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Will Wale (20) and Jodie Bailey-Ho (20) are the Department for Education’s two Youth Focal Points for Sustainability and Climate, supported by SOS-UK. They work closely with the DfE’s Sustainability and Climate Change Unit to ensure that youth voice is substantially included as they implement and further develop their Climate Change Strategy, which was originally launched in 2022.
Will and Jodie are serving a two year term, which will end on 30th June 2025. A new cohort of three YFPs, now to be renamed as the DfE Youth Sustainability Champions, will commence a second two year term on 1st July 2025, with recruitment throughout May and June 2025.
Will and Jodie meet quarterly with Minister Stephen Morgan, who is the DfE minister responsible for sustainability, buildings and science in education. They meet monthly and work very closely with the Sustainability and Climate Change Unit, and also meet with other ministers, policymakers, and experts across the Department to support them with understanding how young people’s voices can be engaged with their work.
Will and Jodie regularly visit schools and education settings to engage with a wide range of young people, including those who don’t normally have an opportunity to engage with sustainability in education. They also work closely with a wide variety of youth networks, to ensure that they fully understand the full range of young people’s views with respect to DfE’s approach to dealing with the climate challenge. Over the last two years, Will and Jodie have had the privilege to meet hundreds of young people, tell them about the work of the DfE and take their views back to decision makers.
In 2023, Will held the international portfolio and attended COP28 in Dubai in the UAE with the DfE, and in November 2024 Jodie attended COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. They were both supported to speak at events, collaborate with youth climate education advocates from around the world and furthered the UK’s international climate education interests.
The UK pledged to the Universal NDC Youth Clause at COP29, with the YFPs used as an example of effective youth engagement within its NDC. This is a global recognition of young people as key agents of change and highlights their critical role in delivering sustainability policy and strategy.
Will and Jodie each hold specific portfolios of work they focus on.
Jodie holds focusses including working on youth roundtable discussions and climate justice with the Curriculum and Assessment Review. Will focusses on learning around capital projects and school buildings, and the link these can provide to green skills learning, along with cross governmental work and helping young people understand DfE’s and the broader government’s climate policy.
Both Jodie and Will are working together to support the Curriculum and Assessment Review, ensuring that the Department for Education is best supported to embed sustainability and climate change across subjects and in a way that meaningfully engages learners with the wider societal impacts and system changes surrounding climate change and mitigation.
Both Will and Jodie are committed to tackling inequality in climate education and access to nature, and promote the government's Opportunity Mission. Jodie holds the Climate Justice work priority, but works very closely with Will to ensure they are best supporting the Department to engage with all young people. Will recently co-authored a report with UCL’s Institute of Education which highlights widespread and deep inequalities in engagement with sustainability education across socioeconomic and gender divides, which they are both supporting DfE to alleviate.
Both Jodie and Will are very engaged with the DfE’s many partners who are implementing elements of their Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy for Education, as well as with universities and charities involved in furthering Climate Education across England.
Jodie has supported the exam board OCR with the development of the Natural History GCSE, sitting on their advisory board. Both Jodie and Will have worked closely with the Natural History Museum’s team working on the National Education Nature Park to support with engagement and youth voice, and also with United Learning as they have developed the Sustainability Support for Education resource hub. Will sits on the advisory board for the Climate Ambassadors Scheme being run by EAUC and the University of Reading, and also on the advisory board for UCL’s Institute of Education Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability Education.
Will and Jodie always want to hear young people’s views and feedback about sustainability education. If you have a comment, view, or piece of feedback you would like to share, please do email them at:
jodie.bailey-ho@education.gov.uk
Over the past two years, SOS-UK has successfully delivered the first YFP programme. We have recruited, trained, and mentored Jodie Bailey-Ho and Will Wale, who have consistently praised our support. We are incredibly proud of our work with Jodie and Will.
Along with weekly online meetings with their mentor, Hannah Fitzpatrick, the YFPs benefit from SOS-UK’s wider organisational network and expertise.
SOS-UK supports the YFPs with tasks including workshop/focus group design, preparation of materials, and effective working with ministers and senior officials. They learn about safeguarding, equity and diversity, and security, and develop confidence in speaking to the strategy, and how to engage with the broadest possible group of young people. SOS-UK supports them to write policy recommendations and progress updates and connect them with climate education researchers. We also organise COP-specific preparation with the YFP(s) each year, including a pre-COP briefing and training on UNFCCC processes; and liaise with DfE and other stakeholders to ensure the YFPs are briefed for their programme.
We also act as a buffer between the DfE and the YFPs, ensuring that workload is manageable and Jodie and Will can prioritise their wellbeing, studies and work placements while delivering on their commitments.
The YFPs are paid an annual stipend and receive travel and subsistence expenses for their involvement in the programme.