NCD UK 2024 – National Children’s Day provides an opportunity for everyone to share the work that they are doing to protect the wellbeing of children and families. This year, NCDUK2024 will take place on Sunday May 12th. Discussions are already taking place on social media #NCDUK2024 @NCDUK2024
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DERC Webinar – There’s an online event on Wednesday February 28th (1600) when Matthew Hayes will explore how Global Citizenship Education (GCE) can be practically assessed and why that matters. Matthew’s research examines the integration of GCE into English Language Teaching textbooks used in the UAE’s secondary schools. This includes the adaptation of GCE to autocratic contexts and the design of a framework to develop and assess GCE. Full details here.
DERC continues to work with a coalition of organisations to produce a lobbying document that advocates the creation of a new framework for global learning in the UK. If you are interested in reviewing or endorsing the draft, contact DERC before February 29th.
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Imagination and Fairy tales – The latest news and plans from The Great Imagining at the House of Fairy Tales are now available.
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ESD Training – If you offer training in Education for Sustainable Development training, and particularly if you offer videos as part of this, SEEd would like to hear from you. Just send a message setting out what you offer, who your target audience is, and a link to your page, and you’ll be featured in a special edition newsletter SEEd is putting together. Email admin@se-ed.co.uk
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Curriculum Links – WWF has a range of topical curriculum linked resources; designed to help pupils explore environmental issues in an engaging and motivating way. Details here.
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Extra-Curricular Outcomes – A study by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) says that extra-curricular clubs and groups in secondary school have positive outcomes for young people in their early twenties. EPI says that the study found that students attending clubs are more likely to go onto higher education and employment. The research found that vulnerable pupils were less likely to attend clubs.
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Action! – The Harmony Project has a range of films to view which explore aspects of the Harmony approach to education and learning from nature.
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Earth Hour 2024 – This takes place on Saturday 23rd March this year, as usual at 8.30pm. WWF (UK) says mark this global moment of unity for our planet as a school in the lead up to the day by spending an hour connecting to the natural world. WWF’s free resource is packed with ideas and information. There’s more detail here.
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Fair Transitions – A new report develops and explores scenarios for how the transition to net zero might affect households and communities. It identifies where there are chances of unequal impacts or risks of households being left behind, and the barriers to and opportunities for households taking part in a just transition. One outcome is an original framework for use by policymakers, profiles of households and communities most at risk, and key recommendations for what a different system to support people through transition could look like.
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Act for Survival – In February 1969, the idea to create Survival International was born after the UK’s Sunday Times exposed horrific abuse and genocide of indigenous peoples in Brazil. Since then, Survival hasn’t just been an organization, but a movement. Supporters have formed the backbone of campaigning for indigenous rights – by sending out letters, faxes and emails; by protesting outside embassies and company headquarters; by boycotting, badgering, standing up and speaking out. To commemorate its founding and activism, it is starting Act For Survival, our week of community and supporter action for indigenous rights.
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Bere – News from the Inkcap Journal about an ancient barley – bere – being grown in the Hebrides. This Bronze Age crop might help farmers adapt to climate change and resist depopulation.
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UK Storms – Here’s a link to the latest Met Office data on trends in UK storm activity. The article looks at what research currently tells us about storm activity in the UK, including recent observed trends and the changes the Met Office expects to see in the long-term future as a result of climate change. Although it is clearly getting wetter, the Met Office says that “there is nothing to suggest maximum wind speeds have persistently changed in recent decades”.
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ECIU Update – The Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit says that British farmers have been hit by additional fertiliser costs of £1.45 billion since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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Odd legs – There are 57 species of centipede in the UK. None has 100 legs as all have an odd number of pairs of legs. The Common centipede Lithobius forficatus has 15 pairs whereas Stigmatogaster souletinus can have between 93 and 101 pairs. There’s lots of detail here c/o The UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology