Meet Jane Backeberg, Sustainability Lead and English teacher, Cardinal Newman Catholic School, Hove
When Jane Backeberg first met her eco ambassadors at Cardinal Newman Catholic School in Hove, they were a handful of students expressing intense frustration. They knew there was a problem, but nobody was doing anything about it. Six years later, she's grown the group from six to around 20 each year – and learned that the biggest challenge is apathy. Her response: relentless focus on action students can see making a difference, from a monthly refill shop to eliminating single-use plastics and talking in assemblies.
"I did feel despair before I started doing this work. I think just taking action is in itself healing."
When Jane Backeberg first met her eco ambassadors at Cardinal Newman Catholic School in Hove, they were a small group of Year 10s and 11s with a clear message. "The main sense I got from them was intense frustration," she recalls. "Many of their parents were people like me who'd been learning about what's happening and were concerned about it. But they were expressing frustration about the fact that they knew there was a problem, but nobody was talking about it or doing anything about it."
Backeberg, an English and Criminology teacher, had approached senior leaders about the litter problem on the school fields – seagulls, plastic, rubbish everywhere. They pointed her towards the fledgling Eco Club. The teacher running it had a lot of other responsibilities on his plate. "He was Head of House as well as Head of Year. This is a typical profile in secondary schools." So Backeberg took it on.
Six years later, the club has grown from six students to around 20 eco ambassadors each year – though in a school of around 2,000, that's still a small subset. The wider student body can be harder to reach.
If this story resonates with you, we need your help to support the educators on the front lines. Please donate to and spread the word about our 2026 crowdfunder if you'd like to see more stories like this reach schools and policymakers.
|
"It's quite ironic that now the reality of climate change is well and truly smacking us in the face – torrential rain, drought, wildfires in our country – there's almost a fatigue and apathy creeping in, which I find harder to deal with than the anxiety."
She describes eco ambassadors sharing what they love about the world in assemblies, only to be met with eye-rolls: "We know all this already." Backeberg doesn't believe other students don't care. "I think people care, but have a sense of hopelessness. What's the point?" It's not indifference – it's self-protection. Easier not to think about it than to feel powerless.
Climate Courage stories
Each week, we're sharing one of our stories of pioneer educators demonstrating what proper climate education can look like.
|
Making things happen as an antidote to frustration
Her response has been to focus relentlessly on action that students can see making a difference. "The main thing is frustration at the fact that they feel like they've got all these ideas, but nothing happens. So I see myself as a sort of facilitator to try and help them make things happen."
A £150 seed grant from Pupils Profit enabled them to start a monthly refill shop, selling ethical cleaning products to staff. "That's where I first started seeing the students actually realising that their actions are making a difference – and that felt like something they needed to be able to see."
Every year they plant trees somewhere on the school site – a small thing, but significant for the many pupils who live in flats without gardens. Often the following year's eco ambassador recruits are those who took part in the planting. She's also drawn on Citizens UK and Our City, Our World to work with pupils to table ideas for action, debate them and take them forward. They successfully campaigned to eliminate single-use plastics from the school’s dining rooms.
One pupil stays with her. An Italian exchange student joined Backeberg's sixth-form enrichment sessions and started crying while watching a video about climate change. 'She said, "I'm so scared and so anxious and so sad about what's happening, but I just feel completely helpless. Nobody at home is talking about it. Nobody at my school is talking about it. I just feel like we are doomed".'
Backeberg asked if anyone else felt the same. All the hands went up. Over the following weeks she shared good news stories from around the world – victories, breakthroughs, scientists finding solutions. By the time the pupil returned to Italy, she was helping with the refill shop, gaining confidence by speaking in assemblies, and asking what she could do back at her own school.
Making sustainability mainstream
Backeberg is trying to move climate education beyond "one of the things the school does" to something embedded across the curriculum. She's used resources from the Ministry of Eco Education to audit what's already being taught, with six departments now identifying where sustainability fits into their existing lessons.
But when she asks colleagues to do more, the answer is often the same: "I would love to, but I don't have any time." She has an hour a week on her timetable for the sustainability lead role. "Frankly, it's not enough. But at least it means I can legitimately be working just on eco stuff in that time."
The systemic barriers are clear to her. "We are doing it because we love it. But if something happened to one of us, we can't guarantee that anyone else in our school would be doing it, because everyone's too busy. Just imagine – we could change the world literally if we just had the time and the space to do it."
For Backeberg, the solution is obvious: "We all have to be sustainability teachers. Every single teacher. If every single teacher in every classroom in this country had a sustainability hat on, you'd see change much faster. It should just be part of the teacher standards."
As for herself: "I did feel despair before I started doing this work. I think just taking action is in itself healing."
This case study was written by Josephine Lethbridge.
From our network
GroundEd · Northumberland, 19th-20th June 2026
This two day residential teacher CPD programme from the Ministry of Eco Education, OASES and TerraLigo aims to support teachers to become confident regenerative educators whilst improving wellbeing through connection with nature and community. The event is aimed at educators who are just starting with an interest in environmental education to fully-fledged sustainability leads who are looking to expand their network or strengthen their regenerative practice.
Come along to a confidential and non-judgmental space for educators to process their own emotions with respect to the climate and ecological crisis, in a community of teachers that "get it". Reserve a place here.
Along with the Ministry of Eco Education, NEU, UCU, Unison and the Campaign Against Climate Change, we are co-organising this one day event.
Join other educators, activists, politicians, business leaders, governors, parents and charities from across education spectrum to explore the role of educators in organising for a just transition and discuss questions including 'How can we teach difficult climate truths without overwhelming ourselves or our students?' and 'How can we stop greenwashing in education?'?
What we're reading
-
The Department for Education's 10-year plan (to 2034-35) to renew England's school and college estate, backed by £38 billion in capital investment from 2025-30 – the highest since 2010. Encouragingly, nature and climate threaded through, with explicit acknowledgement as to why it matters that schools are climate resilient and enable access to nature.
Till next time,
Josephine
