Green shoots: a sustainable chemistry education for a sustainable planet
Priorities for chemistry education on sustainability and climate change identified by young people, educators, and practising chemists.
Young people are acutely aware of the sustainability challenges they face, and education is crucial to ensuring they are equipped to deal with these challenges and thrive in a green economy.
In order to determine the best route to achieving this goal, we asked young people, educators, and chemists working in academia and industry across the UK and Ireland what they think of the way climate change and sustainability are currently taught in science and chemistry lessons.
Read on to learn the key findings from our research, and the next steps to an education that's fit for the future.
On this page
81%
of young people who responded feel it is important to be taught about climate change and sustainability in school or college
66%
of 17 and 18 year olds studying chemistry would like more detailed coverage of sustainability and climate change in chemistry lessons
84%
of educators in 11–19 education said it is very important that the chemistry curriculum includes content on sustainability and climate change
68%
of practising chemists said there was a gap between current chemical knowledge and skills and those needed for green jobs now and in the future.
Our reports
Part one of our report gives the view from educators and young people themselves, while part two gives the view from potential future employers in industry and academia. Part three of our report recommends three main areas for change: curriculum, assessment and sustainability considerations for practical activities.
Part 1 (2021)
The view from educators and young people
Part 2 (2022)
The view from chemists in industry and academia
-cover-card.jpg?language=en&width=2800&resizemode=force&format=webp "green-shoots-part_3_cover_card")
Key findings
- Educators and young people think that climate change and sustainability should be priorities for the chemistry curriculum.
- Two thirds of chemistry educators think that the chemistry curriculum should have more content on climate change and sustainability.
- While most chemistry educators are confident teaching about climate change and sustainability, they face a number of barriers.
- Chemistry educators and practising chemists in academia and industry think carbon literacy, the lifecycle and impact of materials, the finite nature of resources, and pollution are the most important topics for everybody to learn about by the time they leave school.
- Young people are interested in careers in sustainability, but there is room to improve awareness of the options in the chemical sciences.
- Young people are very worried about climate change and they want to take action.
- Practising chemists also say students should learn about the scientific consensus on climate change by the time they leave school, with many suggesting that chemistry teachers should also help students understand the wider political and social context.
- When we asked them about contexts, only half of the young people at our focus groups told us that they learnt topics on climate change and sustainability in their chemistry lessons through local, national or global contexts that were relevant to them.
Hear from young people
The video below contains the voices of young people who took part in our survey. They shared their concerns, their thoughts on the curriculum, and their hopes for the future.
Our case studies
Case study 1. Bringing contexts into chemistry change
The use of local, national and global contexts 鈥� both historic and contemporary 鈥� to exemplify climate change and sustainability content can help students connect chemistry to their lives and the wider world.
Teaching using contexts does not in itself require new chemistry concepts to be covered in lessons. Instead, it involves linking core chemistry knowledge to global challenges through the use of local, national and global examples.
"As a chemistry teacher in Port Talbot, sustainability teaching begins right outside our lab windows. The skeletons of South Wales鈥� last two blast furnaces, which are now closed, offer the perfect visual aid to explore the chemistry of carbon emissions and the decision to retire them. I label their silhouette directly on the glass, sparking discussion on industrial impacts and the science of change."
Eurig Thomas, Chemistry Teacher
鈥淪tudents are especially intrigued by the upcoming electric arc furnace, due to be built locally before the decade ends, marking the shift to steel recycling and a more sustainable future. Our town is a hub of transformation. From wind farms across the valley to solar panels on our school roof, and the exciting announcement of an offshore wind project off the Welsh coast, with turbines manufactured and shipped from Port Talbot.
"These real-life examples turn abstract GCSE concepts into meaningful discussion. Students become more engaged and confident when they see science in action around them. Across our department, colleagues value how local contexts spark curiosity, deepen understanding, and foster pride in how chemistry shapes the future of our own community.鈥�
Case study: Bringing contexts into chemistry change
Video: using real world contexts to teach sustainability in chemistry: Green Shoots
Case study 2. Environmental impact of school practical chemistry activities
Higher education institutions are increasingly considering environmental impacts, using frameworks such as the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF) and My Green Lab, and incorporating aspects of green and sustainable chemistry: for example by following The 12 Principles of Green Chemistry.
Introducing some of these concepts into 11鈥�19 education would encourage young people to critically consider how practical activities can be designed to minimise environmental impact, while also giving them a glimpse into what working in chemistry entails. This knowledge will be increasingly valuable as sustainability becomes a central focus in scientific careers and industry practices.
鈥淪ustainability is part of chemistry practice everywhere, and we need to build in time in lessons to help young people consider it. They should understand the whole life cycle of the chemicals they use 鈥� where they come from and where they go. It鈥檚 important for students to look beyond the practical itself and think about what happens to the substances before and after the lesson."
Aylin Ozkan, Chemistry Teacher and Continuous Professional Development Coordinator
鈥淲ith my Year 9 class in Bristol, I used a simple grid to identify potential environmental hazards, why they occur, and how to dispose of materials safely. Spending just five to ten minutes on this at the start of a practical helped students understand why, for example, we dilute solutions before putting them down the drain, how neutralisation reactions can be useful during waste disposal, why we reduce volumes and concentrations of reagents or why not everything should go down the drain in the first place.
