Future UK ELT

What does the future hold for our classrooms, businesses, and communities? Can we use this moment to adopt better ways of working and living to address the climate crisis? Let’s work together to create a greener future for UK ELT and beyond.

On 24 February 2021, we held our first discussion to shape a collective vision for a sustainable and greener profession. The session brought hundreds of ideas and insights, which we’ve summarized below:

We continue refining this vision as the conversation grows!

Our vision

We began by imagining an ideal, sustainable future for ELT – what would it look like at best? This vision serves as a motivating goal, showing all we can gain by changing how we live and work. It also contrasts the risks of inaction.

The discussion envisioned a future where sustainability is at the heart of the language learning experience.

Sustainability at the heart of teaching

Students and teachers will benefit from engaging, paper-free or paper-light courses featuring outdoor environmental activities. Sustainability will be integrated into the syllabus, not as a standalone topic but woven throughout materials and practices.

Low energy, low waste centres

Students attending in-person classes arrive via low-emission transport at energy-efficient, low-waste centres. Inside, low-energy devices and recycling facilities are the norm, with good insulation and windows reducing emissions and costs.

In the canteen, students enjoy locally grown, plant-based meals. Those without reusable mugs or bottles are guided to a local eco or charity shop as part of their first immersive language lesson.

Old equipment, especially after summer courses, is donated to community groups and charities, extending its life, reducing waste, and strengthening ties with the local community. Outside, clean air, thriving green spaces, and clear rivers surround the school.

Online workshops and conferences

Industry events are primarily online, making them more accessible and affordable while reducing travel. These virtual conferences are designed to be engaging and minimize digital emissions.

In-person events have a new look—no single-use items or excessive waste. Delegates reuse tote bags and bottles from past events, plant-based buffets are standard, and environmental projects are celebrated.

A collective, inclusive movement

Language centres have united to adopt greener energy and practices, learning and supporting each other along the way. This movement champions equality, climate justice, and anti-discrimination.

We partner with organizations that share our environmental values and collaborate closely with local communities. Summer schools, publishers, and suppliers are chosen for their green credentials, and we work together to enhance policies and reduce environmental impact.

The future of language education is thriving, aligned with the values and needs of students, parents, staff, and the planet.

Change makers

Creating a greener future for UK ELT requires everyone- our industry, profession, partners, and local communities – working together. Future discussions will explore this in more detail.

If you’re collaborating with local communities, businesses, or partners to promote sustainability, share your efforts with us via email or LinkedIn. We’d love to highlight your success stories!

Further discussion about change makers

There is lots more to talk about in our next discussions, for example:

  • The different roles for teachers or directors, schools or publishers
  • The role of industry representatives (e.g. British Council, English UK)
  • Ideas of how to motivate different people/ organisations
  • Ideas for collective action or pressure we can apply for positive change.

Barriers

What obstacles stand in the way of our vision? While we couldn’t explore them fully, delegates highlighted key challenges: attitudes, organisational processes, financial limitations, and the industry’s reliance on flying. Here are our initial thoughts on these issues:

Changing attitudes

Shifting habits is challenging, and behavior change often meets resistance. The climate crisis has also become politically divisive. To overcome this, we need to focus on shared values and a hopeful vision for a better future.

Organisation structure

Changing larger organisations can be challenging due to more people and established systems. Involve a diverse group from the start to strengthen your efforts with different perspectives and concerns. Use clear evidence and collective support to drive change.

Costs

While some changes will incur costs, many others will create savings through lower energy use, fewer materials and reduced travel. We will definitely discuss this in more depth in future events!

READ MORE ABOUT THE COST OF GREEN ELT

Flying

The most conflicted area of discussion was around flying. There was the general feeling that UK ELT will still involve students visiting the UK to learn and some questions around whether flying should be a focus for a greener ELT.

READ MORE ABOUT UK ELT & FLYING

Further discussion about barriers

There are a number of topics, questions and challenges that would be interesting to explore further with our ELT colleagues, for example:

  • Bringing your team with you (thoughts around leading change ‘from above’)
  • Convincing leadership to support/ prioritise environmental change (‘from below’)
  • Overcoming restrictive organisational structures
  • Sharing experiences – how I changed X in my life, family, school or community
  • Reducing flying across the UK ELT industry
  • Changing personal mindsets

Next steps

The practical steps to building a better, fairer, greener industry are many. And our group shared lots of suggestions of how to move towards our ideal future UK ELT.

Together we noted that the current disruption is an opportunity to for change. And, while we must be mindful of the difficult situation UK ELT is in, we have also seen how dramatically we can change how we work, how innovative we can be with digital classrooms and conferences, and how we can change our behaviour to save lives.

We must build on this transformation to save lives, homes and livelihoods from the effects of climate and ecological disasters.

By this time next week…

Thinking about diving straight in and making changes immediately, the group said:

  • Talk to colleagues about environmental responsibility
  • Start/ continue moving towards a paper free environment
  • Switch to refillable board markers (and mix inks for bonus colours!)
  • Make sure we are recycling everything possible
  • Dress for the weather/ avoid unnecessary heating and cooling
  • Turn things off
  • Quit cheap single-use merchandising
  • Avoid single use plastics personally

And we would add:

Before two months have passed…

Thinking about the medium term, our group said they would:

  • Share green activities to inform and encourage others (@GreenActionELT and #GreenELT so we can find and share it too!)
  • Sign up for the cycle to work scheme
  • Check if the canteen is working with local food surplus network
  • Ask ELTons organisers to include a ‘green’ category
  • Ask publishers to stop giving e-materials an expiration date
  • Write a formal environmental policy
  • Talk to the British Council about including environment impact in inspection
  • Display information (posters, signs) in the school
  • Involve students in decision-making

Here at Green Action ELT we are going to:

  • Explore calculating the impact of the ELT industry on the environment
  • Continue writing green how-to guides and sharing information
  • Run further discussions and events
  • Share and celebrate green examples from the industry

By this time next year…

Thinking about larger, longer term goals our group said:

  • Audit our school – lighting, devices, behaviour, insulation, waste etc.
  • Review our curriculum
  • Make sure there are plenty meat free options/ days in the canteen
  • Reduce travel emissions, e.g. encourage admin staff to work partly from home, share coach space with other schools, cycle to work scheme
  • Connect with local environmental projects for school visits and collaboration
  • Develop green policies together with all partners and suppliers
  • Build meaningful connections with the community to support and lead change.