The latest NAEE journal [Vol 120] was published last week. It has a focus on the sustainable development goals and you can see the contents here. The article that explores the embedding of the goals in the curriculum is available on line. This is by Joyce Hallam the geography consultant and a voluntary support worker and advisory group member of the local Global Learning Programme (GLP).
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Here are the 4 demands that the UK student climate network is making about climate:
- The Government declare a climate emergency and prioritise the protection of life on Earth, taking active steps to achieve climate justice.
- The national curriculum is reformed to address the ecological crisis as an educational priority.
- The Government communicate the severity of the ecological crisis and the necessity to act now to the general public.
- The Government recognise that young people have the biggest stake in our future, by incorporating youth views into policy making and bringing the voting age down to 16.
NAEE welcomes the focus on ecology and on reforming the curriculum. The next strike is scheduled for this Friday (15th) and there are 10 reasons for the action. The locations of the action are here.
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Social Farms & Gardens has been selected to lead the ‘Growing Care Farming’ Project which is part of the £10m Children and Nature Programme being supported by Defra, funded by the Department of Education, and managed by Natural England. This aims to encourage children from disadvantaged backgrounds to play and learn outside, in and out of school, and is a key commitment in the Government’s 25-year Environment Plan published last year. SFG says:
“Officially launched on 31st January 2019, this £1.4 million project is an exciting opportunity to build the capacity and scale of the care farming sector. We will be working with Thrive to expand and transform care farming services across all nine English regions and ultimately create more opportunities for both children and adults with a defined need to benefit from attending care farms, for health, social and specialist educational care services. This is a fantastic opportunity for us to continue working closely with care farmers and commissioning agencies to grow both the supply and demand of care farming places and something that we have been working towards for nearly a decade! Watch this space for updates on progress, developments and opportunities to get involved.”
The official press release is here. and you can read more by clicking on this link.
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Click here to see some environmental education in the West Midlands c/o OPAL (Open Air Laboratories) which is a nationwide initiative to get more people discovering and enjoying the wildlife and nature around them.
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A LEEF Discussion on The Circular Economy takes place on April 3rd at the Royal Festival Hall. This is a free networking event and there’s more info and registration details here.
And here’s advance notice of LEEF National Conference with a focus on Urban Environmental Education 2019. This is on Monday 7th October, at the Natural History Museum. We are invited to save the date. The autumn 2019 NAEE journal is devoted to this theme in partnership with LEEF.
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2019 is the Year of Green Action. This is an attempt to connect people all around the country with nature, and showing how we can all take positive action to improve our environment. I t’s a year-long drive to help everyone get involved in projects that support nature – in our own gardens, schools or workplaces, and as consumers. Click here to see what #iwill4nature (which brings together hundreds of organisations from all sectors to embed social action into the lives of young people across the UK), is contributing to this.
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Research by The Glacier Trust, reveals the extent of climate change adaptation reporting by five of the UK’s leading environmental organisations: Friends of the Earth UK; World Wildlife Fund UK (WWF UK); Greenpeace UK; Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB); The Green Party of England and Wales. The Trust analysed news and blog posts over a period of 18 months in 2017/18. Of the 1,579 articles studied, the majority (1,051) covered environmental, social and political issues, but made no mention of climate change. A total of 528 articles did cover climate change, of which 83 referenced or mentioned adaptation or loss and damages. Only 12 articles (0.76%) were specifically focused on climate change adaptation. The pattern was similar across all five organisations studied. Climate change made up around a third of all articles studied, but within this category the vast majority of stories were focused on mitigation strategies, campaigns, or on accounts of the problem itself.
Morgan Phillips, The Glacier Trust’s UK Co-Director and lead author of the report (and NAEE trustee) said:
Adaptation is the poor cousin of mitigation in conversations about climate change. This lack of attention is translated into the huge disparity between the money made available to enable adaptation compared to mitigation around the world. Things are moving in the right direction, but we know that less than 7% of climate finance is currently going to adaptation projects (less than $30bn US / yr). Our report shows that environmental organisations can and do talk about adaptation, it is part of their remit, we hope they will talk about more in 2019.
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Are you interested in being an educational tour guide at a Martineau Gardens in Birmingham and helping out with occasional school visits? Or know anyone who might: ideally a teacher or TA with some knowledge of plants? It would be to work with about 15 children at a time, taking them on a walk and tasting some of the herbs/vegetables. A morning session and an afternoon (about 1-1.5 hours per session – usually EYFS or primary pupils). Could be occasional days when required or more regular (between March and October), although not fixed days. There would be opportunities for shadowing in the first instance. Contact juliette@martineau-gardens.org.uk
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This year’s National Environmental Education Week (EE Week) in the USA begins on Earth Day (April 22nd). Of course, every week should be environmental education week.