鈥淚 drew on the LEAF framework and the principles of green chemistry to guide the activity. It was a good scaffold, for the GCSE required practical on investigating pH using calcium hydroxide and hydrochloric acid, and I now use the same approach with my International Baccalaureate Year 12 students during serial dilutions using transition metals and colorimetry. Doing the grid pushed them to look up information and consider what happens to chemicals afterward 鈥� something they admitted they usually 鈥榡ust leave to the technician.鈥�
鈥淚t really starts meaningful discussion: why we dispose of chemicals the way we do, what alternatives exist, and where recycling opportunities might be. Not every practical needs it, but some lend themselves especially well: acids and bases, for example, are accessible and easy to explore. I now provide more prompts and often set the grid as homework so we have more time to talk in class. Giving students space to think about these issues helps them see the wider picture, not just the experiment in front of them.鈥�
.jpg?language=en&width=1040&resizemode=force&format=webp "Green Shoots - a sustainable chemistry curriculum for a sustainable planet (case study 2)")
Case study: Environmental impact of school practical chemistry activities
Case study 3. Using microscale to make practical chemistry more sustainable
Schools may be able to reduce the environmental footprint of some practical activities by using microscale set-ups for some experiments. In addition, these activities can support discussions around sustainability and help students think critically about the potential impacts of practical chemistry.
Exam boards are generally supportive of microscale equipment being used for some of their specified required practicals, but anecdotally, many teachers assume that their students will be disadvantaged in exams if they don鈥檛 have experience of the full-scale version of an experiment.
"Microscale is the scaling down of reactions inside the classroom 鈥� and smaller is better for the environment, cheaper for us, more sustainable, and reduces the cognitive load for the students. As a department we鈥檝e been using microscale for about eight or nine years, slowly over time building up kits of resources, expanding the range we offer. It鈥檚 amazing the chemistry you can do on a laminated sheet of paper 鈥� some of my favourites are displacement of halogens, displacement of metals, Hoffman electrolysis, and atmospheric pollutant testing."
Harry Lord, Assistant Head Teacher at Haslingden High School, Lancashire
鈥淒oing experiments in different ways gets the students to think more about what they're actually trying to look for, rather than just following a list of instructions. It gives us an opportunity to discuss why we鈥檙e doing things in a certain way and how that links into sustainability or lab safety. For example, whenever we're using metals in particular it allows a conversation about which metals are better to recycle than others and why using less is better than just using the same amount and recycling it.
鈥淢icroscale practical lessons are more efficient due to reduced set up and clearing away time, which gives us more space in lessons to apply what students have observed to the theory. The experiments themselves are carefully designed and clearly presented and so often work better than macro scale practicals, alongside being safer and requiring fewer resources.鈥�
Case study: Using microscale to make practical chemistry more sustainable
Our action plan
We want a modern chemistry education to equip young people to address climate and sustainability challenges, and to ensure they receive the skills and careers guidance needed to pursue green jobs in the chemical sciences and support a thriving green economy.
Green shoots part 3 recommends three main areas for change:
- Curriculum
Governments should embed contemporary sustainability and climate change content and contexts throughout national chemistry curriculums. This includes making clear connections between chemistry topics and other disciplines. - Assessment
Exam boards should include sustainability and climate change contexts in chemistry assessments. This will encourage teaching that connects their chemistry knowledge to real-world applications. - Sustainability considerations for practical activities
Students should be supported to consider the environmental impact of practical work in school-level chemistry. This approach promotes sustainable scientific practice and aligns school-level learning with real-world sustainability decision-making in academia and industry.
As a scientific organisation, we commit to the following:
- We will communicate clearly and consistently the scientific basis for climate change and the unequivocal role of human activity on鈥痗limate change in our discussions with policy makers, stakeholders and our community.
- We will influence policymakers to ensure the chemistry curriculum prepares future generations for a changing world. We will use the findings of this report and our ongoing work to engage with policymakers and influence curriculum development across the UK and Ireland.
- We will continue to provide resources and professional development opportunities for chemistry educators to enable them to teach effectively about climate change and sustainability.
- We will continue to enable young people to explore their career options in sustainability and climate change by developing and promoting our career resources. We will showcase a diverse range of roles, people and paths.
Panel discussion
In January 2022, we hosted a panel discussion to discuss how our findings should be used to steer the future of the chemistry curriculum.
The panel discussion was led by Ann Mroz, former editor of TES and THE, and the panellists were Sarah Robertson, Director of Education and Professional Practice at the RSC, David Paterson, a chemistry and physics teacher who also works for CLEAPPS, Christian Wakeford MP, and 17 year old climate justice activist Scarlett Westbrook.
Round table discussion
In January 2025, we hosted a round table discussion which focused on several key themes including the Green shoots research, which highlighted the need for real-world relevance in chemistry education, and our Future Workforce and Educational Pathways report, which showed that employers increasingly seek sustainability skills.
Video: Embedding Sustainability in Chemistry Education: Round Table
