Two resources were published last week aimed at helping school governing boards to adopt environmental sustainability as a core value and make it a key element of strategy development. These arise from a collaboration over the Summer between NAEE and the National Governance Association [NGA]. One resource is the NGA’s own guidance on sustainability for governing boards: Developing a whole school approach to environmental sustainability. This stresses the importance of schools focusing on sustainability issues in order to nurture students’ abilities to think critically about them and take responsibility for their actions in relation to them.
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The second resource to be published was the NAEE publication: Developing Sustainability: helping school governors influence whole school approaches. This complements the NGA guidance and sets out to help schools and their governing boards evaluate and develop their approaches to environmental sustainability in order to help focus strategic planning on the areas requiring specific attention. The NAEE resource poses questions that governing boards might ask themselves about their school and sets these out in four sections: Curriculum – teaching and learning; Campus – buildings, grounds and budget – Community: inside and out; and Culture – caring and respect.
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Coordinated by Global Action Plan and teachers, the Youth Climate Summit was a free, week-long virtual festival (9-13th November) of themed discussions and activities. You can watch recordings from it here. We’d like to list what’s available, but there is just too much. This is a good problem, of course. If you click the Filter Resources button, you’ll find a handy list of topics to help your search. You can choose from age range, subjects, topics, and SDGs.
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Mock COP26 has been taking place online from November 19th. It ends on Tuesday, December 1st. Young people have come together from around the world to help shape the way we perceive and act upon the climate crisis. The MC26 YouTube channel has lots of information including young people talking about what motivates their involvement. If you click here you can hear “High-Level” country statements from Mock COP26 delegates in Europe. In each delegation’s video, the delegates share their experiences of climate change in their country, their demands for climate action, and their visions for the future. Finally, for now, here’s a link to the presentation by Ashish Kothari a founding member of Kalpavriksh. This is a link to a 7 minute video – Mother Earth says Enough is Enough – to mark Glasgow’s delayed COP talks that will now (virus-allowing) take place next year.
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Each year SOS_UK asks HE and FE students about their attitudes towards learning and sustainable development. It’s clear that students care about sustainability from the actions thousands are taking on their campuses and in their communities. This research makes it even more clear how much students care about sustainability. Around 80% of students want their institution to be doing more on sustainable development, and about 60% want to learn more about sustainability. SOS_UK has conducted this research for eight years and results have remained constant. Despite changes such as the rise in fees, and the crash of the jobs market, the demand for action by their institutions and desire to learn about sustainability has remained constant. Click here to read the 2019-20 results, and here for more context.
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Doctoral student Bill Finnegan is exploring how secondary schools in the UK are responding to the climate crisis. This project will result in case studies documenting the opportunities and challenges for schools to achieve zero carbon emissions, how climate change and energy are being addressed into the classroom, and the visions of young people for a climate resilient future. The research also incorporates digital storytelling and is an opportunity to engage an eco-club in a media project. If you click here, you can see young people creating a multimedia letter from the future at the Youth Climate Summit. Recognising the limitations imposed by coronavirus restrictions, the research process involves: [i] Autumn term: a conversation (video chat or phone call) with school leadership or a teacher/staff person spearheading school environmental programmes to discuss possible participation. [ii] Spring term: a one-day site visit in early 2021 for stakeholder interviews. [iii] Spring/Summer term: a workshop or series of sessions with an eco-club or other group of pupils. If you’re interested in knowing more or in getting involved, please email william.finnegan@ouce.ox.ac.uk or call 07538 593528.
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Carbon Choices is a new book on common-sense solutions to our intertwined climate and nature crises and, say the publishers, is suited to teachers and older pupils with an interest in the environment. It is written by Neil Kitching, a geographer and energy specialist. It covers school property, travel, diets, the curriculum and biodiversity. Go to carbonchoices.uk for more information.
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We hear that a Midlands Schools Eco-Network is being formed. More news on this welcome development when it emerges. Is there scope we wonder for there to be such initiatives across all English regions and major cities.
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News from the British Antarctic Survey about Krill providing a highway for ocean carbon storage. A BAS press release notes: “Large krill swarms in the Southern Ocean could help remove additional carbon from the atmosphere, in a way that is currently ‘hidden’ in global models. Scientists knew that the carbon-rich faecal pellets that krill produce, sink in the water column and can transfer carbon from the atmosphere to the deep ocean. In this study, a team from British Antarctic Survey found that krill moulting (shedding of the exoskeleton) could double the amount of carbon removed. The research is published in the journal Nature Communications.
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Amazingly, a recent poll of 2,300 people found that 88% of we British were uncertain about the “alu” symbol. Somewhat less amazingly perhaps, 83%, didn’t understand that a wavy green arrow shows that manufacturers have made a financial contribution towards the recycling of packaging, 68% didn’t know that a white loop with a heart-shaped arrow on a green background, means that a product is recycled in most local authorities, and 63% did not know that a black looped leaf shows a product was compostable. The editor of this round-up (and keen recycler) didn’t. Would you have?
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It seems that electric cars are only greener (that is, have a lower carbon footprint) than cars fuelled by fossils once they have done around 48,000 miles of travel. This is because of the embodied carbon (and other material) in their production. The manufacture of a Volvo Polestar 2 electric car embodies 24 tonnes of CO2 compared to 14 tonnes from the fossil fuel consuming Volvo XC40. In terms of fuel costs, it’s 41 tonnes (XC40) versus 15 tonnes (Polestar). If the Polestar were to be recharged only using renewable sources (eg roof solar panels), the break-even point would be 31,000 miles. Oddly, you hardly ever see such data in car maker bumph.