May 17th 2021

Talking About Education – A new paper for Earth Day from the USA says that climate policymakers cannot afford to overlook the transformational power of schools (K-12), saying: “Every World Leader Should Be Talking About Education”. When they say that “It is vital that education and climate leaders alike recognize that all pathways to addressing climate change must target our school infrastructure and engage our school community”, they are surely speaking for us as well. The paper was published by UndauntedK-12 whose mission is to support America’s K-12 public schools to make an equitable transition to zero carbon emissions while preparing our youth to build a sustainable future in a rapidly changing climate.

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Learn for Our Planet – A global review of how environmental issues are integrated in education has been published by UNESCO. It finds that [i] 45% of the national education policy and curricula documents studied made little-to-no reference to environmental themes (including sustainability, climate change and biodiversity); [ii] less than half of the documents mentioned climate change; and [iii] only 19% made reference to biodiversity. The review is less than global, however with, for example, only 5 European “and North American” countries looked at; these were: France, Sweden, Malta, Czechia and Portugal.

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The People Vs Climate Change – This documentary follows seven members of the UK’s Citizens Assembly on climate change.  Organised by Parliament, this event saw members of the public grapple with questions about our future. As the Assembly members learn the science of climate change from experts, they begin to realise the huge significance of the decisions they must make.  The film follows seven Assembly members from all over the UK, who each bring their own perspective to the climate change debate. The producers wonder if the film could inspire schools to do more on climate issues.

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ESD in Berlin – The eagerly-awaited UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development takes place as a virtual meeting from 17 to 19 May. You can sign up to the newsletter to receive updates and learn how to livestream events. The programme is here. There will be a bunch of speeches and a great deal of listening taking place.

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A Physical Event – Alok Sharma MP, president of COP26, has confirmed that it will be a physical event. He said: “What is very clear to me is that people want to see a physical COP, and this is particularly important for developing countries who want to sit at the same table. They want to sit face to face with the big nations, the big emitters, as part of these negotiations. We have to remember that this is a conference, a summit, like no other. It’s not just a bunch of speeches that are given. This is 197 parties coming together for negotiation. When you have a negotiation, there will be times when people want to break off and have discussions on the side. And that’s why people want to see a physical event.”

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Every Child’s Every Day – The next Outdoor Classroom Day is this Thursday, May 20th. As you know, Outdoor Classroom Day is a global movement to make time outdoors part of every child’s day. Or should that be Every Child’s Every Day?

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Beware the New Normal – Scarlett Westbrook,a key member of the UK Student Climate Network and head of political engagement at Teach the Future, wrote an article for The Independent to mark Earth Day. Its theme was the inadequacy of current government policy in relation to dealing with climate change. Here’s an example: “After a year that has seen a pandemic and natural disasters severely exacerbated by inadequate government responses, many of us are pleading for a stop to this state of affairs. If we don’t act now, these unusual times will become the new normal. Many of the root causes of climate change (such as deforestation) are also factors that significantly increase the risks of pandemics (such as animals taking new migration paths due to habitat loss). If Johnson keeps pursuing this path of hoping his warm words cool the planet, January won’t be the last time pubs and non-essential retail close.” We draw attention to this, not because we agree with what Scarlett says about UK climate change policy, but because such views are popular among groups that set out to represent young people’s points of view.

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Do as I Say, not as I Do – In an article for The Conversation, Bennet Francis, Leverhulme Doctoral Scholar in Climate Justice at the University of Reading, explores the pressing issue of climate change hypocrisy. This is something that anyone who has a less than perfectly greener than green lifestyle – but who advocates for a change of social policies around climate – can be accused of, to one degree or another. “Do as I say, not as I do” has never been a convincing line of argument, and it can be a particular problem for educators. The article draws a distinction between the hypocrisy of activists and that of governments, and seems to suggest that we might be more forgiving of the former than the latter. But should we go along with this? Either way, these are really good issues to explore with school students, particularly as they are grounded in all of our everyday living.

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Ocean Plastics – Our World in Data reports that 80% of the world’s ocean plastics comes from rivers and coastlines, with the other 20% coming from sources such as fishing nets, ropes, etc. It says that although previous studies suggested that 60% to 90% of plastics came from only ten rivers, higher-resolution mapping and consideration for factors such as climate, terrain, land use, and distance to the ocean, suggests that many smaller rivers play a bigger role than thought. For example, it takes 1,600 of the biggest emitting rivers to account for 80% of plastic inputs to the ocean, with around 81% of ocean plastics coming from Asian rivers.

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White-tailed Eagles – These top predators are set to return to Norfolk after Natural England licensed their re-introduction. White-tailed eagles were once widespread throughout Britain but persecution in the 19th century drove them to extinction as a breeding population. The work is being led by the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation and will take place at Wild Ken Hill. Up to sixty eagles ( from Poland ) will be released as part of a ten-year project. Farming UK reports farmers’ concerns. White-tailed Eagles were released on the Isle of Wight in summer 2020. Inkcap has more detail.

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Black Nature Language – Inkcap also reports that Dr Sheree Mack has joined the Northumberland National Park as its Black Nature in Residence writer, where she is working to make the county’s wild spaces more accessible to all through a series of creative projects. According to ChronicleLive, she wants to develop a “Black nature language” that will help others from communities of colour to connect to the landscapes around them. The Black Nature in Residence project also aims to remove some of the barriers that “prevent people of colour visiting the countryside”.

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Let’s Hear it for Net Zero – Last week we featured an article in The Conversation about problems with the concept of net-zero in our attempts to deal with climate change. If you’d like to read about counter arguments (also in The Conversation) click here where Richard Black, Imperial College, Steve Smith, University of Oxford, and Thomas Hale, University of Oxford. They argue that we need to get net zero right – not get rid of the idea.

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Wet Weather Clothes – Learning Through Landscapes and Muddy Puddles have funds available to provide high-quality wet weather clothing for classes of 30 pupils in 7 primary schools. The application is here and the deadline is May 25th.

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Taiwan EE News – The Taiwan Environmental Protection Agency will hold a 4-day special exhibition next month to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Taiwan Environmental Education Act [ TEEA ]. There’s more detail available on the GEEP website.