A school where everyone has a role to play.
Climate Action Schools helps schools embed sustainability into the way they work — connecting people, resource recovery, curriculum and industry.
WHO WE ARE & WHAT WE DO
We help Queensland schools embed sustainability into their operations, curriculum and culture.
In a way that actually sticks — generating valuable outcomes for students, staff and your P&C. From there, we connect your school to industry and create simulated work environments ready to plug straight into curriculum — so students build the skills the workplaces of the future are looking for.
Environmental Innovation of the Year
Waste Recycling Industry Queensland, 2025
Nationally recognised
HVIA Community Leadership Award — won by our partner Cummins for supporting Climate Action Schools
As seen on Channel 7
State television feature
Thanks to our partners for their contributions to the Climate Action Schools program:
SEE THE SYSTEM IN ACTION
A Tuesday at a Climate Action School
This isn't a school that added another sustainability program. It's a school where people started asking better questions — together.
7:15 - THE CLEANERS
The people doing the work help design the system.
A simple question about the morning routine uncovers an easier way of working. Teachers move bins beside classroom doors. Cleaners spend less time walking. The solution works because the people closest to the work helped create it.
LEAN IN ACTION - 5 WHYS + 5S
8:45 - STUDENTS ARRIVE
Students know the system because they helped build it.
Some head to the Sustainability Skills Centre before class. Yesterday's resource recovery data is on the whiteboard. They can see what is working — and what could work better.
LEAN IN ACTION - 8 WASTES
10:30 - LEARNING CONNECTS
The school itself becomes part of the learning.
Students investigate data from their own school, ask why a problem is happening and explore what could change.
LEAN IN ACTION - 5 WHYS + ROOT CAUSE
11:45 - A TEACHER + CAS COACH
Ideas don’t have to become another job for one teacher.
A teacher has an idea. Could food resources become next term’s science investigation? She talks it through with her CAS coach and leaves with a clearer way forward - and someone walking beside her to help turn the idea into action.
LEAN IN ACTION - CO-DESIGN + CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
1:00 - THE BUSINESS MANAGER
The numbers begin to tell a different story.
Resource recovery improves. Operational costs change. Circular income can flow back to the school community. The data supports better decisions, grant applications and measurable progress.
LEAN IN ACTION - MEASURE + IMPROVE
2:15 - INDUSTRY CONNECTS
Students begin to see where these skills can take them.
Industry partners share how they use the same improvement thinking in their workplaces. Students discover careers they may never have considered.
LEAN IN ACTION - SHARED LANGUAGE + INDUSTRY CONNECTIONS
3:30 - THE PRINCIPAL
Sustainability is becoming part of how the school works.
Nothing feels forced. No initiative relying on one person to keep it going. The school environment itself communicates the standard - and people across the school understand the role they play.
LEAN IN ACTION - CULTURE + CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
A PLACE FOR IT TO COME TOGETHER
The Sustainability Skills Centre (SSC)
The SSC is a working hub inside the school where resource recovery, curriculum, LEAN thinking and industry connection come together.
Divert. Earn. Learn.
DIVERT: Recover resources that would otherwise go to landfill.
EARN: Create savings and opportunities for circular income.
LEARN: Connect school systems with curriculum, industry tools and future pathways.
What can better systems change?
~ 0%
reduction in waste costs
$0K+
circular income generated
~ $0K
saved per year in operational waste costs
Results from Woodridge State High School.
No wrong door
Where is your school at?
Wherever that is — curious, already doing bits and pieces, or ready for a whole-school approach — the first step is always the same, and it's free.
Start here
Start with a conversation.
Tell us a little about your school through our 3-minute conversation starter, then join a free 30-minute Leadership Briefing — with other school leaders, or one-on-one. No obligation, no commitment. Just clarity on where you are and what would make sense next.
Tell us about your school — 3 min
Join a group briefing
Book a 1:1 instead
Free · 30 minutes · online · bring your Principal, Business Manager or P&C rep if you like.
“Isn't this going to be a lot of work for our staff?”
It's the most common worry we hear — and it's exactly what the system is designed to solve. Most sustainability programs rely on one passionate teacher, and fall over the day that person gets busy. Climate Action Schools works differently: we improve the systems your school already has, the people doing the work help design the solutions, and formalised roles and standard operating procedures mean nothing rests on any one person.
It doesn't require more time — just better systems. And a CAS coach walks beside your staff the whole way, so ideas never become someone's extra job.
Then we'll meet you where you are.
From the briefing, there's a natural next step for every school — from a single PD session to a fully supported whole-school partnership. Find the voice that sounds most like yours.
“We have things happening, but they're not connected.”
Build shared understanding and get real data about your own school — practical tools your team can use straight away, with no bigger commitment.
Practical Sustainability for Schools — from $195 pp Resource Recovery Audit — from $1,200“We have a plan, but can't implement it consistently.”
The System Explained brings your whole community — cleaners to leadership — into a shared understanding, activates your SEMP and maps a clear implementation pathway.
The System Explained — $275 pp“We want someone walking alongside us.”
The Critical Support Partner is our co-designed whole-school program — resource recovery, LEAN and NeuroPower frameworks, coaching and industry connections. The Sustainability Skills Centre gives it all a permanent home in your school, and costs are offset through savings, grants and circular income.
Level 2 — 3–6 months, from $15,000 + GST Level 1 — 6–12 months incl. SSC option, $25,000 + GST“We're underway, and want to go further.”
Extend your impact through student programs, industry tours and ecosystem membership — joining a growing national community of Climate Action Schools.
Browse all programs →Not looking for a whole-school pathway?
There are other ways to connect with Climate Action Schools.
FOR EDUCATORS
Build industry currency. Professional development and industry tours connecting sustainability, curriculum and the workplaces of the future.
FOR STUDENTS
Learn by doing. Hands-on industry programs that build confidence, practical skills and future pathways.
FOR INDUSTRY
Help build what's next. Connect ESG investment, industry knowledge and future workforce development with schools.
You don't have to have it all figured out.
Every school starts somewhere.
