Share the World – Whether you have been involved in Our Shared World from the start or not, it’s inviting you to go to London on 12th December for a day of:
- Planning the strategy and activities over the next year
- Networking and connecting with other members
- Building appreciation for each other and a sense of community
- Re-invigorating the network around a clear, common cause
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Writing to the DfE – You can catch up with what Transform our World has been doing here. These include a letter to the DfE and a climate award (which we’ve already reported). There are also updates from round the country such as from Somerset and Manchester.
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Westminster Role Exchange – the Rt Hon Robin Walker MP, who recently was a DfE minister, is the new Chair of the Education Select Committee. He has taken over from the Rt Hon Robert Halfon MP, who is now a DfE minister. Meanwhile, Sir Michael Barber, who once worked in the education department of the National Union of Teachers, and then as the Head of the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit (under Blair) and then at Pearson, McKinsey and Harvard, is to be an advisor to Government on the implementation of its skills reform programme.
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SchooliP – This is a cloud-based and mobile, whole-school improvement tool that streamlines the process of monitoring staff and evaluating evidence across the school. SchooliP, the NGA and NAEE have come together to provide schools and trusts with a free online tool to help governing boards adopt environmental sustainability as a strategic priority and for school leaders to develop a climate action plan. Based on the Sustainable Development Goals, the online tool is designed to cover all aspects of school life and is organised into the four Cs of Curriculum, Campus, Community and Culture. It consists of a series of questions and guidance to help schools and trusts focus their efforts on pertinent actions. You can access the free online auditing tool as part of SchooliP by registering here.
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Urchin News – 25 UK primary schools have been selected to receive a free #HogBox as part of Hedgehog Friendly Campus. Pupils will learn how to help hedgehogs and other wildlife through interactive activities that can be delivered in and outside of the classroom.
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Reporting Disadvantage – The Fair Education Alliance has launched its Report Card 2022. The disadvantage gaps it identifies are:
- The attainment gaps at primary and GCSE are each at their highest levels since 2012.
- Regional disparities are widening, and those who have been in poverty the longest are falling further behind
- The mental health and wellbeing of poorer pupils and those with SEND has failed to bounce back from pandemic lows at the same rate as others.
- Socio-economic status still dictates the type of destination young people enter post-16
- The gap in progression rates to university has grown over the past decade, especially for the most selective universities.
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City to Sea – 50 Devon and Cornwall schools are to receive free Rethink Periods teacher training, with complementary resources. More than 90 training events have already been delivered to over 1,500 teachers and school nurses, with a projected student reach of over 211,000. If you are interested, please email rethinkperiodsadmin@citytosea.org.uk
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Communicate 2022 – We can now watch some of the online content from the recent Communicate 2022 conference on its YouTube channel. There is more to follow but currently available are:
- Intersectionality and the Environment
- We are who we are: Understanding current attitudes
- Celebrating Nature – inspiration and learning from the Festival of National Nature Reserves
- Behind the scenes: The Working Class Nature Writing Prize
- Sport as a way to drive behaviour change
- Innovative practice showcase
- The Equity Compass
- In Conversation with Danielle Mulder
- Communicating beyond consumerism
- ‘OK Doomer’ – positive communications
- Nature connection in the digital age
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Sustainability Campus – The annual Student Sustainability Summit takes place on February 7th 2023 at the University of Lincoln Students’ Union, and £40 Early Bird tickets are now available. You can expect a day full of workshops, panels, networking and opportunities to engage in a range of topics around sustainability and climate justice. It is open to all students, officers, and HE staff. Click here for tickets.
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Global Carbon – Our World in Data has updated its global CO2 emissions data. Its primary source for data on global emissions is the Global Carbon Project (GCP). GCP publishes an update each year during the international climate conference, and this has been used to update all the emissions data on the Our World in Data website. You can explore it all in CO2 Data Explorer.
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COP 15 (1) – The Environmental Audit Committee has written to the Environment Secretary urging the UK Government to publish targets ahead of COP15. Climate Action reports that the Chair of the committee, the Rt Hon Philip Dunne MP, has written to the Environment Secretary raising the committee’s concerns that a culture of delay at DEFRA is holding up progress on a range of promised environment policies. The Government failed to meet the statutory deadline of 31st October to confirm new long-term targets for air quality, water, biodiversity and species abundance and resource efficiency and waste reduction. The deadline to establish these targets was set in the Government’s own Environment Act, which received Royal Assent in November 2021. EAC has called for the targets now to be set and published ahead of the final stage of the COP15 international biodiversity conference, which is scheduled to open in Montreal on 7th December. Incoming Environment Secretary Therese Coffey told the House of Commons on Thursday 17th November that she was “disappointed” to find that the Government was not yet in a place to publish the targets. This followed a consultation period which closed in June 2022.
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COP 15 (2) – The Joint Nature Conservation Committee has set out its plan to boost nature recovery in the UK and abroad ahead of COP15 – the international biodiversity summit – in Montreal next month. In a joint statement the UK’s six official nature conservation bodies said that there has never been a more critical time to invest in restoring and enhancing nature across the UK and stressed how the economy cannot thrive without progressing environmental protections. At an event at the Royal Society in London, nature conservation agencies from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland stressed that we must expand our ambition to achieve the UK’s commitment to halt species decline, go further and faster on nature recovery and do much more to align action to halt and reverse biodiversity loss, and tackle climate change. Climate Action has the details. The committee’s news posts can be read here.
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Rivers – If you haven’t registered for Rivers Unite Us 2022 on December 9 at 5:00pm Pacific (-8 UTC), there’s still time. You can learn more about
- Why we need to protect rivers now
- Why hydropower is harmful for the planet
- Why rivers should have rights
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People and Nature – Natural England is looking to commission two pieces of work relating to its People and Nature Surveys. The projects are:
- Setting up a young people’s advisory group for the children’s survey: we are looking for a contactor to bring a diverse group of young people together over a period of 3 months. They will facilitate sessions that allow the young people to feed into the work we are doing with the Children’s People and Nature Survey. See specification attached (page 9 onwards for specification). You can apply here.
- A review of behavioural insights around pro-environmental behaviours: we are commissioning an individual/group to draw together (over 3 months) existing behavioural insights on pro-environmental behaviours to inform the work we do on both the adult’s and children’s People and Nature Surveys. See specification attached (page 9 onwards for specification). You can apply here.