Social Innovation for Decarbonisation: The Atlas School Project

The Atlas Project aims to demonstrate the feasibility of a targeted Green House Gas (GHG) reduction in the built environment and in particular the value of looking at a specific subset of buildings (schools). The project seeks to reduce the carbon footprints and energy bills of schools, while also boosting the use of low carbon products and services, creating jobs and growth. The Atlas low carbon toolkit, developed by the University of Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership, The Prince of Wales’s EU Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change and a variety businesses, helps schools to define their holistic carbon footprint, covering energy, travel, products and services. It therefore goes some way beyond more traditional calculator tools, which tend to be focussed purely on energy consumption. The results of the toolkit help the schools to create an action plan to reduce their carbon footprint. When implementing their action plans, the Atlas project plays a crucial role in linking schools and local authorities in implementing low carbon solutions.