Natural History – We hear that the DfE will – after much delay – finally be putting its proposals for a new GCSE in Natural History out for public consultation. We wonder how much of the original proposal has survived. Do keep an eye out for it – and for confirmation that there will be a parliamentary Select Committee inquiry into the DfE and sustainability.
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Big Brum – It’s not too late to book a (free) place at the Standing Conference on the Arts, Education and the Environment, which takes place at The STEAMhouse, Birmingham on Friday 28th July. The event aims to bring environmental and arts educators together. It’s being organised by the Theatre in Education group Big Brum with support from NAEE. You can book c/o Eventbright here.
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TEESNet – An event on Research, Technology and Quality Education for Sustainable Development, the latest in a series of conferences organised by the Global Education Network (Africa), is being held at Liverpool Hope University later this year. This event is an opportunity for more North-South linking and TEESNet is exploring ways to facilitate that dialogue. If you are interested or have any questions about the event, please email andrea@liverpoolworldcentre.org
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E-STEM Stories – Meet STEMIE Advantages was a 2022 recipient of a Pratt & Whitney E-STEM Award. It helps children and young people from underrepresented communities to solve problems that they care about. You can read their addition to the NAAEE E-STEM Stories: Branching Out blog series about innovative E-STEM work from around the world.
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Big Butterfly Count – This is a UK-wide survey, run by Butterfly Conservation, aimed at helping us assess the health of our environment simply by counting the amount and type of butterflies and some day-flying moths we see. It’s easy to do by “people from 3 to 103 years”. All you have to do is spend 15 minutes in an outdoor space during sunny conditions and count the types and amount of butterflies you see. To find out more go to bigbutterflycount.org
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Big Plastic Count – Next year, there will be another UK campaign around household plastic waste, run by Greenpeace UK and Everyday Plastic. The campaign is aimed at young people and adults. It sets out to highlight the urgency and scale of the plastic problem and help people to play a part in helping solve it. The brief is simple: count your plastic waste for one week and submit your results online. Not only does this help participants to learn about the plastic problem by identifying part of their own personalised household plastic footprint, but their contribution is also providing data that helps to present the true scale of the plastic problem to decision-makers in government and business. Details of past surveys here.
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Circular Fashion – The fashion industry employs over 300 million people globally and is responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions. Circular Economies: Fashion is a resource developed by Young Citizens, which helps learners to explore linear and circular economies using the fashion industry as a case study.
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Climate Reviewed – You can now read the NAEE review of Greta Thunberg’s The Climate Book
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Dirt Is Good Way – If you are looking for a programme that supports students aged 7-14 years to take collective action on causes they care about, then The Dirt Is Good Schools Programme is one you might consider. Following the Dirt Is Good Way, students will explore values and plan and deliver a social or environmental project that works towards one of the Sustainable Development Goals. Over 1000 schools across the UK are taking part.
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Cairngorms Wild – Citizen Zoo reports that 20 wildcats have been released into undisclosed locations throughout the Cairngorms as part of a captive breeding for reintroduction programme lead by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. This is aiming to release up to 60 animals over the next three years and is the first ever official release of a predatory mammal in the UK and may pave the way for larger predators such as Eurasian Lynx, to be released. Wildcats were on the brink of extinction in the UK because of a loss of habitat, and IUCN had previously said that even the 30 estimated wild individuals were too hybridized with domestic cats to be considered genetic purebreds. This project forms part of wider partnership programme and concerted efforts in Scotland to restore habitats for this species and recover it throughout its historic range.
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Great Auks – Lee Raye, from the Open University, spent five years tracking down more than 10,000 accounts of wildlife by naturalists, travellers, historians and poets between 1529 and 1772. Lee writes about this in The Conversation: Wildlife wonders of Britain and Ireland before the industrial revolution – all the biodiversity we’ve lost.
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Sùla Sgeir – NatureScot says that the harvest of 2,000 guga on a small, uninhabited island 40 miles off the Ness of Lewis has been cancelled because of avian flu. It is the third time in four years the controversial tradition has been called off. Although the hunting of sea birds was stopped in 1954, the Ness community has an exemption under UK / EU law. The birds are killed with a stick, decapitated, singed, pickled in salt and sold as a delicacy. The Times has more detail.
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Deproduction – The Economist says that advanced “deproduction” practices are turning the car business into a circular industry. These days just over 96% by weight of an ‘end of life’ vehicle can be either reused or recycled.
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ppm – The level of carbon dioxide, the most important long-lived greenhouse gas, as measured at Mauna Loa, a mountain peak in Hawaii, reached 424 parts per million in May, the highest it has been for over 3m years.