Friendly Fungi – Zara Hussan, who’s 14, and goes to Plashet School in London’s East Ham, has won the 2022 Association of British Science Writers (ABSW) Young Science Writer of the Year award. This competition invites 14 to 16 year olds to submit an 800-word essay and it is supported by BBC News, the Royal Institution and DeepMind. It’s designed to get young people writing and thinking about the big questions in science, technology, engineering and/or mathematics. You can read Zara’s essay – Friendly fungi help forests fight climate change – here.
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Trach Change Plus – Following the successful outcomes of its Track Change project, Teach the Future is commissioning an extension of the work into Key Stage 2. It will be conducted by the same team with a reporting date in the new year. It has also secured funding to extend its Teach the Teacher programme to 200 schools per year, over the next 3 years across the UK. They are also assessing exam papers to see where climate, ecology and sustainability content is routinely included.
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Teacher Sharing – Every month, UKSSN is collaborating with the Ministry of Eco Education and Transform our World to create sustainability teacher sharing sessions on various topics with a guest speaker. These aim [i] to support teachers to embed sustainability across the curriculum; [ii] to share best practice; and [iii] to provide a platform for organisations to communicate with teachers. You can sign up here for more information about these events. The first session takes place on Tuesday 8th November 7-8 pm to look at embedding energy into the curriculum – in collaboration with Energy Sparks.
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Park Learning – The South Downs National Park has released a series of films that give children’s verdicts on the environment and how important it is. A survey by the National Park of over 200 schools in the park found that 100% of teachers thought access to nature was good for children’s health and more than 80% thought it helped to increase attainment at school.
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Transformers – This is the recording of Transform Our World’s free teacher CPD session, Joining the journey to Transform Our World, which was produced to celebrate the first three years of Transform Our World. There’s an introduction to the website, tools and resources and comment from the teachers who use them.
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Wild Youth – Here’s a podcast on the Youth Rewilding Summit held at Knepp Wildland last month which was a collaboration with Heal Rewilding and the Young Rewilders. The event was created by young people to connect and inspire other youngsters with a passion for rewilding, and to give the next generation of rewilders a platform and an opportunity to stimulate change.
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Sharing Activities – Our Shared World invites us to help plan its strategy and activities for the coming year. The meeting is in London on December 12th; a 1030 start. More details here.
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Schoolyards – In October, the Living Schoolyards Act was introduced in the US Senate. If passed, this bill will help schools and districts create outdoor classrooms and learning spaces.
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Awards from Ashden – You can see a film of the recent Ashden Awards ceremony which was hosted by broadcast meteorologist, Laura Tobin. There was a 📢fireside chat with Brian Eno, the 🎥UK premier of short films showcasing the 2022 award winners, 📜 a poetry reading by poet Rakaya Fetuga, and a 🎵 live performance by African Kora player Mosi Conde.
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EAUC – Charlotte Bonner has been appointed CEO of the Alliance for Sustainability Leadership in Education [ EAUC ]. Charlotte comes from the Education and Training Foundation where she is the National Head of Education for Sustainable Development, and she had previous roles with SOS-UK and NUS. You can read more about her here.
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Biodiversity Data – The 22nd National Biodiversity Network Conference takes place on Wednesday November 9th at London’s Natural History Museum. The theme is ‘Making data work for nature’. There are 16 speakers. You can book here. The cost for students is only £45.
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Protecting Australia – Australia has set a zero extinctions goal for the country’s plants and animals. This is part of a 10-year plan to reverse the decline of 110 species and 20 places, and protect an additional 50m hectares of land and sea area by 2027. There’s more detail in The Guardian.
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Chopping Sticks – WWF has a video feature on the problems of discarded chopsticks in Vancouver. In an episode of Age of Change, Felix Bӧck says that most disposable chopsticks are discarded after just one meal and in Vancouver, an unbelievable 100,000 chopsticks are thrown away every day.
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Thank You – This is Trustees’ Week when the Charity Commission says a big ‘thank you’ to the nearly one million trustees across the UK who give their time to ensure charities thrive and help make society better. This year’s theme is ‘Making a difference in changing times’ which recognises how trustees work to overcome challenges and embrace new opportunities to keep their charity’s on-track.