This week, we are publishing an educational news item (or two) related to COP 26 every day. Please read on …
FRIDAY Nov 5th At 4:00 pm today UNESCO will be calling on education and environment ministers to pledge to integrate climate education in every level of schooling as part of an event jointly organised with the governments of the United Kingdom and Italy, as well as youth representatives Mock COP and Youth4Climate. The event ‘Together For Tomorrow: Education and Climate Action’ can be viewed on the COP26 YouTube channel;. There’s more about it here.
FRIDAY Nov 5th The Department for Education is launching its draft climate change and sustainability strategy today, and there is a stakeholder reception for this with the Secretary of State on Saturday. The draft strategy is being launched as a consultation. The Times says that a Duke of Edinburgh-style award scheme will be announced to encourage young people to take action against climate change, and there will also be a new model science curriculum that will teach children about the world around them and the harmful impacts of climate change. This will encourage practical steps such as installing bird feeders within school grounds, and a school’s success in improving its biodiversity will be mapped against others as part of a new virtual National Education Nature Park.
The Times says that the Secretary of State will say that “empowering teachers in every school to deliver world-leading climate change education will not only raise awareness and understanding of the problem, but also equip young people with the skills and knowledge to build a sustainable future.”
FRIDAY Nov 5th the New York Times is running an Educate on Climate Day. Click here to register, then click on the Ticket tab and then choose how to attend. Then enter the following code in the Discount box: EDUCATE-VIP You can find out more about the New York Times Climate Hub here.
FRIDAY Nov 5th If you missed Jodie (17) and Phoebe (19) explaining climate change to the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Education (and other invited key educationalists) you can watch it on the Department for Education’s YouTube channel. It lasts for about 68 minutes. You can read about Teach the Teacher here.
FRIDAY Nov 5th If you click here you’ll see a range of videos and streams from the COP. From Women in Finance, to Voices from the Forest, with much in between.
THURSDAY Nov 4th If you click here you’ll see a range of videos and streams from the COP. From Women in Finance, to Voices from the Forest, with much in between.
THURSDAY Nov 4th Tomorrow, from 4:00 to 5:30pm UNESCO will be calling on education and environment ministers to pledge to integrate climate education in every level of schooling as part of an event jointly organised with the governments of the United Kingdom and Italy, as well as youth representatives Mock COP and Youth4Climate. The event ‘Together For Tomorrow: Education and Climate Action’ will take place in the Blue Zone, and will be open to those who have tickets to the area. You can watch the livestream of the event via COP26 YouTube and there is more info here.
THURSDAY Nov 4th Also on November 5th, the Department for Education is launching its draft climate change and sustainability strategy at COP26, and there is a stakeholder reception for the new strategy with the Secretary of State on Saturday. The draft strategy is being launched as a consultation, but the launch is not live-streamed.
WEDNESDAY Nov 3rd What young people are capable of was vividly highlighted by the award of an Earthshot development prize to 15 year old Vinisha Umashankar for her idea of a solar ironing cart. You can watch her speech to a meeting discussing clean technology and innovation at COP 26 here.
WEDNESDAY Nov 3rd Mock COP26 (which is hosted by SOS-UK) has been working with the Department for Education, the Italian Government and UNESCO to deliver a summit for education ministers at COP26. Participating nations have been asked to make climate education pledges, and the UK Government has confirmed it will be making a pledge. The Secretary of State will give a keynote at the event. If you are at COP and have blue zone accreditation you can go along at 4pm on Friday 05 November in the UK pavilion. Inexplicably, the event is not being live-streamed, but we shall bring you highlights.
TUESDAY Nov 2nd At 1pm on Thursday November 4th Jodie (17) and Phoebe (19) are delivering Teach the Teacher to the Permanent Secretary at the Department for Education, and other invited key educationalists, at COP26. The event is being live-streamed on the Department for Education’s YouTube channel, and was included in the DfE’s schools bulletin last week. You can read more about it here.
TUESDAY Nov 2nd Are you looking for a way to bring COP26 into your classroom in November? The Great Big Lesson for Climate and Nature is live from COP26, on November 5th at 09:00 is for all students aged 11+, teachers, school leaders and parents. The organisers say that it provides an opportunity for the whole school community to come together in a collective learning experience and find solutions to the climate and nature crisis.
TUESDAY Nov 2nd Coincidently, the House of Commons EAC report into Green Jobs was published last week. NAEE made an input into this arguing that all school leavers needed to have an essential understanding of key environmental issues as every job is now a green job because of the environmental laws and regulations that all employers and employees now face in a routine, everyday way, and because of the moral imperatives which underpin these. The EAC report is here.
MONDAY Nov 1st The students at Teach the Future helped organise a Westminster Hall debate on climate education last week. The debate transcript is here. Robin Walker, the new Schools Minister said quite a lot, and some of those who were listening said that there was a discernible change of tone. Th question is, though, was there much that was new? What do you think? You can see some coverage of the debate here, and here. Teach the Future is now supporting Nadia Whittome MP to work up a 10 minute rule bill on climate education.
MONDAY Nov 1st The final manifesto from the BERA-funded research commission on environmental sustainability was published today. It calls for sustainability to become a key feature of the curriculum, inspections and other accountability systems in order to enable schools to make environmentally friendly choices. The manifesto is the culmination of the commission’s work which involved online workshops with more than 200 young people, teachers and teacher educators. Key points of the manifesto include:
– Young people and teachers want to see change at all levels to value sustainability in their schools – not only in teaching and learning, but in the way schools are operated and regulated.
– The environment should be part of all subjects and school practices; and sustainability co-ordinators should lead each school to a greener approach.
– Continuing professional development for teachers of all subjects to help them gain confidence in teaching about sustainability; and better opportunities for schools to green their own environments, including growing food and other plants..
The manifesto can read here.