Greening Learning Spaces in Crisis Settings

Education Cannot Wait and Save the Children announce partnership, in consortium with Arup and World Wildlife Fund, to set new standards for environmentally responsible temporary learning spaces. 

NEW YORK, Nov. 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — As climate change intensifies the scale and severity of crises worldwide, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) has announced a US$650,000 Acceleration Facility grant to Save the Children, in consortium with Arup and World Wildlife Fund (WWF), to set new standards for greening temporary learning spaces in crisis settings. The initiative underscores the critical link between climate action and education in emergencies as world leaders gather at COP30 to accelerate solutions for a more sustainable, resilient future.

Temporary learning spaces provide lifelines for children caught in emergencies – from refugee camps in Bangladesh to flood zones in South Sudan. Yet the sector lacks clear guidance on how to design, build and manage these structures in environmentally responsible, resilient and inclusive ways. Without proper standards, they can contribute to waste and environmental degradation, further impacting learning conditions.

To address this gap, this grant brings together Save the Children’s leadership in children’s rights and emergency response, Arup’s technical expertise and WWF’s deep environmental knowledge in an innovative partnership bridging humanitarian response, engineering and ecological sustainability.

Marian Hodgkin, Global Head of Education, Learn Breakthrough at Save the Children, said, “Our temporary learning spaces offer stability and hope during crisis – hope that needs to extend beyond the immediate and support sustained stability – which requires us to pair technical expertise with children’s voices. When children help shape these spaces, we make them safer, more relevant and inclusive. And by ensuring these learning spaces are environmentally responsible and resilient, we show children that we are investing in their future.”

“Arup is proud to partner with Save the Children and WWF – thanks to Education Cannot Wait’s support – to drive the creation of safe, sustainable and climate-resilient environments for children in crisis,” said Hayley Gryc, Associate Director and UKIMEA Education Business Leader at Arup. “This initiative is a vital step in reimagining how education and climate action come together, ensuring that even in the world’s most challenging settings, temporary learning spaces support both human dignity and environmental responsibility.”

“Temporary learning spaces are havens that help children regain a sense of normalcy following disasters. But if they are not designed with the environment in mind, we risk compounding the very challenges communities face from extreme events such as floods, earthquakes and fires. Through this partnership, we’re developing practical tools to make every classroom in crisis more resilient, inclusive and greener,” said Anita van Breda, Senior Director of Environment and Disaster Management at WWF.

The initiative will develop, pilot and share practical, user-friendly tools for education actors operating in crisis areas. The guidance will cover the full lifecycle of temporary learning spaces – from design and material sourcing to maintenance and decommissioning – with an emphasis on low-impact construction and local adaptation. It will also focus on the inclusion of children with disabilities and those facing gender-based barriers.

A global framework for greening temporary learning spaces will also be created with input from local and international partners, alongside practical guidance and costing tools, tested in different crisis settings to ensure applicability in emergencies. These tools will be shared openly through education, climate and humanitarian networks to support wide adoption and impact.

This grant is part of ECW’s strategic commitment to climate-smart education in emergencies. The initiative reinforces the urgent need for collective investment in education as a key pillar of climate action. It aligns with the action calls from COP30 and contributes to global efforts to make education systems more resilient, sustainable, and inclusive amid escalating climate and humanitarian risks.

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