1. NAAEE says that EUGENE is an easy-to-use tool to help “evaluate knowledge gain as a result of your program”. It’s here. EUGENE stands for Ecological Understanding as a Guideline for Evaluation of Nonformal Education. The website is devoted to the work of Eugene Odum who thought that “if an individual understood the principles of ecology, he or she would be better equipped to make informed decisions regarding the natural world. Who can doubt it.
2. The Severn Trent Water’s Education Programme promotes messages around water efficiency and sewer misuse. It includes developing partnerships with other key organisations: universities, local authorities, housing associations etc., and is designed to encourage people to stop, think and ultimately change their behaviours. Education is a priority for STW which offers assemblies and workshops, with links to maths, Geography, Science and PSHE across both the Primary and Secondary sector. For more details, contact Claire.dare@severntrent.co.uk
3. The Stockholm Resilience Centre is the source of up-to-date news and feature articles about environmental and sustainability issues. The Centre is well known for the quality of its thinking about such matters. It has a dedicated education section which you’ll find here.
4. School links to farms was featured in the BBC’s Farming Today programme recently and one edition had some forceful points to make.
5. The Nature Connections Research Network is undertaking a Survey to help us understand the nuances of how people from different disciplines or roles understand the term ‘nature connection’ and would really value contributions to this. UK and international responses from practitioners and academics all welcome. The survey is being conducted on behalf of the network by Frances Harris (University of Hertfordshire), Lizzie Freeman (Sheffield Hallam University) and Chris Loynes (University of Cumbria).
6. Plantlife has been awarded funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund to develop ‘Building Resilience in South West Woodlands’, a project that addresses the conservation challenges faced by the South West’s internationally important Atlantic Woodlands, such as those found on Exmoor, Dartmoor, North Devon and Cornwall, and the Quantock Hills. Through the Future Scientists Programme, children in primary and secondary schools will be able to develop and take part in ‘citizen science’ activities, to help research and monitor these important habitats possibly leading to a presentation of findings at a Future Scientists conference.
If your school or centre is interested in taking part or finding out more, you can complete a short survey to register your interest and tell Plantlife about the opportunities you are interested in. You can also contact Alison.smith@plantlife.org.uk
7. London’s Natural History Museum has lots of educational materials and ideas available on its website – even if you cannot get to the museum itself. You will find links to the BBC’s Blue Planet series and you can even spend New Year’s Eve there. The NHM says:
Dance the night away under our colossal blue whale at the Natural History Museum’s New Year’s Eve party. You’re invited to join us for an enchanting evening under the sea to send off 2017. This unforgettable night of oceanic proportions is hosted in collaboration with Guilty Pleasures and inspired by the arrival of the blue whale in the newly redeveloped Hintze Hall.
8. The 327 Matters website has a freely-downloadable e-book on ESD in the early years. You’ll find it here. Its contents are: Introduction to Sustainable Development / The Environmental Pillar / The Social and Cultural Pillar / The Economic Pillar / Developing good practice / Supporting Organisations and Associations. It’s written by John Siraj-Blatchford, Kimberly Caroline Smith, and Ingrid Pramling Samuelsson.
9. Act on Climate says National Geographic Education in a feature on Climate Change with links to programmes and media. NGE says:
Climate change is a complex and multifaceted problem that can be both difficult to grasp and challenging to address in the classroom. But since it will be a defining issue for future generations, students need to understand it and also see how individuals, organizations, and nations are taking action to deal with a changing climate. … All over the world, people and organizations are taking action to both lower carbon footprints and find innovative ways to adapt to the effects of climate change. Use this page to find out more about climate change and how to inspire your students to act through service learning.
10. The following UNESCO resources relate to climate change and education:
- Action for Climate Empowerment: Guidelines for accelerating solutions through education, training and public awareness
- Getting Climate-Ready – a guide for schools on climate action
- Climate Change in the classroom: UNESCO course for Secondary Teachers
- Not just hot air: Putting climate change education into practice
- YouthXchange Guidebooks on Climate Change, on Biodiversity and on Green Skills
- Climate Change Starter’s Guidebook: an issues guide for education planners and practitioners
- Technical guidance on Disaster Risk Reduction in school curricula
- Video clip: Learning to address climate change