Don’t Melt it – A poem by Ben Cross, 13, and poster by 9-year old Amelia Stace, have been selected by Downing Street as the winning entries in a competition to welcome the G7 meeting to Cornwall. Amelia’s poster shows the world as an ice cream in danger of melting, with the caption: “Don’t melt it, live on it“, and Ben’s poem begins: “Right before our very eyes, / Our planet is meeting its demise, / Plastic is being swallowed by fish, / Although it’s not a seafood dish, / We are wasting coal and gas as fuels, / To power our useless tools …”. Entries were shortlisted in Cornwall before being sent to No 10. Kate Evan-Hughes, service director for education at Cornwell Council, said: “Our focus for the G7 is to give young people in Cornwall an opportunity to have their voices heard and to be inspired to act now, in combating climate change. This competition has shown us that young people are not only passionate, but they are demanding action and they give a clear message; by working together we can work to solve this problem.”
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Ecosystem Restoration – June 5th is World Environment Day. This year’s theme is Reimagine Recreate Restore with a focus on ecosystem restoration, and the Day will kick off the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030). Have you introduced your students to ecosystem restoration? Have you taken part in ecosystem restoration as a school community? If so, we should like to hear about your project as a post for our blog. If you’d like to contribute, please write to info@naee.org.uk
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Environmental Learning – The World’s Largest Lesson has launched a Climate Changemakers Campaign which invites young people to explain the value of environmental learning by writing 100 words, sharing what it means to them. There’s an explanatory video by Mitzi Jonelle Tan from the Philippines.
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Breaking Bad Habits – An article in The Conversation by environmental psychologist Lorraine Whitmarsh from the University of Bath says thatnet zero will mean breaking our bad habits, and wonders whether we can get there in time? This is how the article begins: “Three-fifths of the measures required to get to “net zero” emissions will require at least some degree of behavioural and social change, according to the UK government’s climate advisers, the Committee on Climate Change. But this only factors in changes in consumer behaviour, such as switching from petrol to electric cars, or gas boilers to heat pumps. This is a very narrow definition of behavioural and social change. People are not only consumers – they are citizens, parents, members of communities, employees, employers and political actors.”
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Aware, Informed and Involved Citizens – In a recent blog, Bill Scott, our Chair of Trustees, argues that the government is going to need all the help it can get to explain to a largely unaware public that reaching the goal of net-zero will involve significant changes to domestic energy use. He says that it’s a pity, therefore, that the government is neglecting to ensure that every community contains a group of aware, informed and involved citizens : young people, that is.
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An eTwinning Climate Challenge – The British Council says why not download the new eTwinning resource and have your class take the Climate Change Challenge with a partner school to look at the differences between your two countries. The eTwinning climate challenge encourages pupils to build on their climate change learning by taking positive action through the completion of up to 20 challenges, which increase in difficulty as pupils progress.
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For Your Health and the Planet – The Wildlife Trusts say that 30 Days Wild is the UK’s biggest nature challenge. Just do one wild thing a day throughout June “for your health, wellbeing, for wildlife and for the planet”. When you sign up, you’ll receive a free digital pack to help you plan your wild month, including an activity passport and a wallchart. There are special packs for those taking part at their school, care home, or workplace.
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Chat to Your Hedge – This is National Hedgerow Week. It’s sponsored by the Tree Council, and the organisers want us to get curious about our local hedges, and ask us to #TalkToTheHedge. There’s a guide about chatting to hedges. As a lot of hedges in the country date from the Enclosures, it would be a good time to explore how this socio-political process dramatically changed both landscape and society in what George Monbiot has described as part of a global continuum of forced dislocation and alienation. For an easy way way into the phenomenon of the 19th century enclosures, a good route is John Clare’s The Mores : “And birds and trees and flowers without a name / All sighed when lawless law’s enclosure came.” Another is his poem: To a Fallen Elm.
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Free Peat – Did you know that peat-free composts contain composted bark, sawdust, wood and paper waste with added green composted material from local authorities and sometimes coconut fibre. The RHS website has lots of information for school (and other) gardeners about why this ought to be used.
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Joining the Dots – In an “independent, low carbon & plant-based film” that has been made from “recycled footage” from a variety of sources, and was made possible by Mercy for Animals, Greta Thunberg sets out to connect the dots on climate, ecological, and health crises. #ForNature. Reuters has some background to this. We wonder whether LEAF sees this as a balanced contribution to the debate.
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Don’t blame Animals – Like Greta Thunberg, Kurtis Boyer, who works at the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Saskatchewan, argues that eating less animal proteins may help reduce the risk of future zoonotic viruses which, like COVID-19, SARS, bovine spongiform, swine flu and avian flu, come to us via an animal. But, Boyer says, it’s misleading to say that such diseases come from animals themselves; rather, they come from the way society raises, harvests and eats animals. These controversial and enduring debates remain pertinent to students in schools.
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Local Re-wilding Plans – For the past six months, the Inkcap Journal has been investigating the extent to which local councils in England have embraced the concept of rewilding. It used a combination of interviews and Freedom of Information requests to uncover the plans and intentions of every county council and unitary authority in the country. It wanted to know how councils define rewilding, what they are doing, and what they are spending. Details here.
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Ocean Life – Tuesday June 8th is World Oceans Day. This year’s theme, The Ocean: Life and Livelihoods, will explore the wonders of the ocean and dive into how it is our life source, supporting humanity and every other organism on earth. We’ll also learn more about what we can do to create sustainable and inclusive livelihoods, for the ocean and all who depend on it to thrive.
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Other Dates for your diary – Here are some forthcoming “Days”: Let It Bloom & 30 Days Wild – all June / World Environment Day – 5 June / Clean Air Day – 17 June / London Climate Action Week Schools Climate Summit – 29 June
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