The View from Sanctuary Buildings – The latest issue of the DfE’s Climate in Education Snapshot is now available. It includes:
- A welcome message from Rt Hon Gillian Keegan MP, Secretary of State for Education
- An overview of the new deal agreed at COP 15 to protect nature
- Information on the new report, published by The Royal Anniversary Trust, to accelerate the tertiary education sector’s path to Net Zero
- Information on the National Education Nature Park University Champions
- A request to share your 2023 sustainability events and research
- A case study on active travel to school
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Parliament Action – SOS-UK has published its research which illustrates the support for its new climate education bill that soon be re-introduced into parliament. Here are some headlines:
– 78% think that it is important for children and young people to be prepared at school for the nature crisis (the rapid decline in the number of plant and animal species across the natural world).
– 76% think that it is important for children and young people to be prepared at school for climate change (the shifts in average weather conditions as a result of human activity).
– 76% think that it is important for children and young people to be prepared for challenges for humanity that result the nature crisis and/or climate change.
The full report has more details.
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Literate about Carbon – Here are 3 video clips from Leicester City Council’s Carbon Literacy Project, that NAEE was pleased to help fund. Watch out for young people’s explanations of global warming and climate change:
- Sustainable Schools Team The Sustainable Schools Team talk about Carbon Literacy – YouTube
- Teachers at Spinney Hill Primary Carbon Literacy – teachers’ perspective – YouTube
- Students at Spinney Hill Primary Carbon Literacy – Children telling their story – YouTube
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Natural History Podcast – OCR is running a campaign for young people to ask questions of Jill Duffy, its Chief Executive, about the Natural History GCSE. Details of the podcast are here. The deadline for question submission is the end of January.
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Monbiot on the Curriculum – Here’s a Twitter thread from George Monbiot about the current organisation of school education, particularly the national curriculum. Monbiot says: “There are also gaping holes in our education. For example, the great majority of us go through primary, secondary and tertiary without ever being exposed to complex systems, what they are and how they work. Yet almost everything important to us is a complex system.”
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Lecturing in Environmental Education – The Departments of Education, and Environment and Geography at the University of York are looking for a Lecturer / Assistant Professor to contribute to research and teaching in the field of environmental sustainability education and communication. The successful candidate will join York’s Science Education Group and/or its Centre for Research in Social Justice Education and will have the opportunity to join one or more of the research groupings in the Department of Environment and Geography. They will also contribute to teaching and supervision on the MSc in Environmental Sustainability Education and Communication.
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HE Footprint – THE asks what is the real carbon footprint of universities, and examines a report from the Royal Anniversary Trust that seeks to establish true emissions for the whole the UK sector – and suggest route to net zero.
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NOAA – If you want to keep up with what the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Planet Stewards are up to, here are useful links:
- NOAA Planet Stewards Website
- NOAA Planet Stewards Upcoming Events
- NOAA Planet Stewards Educational Resources
- Sign up to receive NOAA Planet Stewards The Watch e-newsletter
You can also access archive collections: past webinars, book club selections, and the newsletter!
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Thriving in the Anthropocene – The next I-SEE seminar (February 7th at 1630 at the University of Bath) is presented by Professor Mike Berners-Lee, Lancaster University, Director of Small World Consulting. He is the author of, There is No Planet B: A Handbook for the Make or Break Years, and How Bad Are Bananas? The carbon footprint of everything. He writes: “Through our rising energy supply and technological advances, our species has created the Anthropocene: a completely new context in which to operate. The science tells us clearly that we are accelerating into a poly-crisis, but we haven’t yet found how to apply the brakes. This talk looks at why and explores the critical leverage issues for anyone wanting to be part of the solution.” There is Free Eventbrite Registration.
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School Future – There’s an online Public Leadership Forum at UCL on Wednesday 8 February (17:00-18:30). This will consider the The Future School, a thinkpiece by Valerie Hannon. Joining Valerie will be Dr David Godfrey and Dr Peter Kent from UCL’s Centre for Educational Leadership as discussants. The Forum is free and open to all. For more information, please click here and register your interest on the Eventbrite page.
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Ozone Success – A panel of international experts backed by the United Nations has found that the ozone layer is on track to recover by 2040, thanks to decades of policy and practice to get rid of ozone-damaging chemicals. Since the problem was discovered in May 1985, countries have phased out 99% of ozone-depleting substances under the Montreal Protocol. Petteri Taalas, the UN Environment Programme’s Ozone Secretariat said: “Our success in phasing out ozone-eating chemicals shows us what can and must be done – as a matter of urgency – to transition away from fossil fuels, reduce greenhouse gases and so limit temperature increase.“
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Rainforests UK – Ian D. Rotherham, from Sheffield Hallam University, argues in The Conversation that Finding Britain’s ‘shadow woods’ offers the fastest way to reforest the countryside. He says that Atlantic rainforests once lined our west coast – and could one day return.
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Restoring Ecosystems – Daniel Merino and Nehal El-Hadi, in a Conversation podcast, say that Restoring entire ecosystems is a difficult and expensive process. Thankfully, however, certain species – ecosystem engineers – can make restoration easier; but gaining social and political support is critical.
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Nature Reserves – Natural England’s Dagmar Junghanns has spent the last 15 years working with national nature reserves and today she leads the development of the national nature reserves series across England. On January 31st (1900 to 2030) she will be exploring England’s top nature reserves, their rich history and their place in our future nature. Online tickets are free. More details here.