 Hi, my name is Ali Miklam and I'm advocating for a whole school approach to education for sustainable development When we arrived at the European school, I volunteered to help improve and communications at the parents association I'm now the vice president and I'm also the co-secretary of inter parents Which is the umbrella group representing parents of more than 28,000 pupils from our schools across Europe Like many people I've been carrying climate anxiety for years without really knowing what to do with it As a former teacher, it was clear how important education for sustainable development would be for my children The trouble is, we don't have time to wait for our children to grow up and save the world We need politicians, bankers and business people to make changes to our systems now And who are these policymakers, bankers and business people? There are, they're the parents So I was lucky to meet another mum Denise at the school bus stop Together we felt emboldened to volunteer to act as sustainability consultants for our school director We combined several approaches to develop our strategy We interviewed key stakeholders and reviewed current activities We researched educational frameworks and looked to other schools for inspiration And we also studied the UNESCO goals We sifted through this research and gathered the results into a strategy called building the future that we want It has a vision, a mission and 23 measurable targets There have been challenges to implementing this vision Schools are very busy and complex places So it can be challenging for any director to hold regular whole stakeholder meetings This work is all about embedding a positive vision together with values And making them visible for all stakeholders to aspire to Whenever I grind to a halt, I just show up to the next meeting And I find the energy of the group will carry me along So we're part of this sustainable transition And it's really important that our stories get out there We have two types of target nested under three strategic pillars The first are those projects that we were doing anyway That can be improved or expanded or rebranded to create a big institutional impact And the second are novel projects So under our protecting our planet pillar There was already a plan in progress to fit solar panels in our school But the engagement process sparked more strategic thinking And later on the JRC created a brilliant program for secondary students To measure the energy that we were saving with our panels Under our education pillar We've included communicating more widely and in more depth Around our school's mental health and well-being policies As well as integrating environmental issues into all subjects We believe that pupils and teachers deserve to work in environments which help them thrive We all need to be well if we're going to face this crisis with optimism and energy which it needs Finally, in engaging our communities We created a target around creating an online meeting space for all parents to connect to So if the school wants to engage more parents in its activities I would just think around the reasons why parents volunteer in the first place Parents volunteer because they want to be useful They want to get a little bit closer to the school We also want to learn something new Maybe make some new friends And bring any expertise we may have to improve things for our children So let the parents know that they can be useful Reel them in with your engaging vision of a better possible future Or ask them to help you create one I also run a network of parent volunteers from our 13 sister schools As a support and inspiration for us all I reached out to the president of each school's parents association And asked them to send someone Which then puts the topic on their agenda too Finally, I'd say that working on sustainability is a fantastic antidote to anxiety I've been inspired to make many more personal changes And anybody who feels anxious about the climate will find the antidote in action So parents, over to you I've experienced how every conversation can spark action And how every person has a role to play in facing the climate crisis What conversation could you have That could move you and your community one step closer Towards building the future you want for your children