Devon and England-wide.

"It is vital for our future workforce to learn about environmental sustainability to ensure an economy that is future proofed and for our biosphere to remain a special place for generations to come.” ― Sarah Jordan.

Colleagues spoke about the Biosphere Reserve designation, what is meant by sustainable development, the digital biosphere and the variety of programmes and projects that the team are involved with locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally.

The North Devon Biosphere Reserve is one of 737 UNESCO Biosphere Reserves worldwide. The message was clear - we are preparing learners for  the world of work as global citizens.

This year’s 2022 World Environment Day campaign, #OnlyOneEarth , calls for collective, transformative action to celebrate, protect and restore our planet. Andy and Sarah discussed how knowledge, skills and behaviours required to ensure a sustainable future for the biosphere and beyond, shared our core focus of ‘Acting Locally, and Thinking Globally’, exploring how to address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) throughout our everyday working practices. They emphasised that we cannot hope to address for example, the SDG of Clean Air or Climate Action, if we don’t also address Health and Wellbeing, Quality Education, Decent Work for Economic Growth and Partnerships for Goals, as all SDG’s have interdependencies. Collaborative partnership working is key, and both colleagues expressed how pleased they were to work with the ETF to share their approaches, practices, and insights.

We are currently looking for a highly motivated work experience student to provide website and IT support of our internal software systems and reviewing their effectiveness for business use. Applications will open shortly, and the job specification will be advertised on our careers page. ​The team hope to offer T Level learners a range of industry placements, here at the North Devon UNESCO Biosphere, in the future. 

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