Sustainability Conference 2026

What more needs to be done to raise ambition and respond at pace to the scale of the climate challenge? The panel will explore how the education sector can accelerate progress to create settings that are more climate resilient, greener, and better prepared for future pressures, from extreme weather impacts to the urgent need for smarter, lower-carbon estates.

Placing the youth voice at the heart of the conversation, the session will reflect on key themes that have emerged throughout the day, actively involve the audience, and challenge everyone in the room to consider where responsibility lies, and what commitments and actions are needed next to deliver meaningful, lasting change.

As the Department for Education (DfE) seeks to address the condition backlog, there is a clear ambition to shift focus from solely new builds to the management of Resilience, Decarbonisation, and the Condition of existing sites and buildings. Opportunities to improve site and building resilience have demonstrated that schools and Responsible Bodies can implement solutions that deliver co-benefits for both children and staff. 

This session will provide an overview—through case studies and supporting evidence—of projects delivered by Arcadis and the DfE. We will showcase the challenges encountered, how they were overcome, and how multiple benefits can be achieved. The session will also look ahead to future opportunities in this important journey. 

This session explores the key asset management challenges facing the education sector and how a structured, best-practice approach can drive lasting improvement. 

Michael Smith, Technical Director, AECOM will outline practical ways to assess and strengthen existing asset management arrangements, showing how better asset management supports day-to-day operations and net zero carbon ambitions. The session will also share transferable lessons from other sectors that can be successfully applied to education estates.