Discovering Shared Values

Below is the descriptor of new research between the University of Bath and Global Action Plan. The principal investigator [PI] is Lukas Wolf  and co-investigators are Professor Gregory Maio, Professor Lorraine Whitmarsh, Dr Elizabeth Marks, Dr Philip Howlett, Samuel Taylor, and Dr Natasha Parker (Global Action Plan) Description The growing threat of the environmental crisis presents…

Labour Education Policies

As a UK educational charity, NAEE is politically neutral, but we do have an interest in what political parties say and get up to in relation to education and environmental policy. As it now seems distinctly possible that the leader of the Labour Party will be asked to form the next UK government after the…

Climate Haiku

Jasmin Kirkbride, a Lecturer in Publishing at the University of East Anglia and Paul Chambers, a PhD Candidate in Creative Writing at the University of Bristol, wrote recently in The Conversation about the haiku poetry form and climate change. It begins: “A successful haiku could be described as a half-finished poem. Originating in Japan in the…

The Need for Climate Education

Reacting to the new poll findings released by Cambridge University Press & Assessment on April 18th, Jamie Agombar, Executive Director of Students Organising for Sustainability said through LinkedIn: “A new poll found that more than 70% of the public think a greater focus on climate change at school would help students better understand how to…

Ten Urban Myths about Climate Action?

A recent post on Neil Kitching’s carbon choices blog discusses what he sees as 10 urban myths about climate action. What do you think of these? 1) recycling2) solar panels3) population growth4) local beef5) natural gas6) hard working families7) 30,000 eco-homes8) carbon neutral aviation9) electric Vehicles10) environmental regulations Neil can be contacted at carbonchoices@gmail.com where you can…

Arts, Education and the Environment

Today’s post is by Ben Ballin, who’s a member of the West Midlands Sustainable Schools Network [@wmsussch], and an Educationalist at Big Brum. He reports on the work of the Standing Conference on the Arts, Education and the Environment. “We are literally in the mouth of the Giant” – conference participant “Children are too often…

Schools making a meal of it

Today’s post is by David Dixon, NAEE Trustee and author of Leadership for Sustainability: saving the planet one school at a time (Crown House Publishing, 2022). David is Tynedale’s Bicycle Mayor. As usual with our blogs, the views expressed are not necessarily shared by the Association. Recently school meals hit the headlines when a headteacher…

Natural History

The most recent Spectator Schools magazine had an article, Better Nature, which focused on “how to make the new natural history GCSE more worthwhile”. This is a plea for natural history to be focused on plants and animals rather than on fashionable causes such as the need to ‘save the world from catastrophe’ as suggested…

BERA Blog Update

Anna Ridgewell, from the University of Sussex, won the British Educational Research Association Annual Conference 2023 Best ePoster Prize and has now contributed a post to its Blog: Growing up green: What value is placed on accessing outdoor environments across different childcare and educational settings? This is how it begins: “It is well known that…

Victorian Visions

Today’s post is by David Dixon, NAEE Trustee and author of Leadership for Sustainability: saving the planet one school at a time (Crown House Publishing, 2022). David is Tynedale’s Bicycle Mayor. As usual with our blogs, the views expressed are not necessarily shared by the Association. If time travellers from the 19th Century were to arrive…

On a Lane in Spring

Friday was International Poetry Day. To celebrate it here’s John Clare’s On a Lane in Spring. As usual with Clare, the punctuation is minimalist. A Little Lane, the brook runs close besideAnd spangles in the sunshine while the fish glide swiftly byAnd hedges leafing with the green spring tideFrom out their greenery the old birds…

Buy Nothing New Month

Today’s post is by Dr Ian Humphreys, the Chief Executive of Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, and an NAEE Fellow. As ever with our blogs, the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of the Association. It was an eventful start to 2024 for us at Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful as we launched a new…