Llywodraeth Cymru – Unlike younger pupils, students in Welsh schools currently studying in years 8-11 are still being taught the pre-reform curriculum. Although this was required to have an integrated ESDGC [ education for sustainable development / global citizenship ] programme, this was not widely implemented or considered to be important by most educators. Rather, it tended to be slotted into Welsh Baccalaureate qualifications and not considered more broadly throughout the curriculum.
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Get Out! – Outdoor Classroom Day will take place on 18th May, led by Learning through Landscapes and Action Funder. It is a prompt to teachers and educators to take children and young people beyond the classroom to vary their learning environments and connect to the wider surroundings. Organisers think all education settings should be part as this rather than being limited to primary and secondary education. You can learn more here.
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TGC – The Garden Classroom is a charity providing urban children and adults with outdoor experiences devised to encourage active lifestyles, promote self-discovery, inspire growth and stimulate respect for nature. There are also online resources that can support learning outdoors.
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Teaching In – The 2023 SDG Teach In campaign has resulted in 1284 pledges made by educators across 23 countries. Over 121,000 students were reached across 128 institutions. Details here.
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Desiderata – A guest SEEd blog [ The transformation of education? – Four desiderata critical to real change ] SEEd by Stephen Sterling examines the current ‘transformation’ movement, and proposes four interlinked needs which will affect its outcomes. You can read more here.
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A Shared Future – May 22nd is UNESCO’s International Day for Biological Diversity. The theme in 2022 is Building a shared future for all life. Fitting within the context of the ongoing United Nations Decade on Restoration, which highlights that biodiversity is the answer to several sustainable development challenges, the slogan conveys the message that biodiversity is the foundation upon which we can “build back better”. More info here.
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YouTube Promo – UKSSN has a new promo video on YouTube and its up-to-the-minute news stories can be followed here.
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Counting Ratty – The wildlife charity People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) runs an annual survey which is part of its National Water Vole Monitoring Programme. This involves surveying a local waterway and recording findings online. The survey was set up in 2015 to try and combat the decline in water vole populations. Water voles underwent one of the most serious declines of any wild mammal in Britain during the 20th century.
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Touting Images – The man who founded Earth Day in 1970 has accused companies of abusing his creation to greenwash their images. Denis Hayes, the American environmental activist, told The Guardian that when companies use Earth Day to tout their supposed green credentials they ignore “the original sentiments that we had, or the things that motivate millions of people every year to come out and do something positive for the environment.”
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Nature in 2030 – In an article for The Conversation, Richard Cornford, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Fiona Spooner, University of Oxford, and Robin Freeman, Zoological Society of London, argue that the 2030 nature targets agreed in December may already be slipping out of reach as wildlife can take years or decades to respond to environmental changes made by humans.
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CISL Conversations – Co-President of the Club of Rome and CISL Senior Associate, Sandrine Dixson-Declève discusses her new book ‘Earth for All’ and explains the need for urgent economic systems change. Her presentation and interview are both available to watch on podcast platforms. You can listen here.
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Creg y Cowin and Bryn Ifan – The Isle of Man and North Wales are the first places where The Wildlife Trusts will begin restoring and expanding rainforests across the British Isles, following a donation of £38 million from Aviva. British rainforests have been largely destroyed over hundreds of years and now cover less than 1% of the land. The restoration of this precious habitat is part of a wider programme of nature-based projects funded by Aviva to remove carbon from the atmosphere and to help nature recover. Local communities will be closely involved in rainforest projects and will benefit from increased access to nature, volunteering, educational and employment opportunities. Rainforest recovery will also provide cleaner air and water and reduced risk from flooding. Here are maps etc.
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Capercaillie and the Pill – The BBC reports proposals to use contraceptives to control pine martens in the Cairngorms to help protect the endangered capercaillie. Conservationists tend to challenge the idea that killing one species’ predators is an ecologically sound approach to preventing it’s extinction as the Inkcap Journal comments.