Tracking Changes Report – Teach the Future’s Tracked Changes Curriculum Review is now published and our recent blog posts have covered a number of issues about this important development. We’ll be following them up over the coming weeks.
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Education for All – The UN has a new plan for global education which ex-PM Gordon Brown says we must support. The UN says that the recent Transforming Education Summit was “convened in response to a global crisis in education – one of equity and inclusion, quality and relevance. Often slow and unseen, this crisis is having a devastating impact on the futures of children and youth worldwide. The Summit provides a unique opportunity to elevate education to the top of the global political agenda and to mobilize action, ambition, solidarity and solutions to recover pandemic-related learning losses and sow the seeds to transform education in a rapidly changing world.”
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Wild Classrooms – WWF (USA) says bring conservation and science to life by giving your students the opportunity to hear from its experts. Through free 45-minute live-streamed events, youngsters can listen as experts share stories of their experience working to protect species and habitats around the world. They can submit questions and participate in polls and quizzes. This is open to parents with children, teachers with students, and anyone interested in engaging with conservation experts. The next session [ How Can I Make a Difference? Helping the planet as a young person ] is on Wednesday the 28th September at 1300 EDT. If you’re unable to join the live event, you can access the recording on the Wild Classroom YouTube channel.
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ESD-NET 22030 – UNESCO is organizing a webinar and workshop on Tuesday 4 October 2022, 1430 – 17:30 CET. This will showcase several Member States’ efforts in developing and implementing ESD for 2030 Country Initiatives, and will be followed by the first in a series of interactive workshops on ESD pedagogy focusing on the role of culture in promoting ESD at the community level. More detail here.
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Garbage Queen – Alaina Wood is a sustainability scientist and climate communicator based in the United States. Alaina is the founder of The Garbage Queen, a social media platform dedicated to discussing climate science and solutions to her audience of over 300,000 people. She says that she is known for debunking climate misinformation and helping young people manage their climate anxiety.
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30 Under 30 – To all the “young leaders, educators, activists, entrepreneurs, students, dreamers, and doers” out there – the Young Changemakers of the World – NAAEE is celebrating you.
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Late Children – 5.4 million children die every year. Our World in Data has sobering figures on child mortality across the planet. It says: “inequality is extremely high. A child that is born into one of the poorest countries faces a one-in-ten chance to die within the first five years of her or his life. In rich countries the rate of survival is as high as 99.8%.”
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ASLE – The Association for the Study of Literature and Environment seeks proposals for its next biennial conference on July 9–12, 2023 in Portland, Oregon, on the theme of “Reclaiming the Commons.” It is looking for proposals for scholarly papers and panels, creative work, posters, collaborative work projects, and other forms of scholarly engagement in the field of environmental humanities.
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The Oil Machine – November 4th sees the launch of the documentary film “The Oil Machine“. This explores our economic, historical and emotional entanglement with oil by looking at the conflicting imperatives around North Sea exploration. The documentary is directed by Emma Davie and produced by Sonja Henrici. Here’s a YouTube preview.
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Yeast Another Oil – In the UK we all consume around 7kg of palm oil a year, usually without knowing it. Palm oil is everywhere because it is such a useful and versatile substance. Engineers at the University of Bath are working on a yeast-based palm-oil substitute, as this Times article discusses.
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Is Right to Roam Right? – The Guardian recently posed difficult questions about domestic cats’ right to roam. Whilst being outdoors is good for cats, they kill millions of birds and mammals each year. Some say that wildlife here is better adapted to avoiding cats, but others argue that large cat numbers are the problem. What price a dusk-to-dawn cat curfew?
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Nature Recovery – Meg Griffiths from Plantlife highlights what needs to be done to ensure that the upcoming local nature recovery strategies are a success. You can read this on the Wildlife and Countryside Link web pages.
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Running Out of Time? – Thousands of runners are preparing for their stage of a record-breaking relay effort to pass a baton 7,767km through 18 countries containing a climate message to world leaders at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP27. Called Running Out of Time, the relay runs from Glasgow to Sharm el-Sheikh. It will take 38 days and be the longest non-stop relay ever attempted. The relay starts on September 30th and the first stage will begin after an opening ceremony hosted by Glasgow City Council, where a message will be sealed in the baton. You can review and support the message here.
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2022 AGM – NAEE’s AGM this year is being held on Saturday November 26th by Zoom: 1000 to 1130. As well as receiving the annual report and appointing new trustees, there will be a presentation by Stephen Scoffham, and Steve Rawlinson, co-editors of Sustainability Education A Classroom Guide, who will lead a discussion based on issues raised in their book. If you’re a member and would like a meeting link, please contact info@naee.org.uk . If you’re not a member, it’s not too late to join …