New Learners Council – The FED is looking to recruit current learners in England, “from a diversity of voices, backgrounds and experiences”, to join its Learners Council; specifically:
- Up to 10 young people aged 16-18
- Up to two learners aged 25+ who are in full-time or part-time education
The Council will focus on the English education system. If you’re interested or know someone who is, please complete or share this short application form by Friday 24th November 2023 at 5pm. This is an opportunity to help the FED take environmental education seriously.
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Outstanding Environmental Educator Award – The Trust of the Worshipful Company of Educators wishes to confer an award for outstanding and inspirational practitioners in environmental education. The award will be given to an outstanding practitioner in environmental education which relates specifically to living organisms, their relationships to each other and, in particular, their responses to the impact of human activities. You’ll find details here.
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Development and Advocacy – SOS-UK is recruiting for a new role in its Education team: Senior Project Manager – Education (Development and Advocacy). This position will focus on delivering targeted advocacy activities across the sector and managing the development and establishment of new funded projects. More information about the role can be found here.
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Reforming FE Training – The DfE is seeking views on proposed reforms to initial teacher training for the further education sector, including changes to public funding. Details here. It won’t take you long to find all the references to sustainability and the environment.
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Global Lessons – The Children and Nature Network has published a brief conference highlights video from its 2023 Inside-Out Conference. For a deeper exploration of issues, there is also a recorded session from the Global Lessons on Green School Grounds and Outdoor Learning meeting which presents case studies of green school grounds and outdoor learning initiatives that have potential to be replicated around the world to create sustainable, inclusive communities. Click here to view the recording.
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COP28: A Youth Perspective – On November 28th Transform our World held an online 20-minute event for 11-14 year olds. Young speakers shared their thoughts on: What COP is; their hopes for COP28; what COP might achieve; what’s problematic about COP. You can read more about this here.
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Slow News – Future Crunch says that globally, there are 50 million more girls in school today than there were in 2015. Completion rates for girls have increased from 86% to 89% in primary school, and from 54% to 61% in high school. There are five million more girls completing each level of education every year now compared to seven years ago. Bad news happens suddenly, it says; good news happens slowly. UNESCO has more detail.
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Angels – The DERC partnership project the Academic Network on Global Education & Learning (ANGEL) has confirmed the dates of this year’s webinar series, which provides a regular series of shorter, research-focused events for Global Education professionals, as well as anyone with an interest in research in the fields of Development Education, Global Citizenship Education, Human Rights Education, Education for Sustainable Development, Education for Peace, and Intercultural Education. The meeting dates are:
- 2 Nov: Embedding a Justice Approach in Secondary Education
- 22 Nov: Global learning as a dimension of education for democracy
- 13 Dec: Transforming education through ecocentric critical thinking
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Net-Zero / Zero-Emissions – The University of Bath’s I-SEE seminar on 31st October 2023 has a presentation by Professor Bill David FRS on Net zero and zero emissions. This is how his Abstract begins:
Net-zero and zero-emissions are two of the most significant environmental challenges that we face worldwide, now and over the coming decades. The thread that runs through my talk addresses these two challenges and focusses on the importance of carbon-free, zero-emissions energy infrastructures, present, possible and improbable. You can register here.
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EuroBioBlitz – across Europe during the 48-hours of EuroBioBlitz 2023, 64,397 records of wildlife were made. These records of 8,374 species were recorded by 8,720 people. To date, 32,637 of these records have been identified to “Research Grade” level – making this data of huge value to scientists and researchers, who are able to use the information collected to help gain a better understanding of the natural world and how it is doing. You can see a map of all the records across Europe on iNaturalist here and explore more about the findings here.
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Season of Mists and Climate Change – Jadu Dash, from the University of Southampton notes in The Conversation that Autumn is arriving later in the year, and that climate change is probably the cause. The issue is explored here: How climate change is affecting the seasons.
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Racoon Watch – Although racoons are native to North America, at least 21 have been sighted roaming in the UK since the 1970s. The most recent sighting was in the West Midlands, according to NBN Atlas, which records biodiversity information. During the Second World War 25 got out of a German fur farm during an air raid and now there are estimated to be more than one million racoons across the country. Although racoons look cute, they can transmit diseases such as rabies, and cause damage in urban areas by rummaging through bins or entering people’s attics where they can cause significant destruction. They also prey on a wide range of native species. If you spot one, don’t approach it but call Natural England.
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Unfavourable SSSIs – The Economist has a feature exploring the problems of Dartmoor. It identifies three sets of problems:
“… much of Dartmoor is in a bad way. Breeding populations of golden plover, red grouse and ring ouzels—magnificent mountain blackbirds that migrate from north-west Africa and seek out the most remote areas of upland Britain—are on the brink of extinction or gone. Some 91% of its SSSIs are in an unfavourable condition. Only 6.6% of its SACs [special area of conservation], which covers around a quarter of the park, is in a favourable condition. The problem is not unique to Dartmoor as nearly 75% of SSSIs in English national parks are in an unfavourable condition, compared with 61% of SSSIs across England as a whole.”
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Finally – A reminder that our AGM is on November 18th by Zoom. In this, Rob Hopkins, the co-founder of Transition Network and of Transition Town Totnes, and author of several books including From What Is to What If: unleashing the power of imagination to create the future we want’, will explore why, as activists campaigning for a future in which people and the natural world can thrive, we need to become much better at speaking to people’s imaginations, at the cultivation of longing. All members welcome. Please email info@naee.org.uk to book a place.