Frog life is holding a toad summit on 19th June to discuss toad conservation. There will be a variety of speakers from academics and from community-focused practitioners, including talks from Froglife patron, Jules Howard, and conservation evidence research associate, Dr Silviu Petrovan. Registration and other details here.
The Wildlife Trusts website sets out long lists of things to do in the different seasons.
For example, Spring includes:
- Seek a swooping sand martin Watch a rare sky dance Eavesdrop on a nightingale
- Go spotting early orchids or Gape at hunting hobbies
The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition is the World’s oldest school’s international writing competition, offering young people within the Commonwealth a way to get their voice developed and heard.
The competition invites young people to write about topical issues and is a great opportunity to enhance your school’s profile. The theme for 2018 is ‘Towards a common future’ allowing your students to explore global challenges and develop critical thinking. Entries must be submitted by the 1 June 2018. For more information click here: Royal Commonwealth Society website
A new DERC research report (by Helen Lawson) has been published: “Primary pupils’ attitudes owards and understandings of poverty“. This forms part of DERC’s work with the Global Learning Programme.
The research sheds light on the factors that influence and impact on a pupil’s knowledge, understanding and perspectives. The main research questions were: 1. How do young people conceptualise and make sense of global poverty? 2. How do young people think they can respond to global poverty?, and 3. In what contexts do young people think they learn about global poverty
It’s available here.
Wildscreen is celebrating the craft of wildlife photography with the introduction of the Photo Story Panda Award to celebrate the “very best in photographic narrative, uniting it alongside the world’s very best natural world film talent.”
The entry deadline is 8 JUNE 2018. More detail here.
The Fashioned from Nature exhibition at the V & A explores the complex relationship between fashion and nature – from 1600 to the present day. The exhibition presents fashionable dress alongside natural history specimens, innovative new fabrics and dyeing processes, inviting visitors to think about the materials of fashion and the sources of their clothes.
Wearable Environmental Education. Details here.
The Guardian reports that outdoor learning is growing in Scotland as an understanding of its of benefits spreads, with teachers and policymakers seeing advantages of education beyond the classroom for children: “from fitness to resilience”. The article begins:
On a bright spring morning, the air is crisp as an apple and the children of Lauriston Castle forest kindergarten are inventing muddy meals at their imaginary cafe. This woodland, north-west of Edinburgh city centre, has become an outdoor classroom for the day, with waterproofs and lunch boxes clustered around the lower branches of the trees. A black labrador liberates himself from his owner and charges through the sunny glade, to the youngsters’ delight. But unexpected connections are all part of outdoor learning, as early-years officer Amanda Patrick explained. “We might pick up pine cones in the morning, and talk about what they are and what we could do with them. Then they make owls with the cones, so we read a story about owls and then learn a big word, ‘nocturnal’. …”
A new paper in EER asks Is students’ energy literacy related to their university’s position in a sustainability ranking? Here’s the abstract:
“University rankings are increasingly important internationally, and in the UK include a sustainability ‘Green League’. However, there is little evidence about experiences of studying in ‘sustainable universities’. We report an empirical study at five universities in varied positions in the Green League, exploring students’ energy literacy, environmental attitudes and perceptions of their institution’s energy-saving efforts. Although the link to energy literacy is not clear, findings suggest that there are significant differences between students’ environmental attitudes at universities placed at different points in the league. In addition, students at higher ranked universities are more positive about their university’s energy-saving efforts, suggesting that these institutions may exhibit more overt manifestations of sustainability. …”
Sussed says: “Come and chat about outdoor learning over a cup of tea. This is our first reading group and we are looking forward to an interesting and thought-provoking discussion.” The focus will be on the Independent Evaluation of Learning Away. It’s hosted by The South East Outdoor Learning Research Hub and takes place on Wednesday 2nd May – 6.00pm-7.00pm – at the Chocolate Café1 Guildhall Street, Canterbury, CT1 2JQ
The Woodland Trust says that woods and forests are a vital part of the ecosystems that give us the essentials of life and that, without them the world would be a very different place. It says that there are 11 key facts about woods and forests in the UK.