Contents
Carbon Reduction
FSC Youth Council Debate
What is FSC Doing to Encourage Wider Change
Courses and Experiences
Wildlife Guides
Support Field Studies Council
FSC supports the opportunity of Nature Recovery being forefront in our world leaders’ discussions and agenda.
The UK will host the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow on 31 October – 12 November 2021. You can read about the goals of the summit here on the official website.
“FSC is here to inspire curiosity about the world around us and share the knowledge needed to protect and defend it. Whether you’re an expert or just getting interested, we have courses, events and guides to inspire you further. We will only rise to the challenges of the climate crisis by working together.”
Mark Castle, FSC Chief Executive
We are encouraging positive and practical ways for people to make a difference to managing climate change by accessing, studying and protecting the natural environment
We educate people about the environment, how they can connect with it, protect it, and understand the benefits from their actions.
Carbon Reduction Plan
Read our Carbon Reduction Plan to see what FSC doing is doing about carbon neutrality by 2030 in our Carbon and Nature Recovery Action Plan, founded on:
- Becoming Carbon Net Zero by 2030
- Managing FSC’s estate to aid nature recovery
- Demonstrating sustainability and champion it among our staff and visitors.
“The scientists who monitor global biodiversity are deeply concerned regarding the global damage we are doing to nature. They tell us we are causing the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that brought an end to the age of the dinosaurs”
Prof Peter Higgins, FSC Chair of the Board of Trustees
FSC is engaging with its Youth Council organising a debate
The FSC Youth Council is made up of 12 volunteers who represent and provide a voice for the increasing number of young people who engage with the FSC. This event will be a chance for people aged 18 – 25 to discuss the ideas and reservations you may have on how the world is addressing climate change.
What is FSC Doing to Encourage Wider Change
By connecting to nature through first hand experiences and being awed by the beauty of our planet, we inspire people to want to protect it.
We have heard the calls from young people themselves for more outdoor learning and to better understand the world we live in. The climate crisis needs a generation who are ready and properly equipped with the environmental knowledge and skills to meet it and make a difference.
That’s why FSC continues to campaign, lobby and engage with policy makers across the UK so that
- Everyone can experience high quality outdoor learning, not just those that can afford it
- Fieldwork and practical outdoor science remains firmly embedded in the curriculum
- Disadvantaged learners and underrepresented groups don’t miss out
FSC Grants For Schools give grants to school receiving pupil premium to support children who are disadvantaged and who haven’t visited FSC locations in the past five years.
How To Reduce Your Carbon Impact
We encourage people to reduce their own carbon footprint by making small changes to their every day life. These ideas can be seen in practice throughout our centres, including off grid energy sources, green electricity, recycling, and sourcing local food at our centres.
Read about what we have done so far in Our commitment to The Environment which includes installing a mix of renewable energy heating systems that are suitable for specific environments and needs. These include 5 biomass boilers, 3 ground source heat pumps, 2 hydro-electric turbines, 1 air source heat exchanger.
FSC also participates in schemes such as tree planting and wider project work like Trees for Cities.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Margaret Mead, Cultural Anthropologist
Courses and Experiences
Courses For Schools
Our virtual, day and residential trips for both Primary and Secondary schools equip the next generation to better manage climate choices.
We encourage children and students to recognise the sustainability link, increase their knowledge, provide inspiration and inspire behavioural change. By teaching and supporting the next generation to take personal responsibility we can help increase the motivation and drive to connect and care for our environment.
No one will protect what they don’t care about; and no one will care about what they have never experienced
David Attenborough
Courses and Experiences for Adults, Families and Young People
FSC courses for adults, families and young people help people to connect with the environment around them. We help provide the opportunity to learn how to protect our wildlife with free conservation talks
We support the education of our Young People, encouraging them to think environmentally on courses like the Climate Action Ambassador course and by providing a Young Darwins Scholarship for our next generation of environmentalists. Learn more here.
We provide inspiring tuition and courses on conservation and how to live a more sustainable life with courses such as Introduction to Permaculture, and Conservation of Marine Mammals.
Additionally, we have our FSC BioLinks project that provides heavily subsidised courses thanks to their funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. FSC BioLinks focuses on our extremely important invertebrates that keep our ecosystems functioning – they are the little things that help run the world!
Wildlife ID Guides
FSC Publications are part of that first step for people to take an interest in nature in their own local area, school field or on holiday, loved by gardeners and naturalists. The lack of good guides often hampers biodiversity work and biological recording, so FSC produces specialist guides for professionals doing research and surveys. Our guides are often used within conservation projects by volunteers and to help increase knowledge and understanding on a wide range of natural history subjects.
We often work with partners to develop specialist guides for overlooked species that provide really important clues to the health of our environment. We also produce FSC guides for under-recorded species, such as earthworms, where we have radically increased earthworm records in the UK in partnership with the FSC BioLinks project.
Support the FSC
As a charity, the FSC relies on donations.
We use donations to fund learning in nature for people who can’t afford or access basic equipment or tutors.
For nearly 80 years, this has been the mission of the Field Studies Council (FSC).
But this year, we’ve received thousands more requests from teachers, parents and adults who can’t access the education they need to protect the environment, improve their wellbeing, and live sustainably.
During the current climate and financial crisis, please help our charity help others.
Please donate by clicking on the photographs below.
