Responding to the DfE – Here is an updated set of comments on the DfE’s new sustainability and climate change strategy.
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E-STEM Awards – The Pratt & Whitney E-STEM Awards support programme engages students in meaningful STEM learning experiences through environmental problem-solving. This opportunity is open to non-profit organizations around the world that are working to increase students’ environmental literacy, build STEM skills, and create pathways to environmental careers. Preference will be given to organizations working with underrepresented audiences in STEM and to organizations using partnerships to boost their impact.
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Adaptation and resilience – A series of case studies on adaptation and climate resilience in schools and educational settings across Africa and beyond can be found here c/o the Global Center on Adaptation. This publication documents 15 innovative ideas and actions adopted and implemented by educational institutes in Africa, and across the globe.
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Early Years – Liverpool John Moores University sets out to educate the youngest children about protecting our planet. In a feature article, Dr Diane Boyd explores sustainability in early years education. The university, working with the NCFE, has launched a new national resource for early years educators. It is available here
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Practical Support – We know that stories are an effective way to make sense of the world. But are the stories young people hear about the climate crisis empowering? Do they need better ones? Through the Change the Story initiative, pupils explore evidence of how humans have affected the climate, how some people are acting now to address it, and produce their own stories about how they would like the climate crisis to be tackled from now into the future. Organisers say that this training event offers you:
- a practical and fully-resourced programme of innovative but tried-and-tested KS2 teaching activities.
- support to deliver climate education in your school, with links across the curriculum including science, geography and computing.
- confidence and inspiration for engaging pupils in positive change.
It’s on 17th June (1230-1800) at Mount Pleasant School Farm, Birmingham. To register click here.
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London CPD – The London Schools Eco Network says:join it for a day of inspiring sustainability CPD: 10am-4pm on the 16th June in Highgate. There will be practical, actionable tips, and the chance to network with other sustainability educators. Register here.
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STEM blog – Our North American sibling, the NAAEE, explores in a blog how to link STEM and environmental education. The post sets out several resources to help apply a STEM approach to an environmental education programme or event. It says that a starting point is a familiarity with the Next Generation Science Standards and the eight practices of Science and Engineering :
- Asking questions and defining problems
- Developing and using models
- Planning and carrying out investigations
- Analyzing and interpreting data
- Using mathematics and computational thinking
- Constructing explanations and designing solutions
- Engaging in argument from evidence
- Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
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#backyardbio – BackyardBio 2022 is a global nature campaign that encourages the public, and especially youngsters, to get outdoors exploring looking for all the wildlife that lives near them.
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School Air Quality Measures – Air pollution is above WHO limits in most of the UK. The Central Office of Public Interest is a creative industry alliance running national awareness campaigns about issues such as air pollution. It’s website allows schools (and everyone else) to note the levels of three serious air pollutants PM2.5 PM10 and NOx. The bottom line is that the nearer you are to a busy road, the worse the air quality is. This we know, intuitively, but now the problems can be quantified.
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Happy 40th Mrs T – The British Hedgehog Preservation Society is celebrating 40 years of helping hedgehogs. It runs the Hedgehog Friendly Campus scheme which is an award programme offering free support to help universities, FE colleges and primary schools to make meaningful changes for hedgehogs. More detail here.
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Dogged Victory for Dogger Bank– In a major achievement earlier this month, a coalition between Blue Marine, Greenpeace, the Marine Conservation Society and Oceana announced they had been successful in their campaign and threats of court action to ensure the protection of Dogger Bank in the North Sea, and three other marine protected areas. The reserves, previously regarded as ‘paper parks’, will now be protected from destructive bottom trawling and dredging. Dogger Bank will now provide protection across 12,331 square kilometers, which is roughly half the size of Wales. You can learn more here.
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Dove Stone Bog – This is a 941 hectare bog near Oldham in Greater Manchester. It has been drying out for several decades, and has now been found to release more carbon into the atmosphere than it stores. Natural England have announced a £1.2m grant to help reverse this drying. This will include works to create artificial dams and planting moss on the site. There’s more info here.
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Rewilding Maps – The Global Rewilding Alliance in partnership with OpenForests launched a map of rewilding projects around the world earlier this month. So far the map includes rewilding projects in more than 70 countries covering 1 million square kilometers, and the aim is to continue to add more over the next 10 years. The ASlliance says: “A map is an ideal canvas to combine storytelling on a map with data. It creates inspiration, but also gives the confidence that something’s really happening there.” Learn more here and watch a video here.
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Return to Sender – The Times has a story about how the upcycling of British hand-me-downs is boosting Uganda’s domestic textile industry. It also carried another feature on how fast fashion’s carbon footprint is now just too big to ignore.