As we noted last week, although the ENSI secretariat has now closed, its website archive is still available. Syd Smith, former ENSI representative from Australia writes that a considerable legacy is left in place …
What made ENSI unique over its 32 years of operation was its “emphasis on the implementation of Education for Sustainable Development across the whole educational spectrum “through research based projects in the fields of quality development, competence enhancement for teachers and students, co-operation among schools and the civil society and development of new skills for VET students.
In the past ENSI had been successful in connecting “institutional/ governmental interests, with school practices along with educational research in a common collaborative work”. These three ENSI pillars are still very important and should not be lost in any new management practices or support structures now that ENSI has gone. In other words ENSI did not separate the field of research from the development of teaching and learning resources for teachers nor how teachers could improve their practice. Most similar support organisations in the world today usually keep all these areas separate or support only one or two of them. …
You can read more about its work here.
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ENSI has also issued an invitation for future activities that embody an ENSI-way of collaboration, offering its competences as a ‘door-opener’ to the ENSI-community – with, perhaps, a new ENSI arising in the future. As such, the following ENSI-experts are looking forward to support us so don’t hesitate to contact them with your questions and ideas.
- Günther Pfaffenwimmer: Guenther.Pfaffenwimmer@aon.at
- Franz Rauch: Franz.Rauch@aau.at
- Attila Varga: Varga.Attila@ofi.hu
- Christine Affolter: christine.a.affolter@bluewin.ch
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The GA has released the first titles in a new primary series called In the Know. These downloads will help primary teachers with their background knowledge of National Curriculum geographical themes and topics so they can develop their geography teaching with confidence. With more titles coming soon, these are available now:
The Association’s Rex Walford Geography Student Teacher Award recognises inspirational and innovative geography teaching practice (at primary or secondary level) developed by an individual during their period of ITE. It takes its cue from Rex’s remarkable contribution to geography ITE in the UK over many years. An idea of the high regard in which Rex was held can be gained from the many testimonials and memories on the GA website. We read of a man of unquenchable enthusiasm and optimism, and a highly gifted teacher. The GA hopes that this award will encourage, inspire and remind us all of what can be achieved through innovative and imaginative geography teaching. Click here for further details and a nomination form.
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The Severn Wader Festival returns to Slimbridge on 15 & 16 September: a weekend packed with events and activities to celebrate our wading birds. There’s plenty happening across the weekend including a ‘Meet the birds of Wader Shore’ talk each day at 2pm at the Wader Shore exhibit. Budding artists can take part in a half day ‘Wader Sketching Workshop’ on Saturday from 9.30am, pre-booking will be essential for this event. Be sure to make your way around the reserve’s hides to meet our wader festival guides and pick up hints and tips to help you spot new species, or sit down in the comfort of our cinema and watch informative identification videos from conservation organisations from around the world. There’s more detail of other events on the website.
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NAAEE has a new resource on orang-utans and palm oil. This lesson plan is geared towards years 6-8 and covers biodiversity in the East Asian rainforest, the destructive effects of palm oil production on this rainforest, and how everyone can help protect the habitat of critically endangered orangutans, Sumatran tigers, and Sumatran rhinoceri.
In addition, Kiss the Ground teamed up with Life Lab to develop a middle school programme that allows students to understand the vital role soil plays on our planet. The 5-lesson curriculum, written to serve as supplemental material for the Next Generation Science Standards, teaches about the carbon cycle, photosynthesis, soil science, various agricultural practices, and concludes with a regenerative soil-based project.
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Times Higher Education [THE] is developing new rankings to capture universities’ impact on society, based on institutions’ success in delivering the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. A new set of performance metrics will be developed and published as a league table at the THE Innovation and Impact Summit, which will be held at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in South Korea in April 2019.
There will be a workshop on the first iteration of the methodology at THE’s World Academic Summit in Singapore later this month. There’s more detail here. If you would like to submit data, ask questions or offer feedback, contact innovation@timeshighereducation.com
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A reminder from LEEF that on September 19th (1800 to 2045) Iain Boulton, Lambeth Council/LEEF Chair, and Julia Hanmer, previously CEO Bat Conservation Trust will be hosting LEEF training at dusk on Clapham Common exploring the world of animal and human senses, including:
- Learn how to use sound, light, scents, tastes and textures as learning experiences for school groups and families
- Guidance on running your own bat walk or sensory walk in nature, with tips and facts to keep people engaged
- Games and activities to teach about echo-location and animal senses
- Find out about the different types of bat detectors, and how to translate the data
It’s £15 for LEEFers, £30 non-members. Book online.
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The Soil Association says organic your September. The Association says: “The good news is that organic farms are havens for wildlife – in fact, wildlife is on average, 50% more abundant on organic farms. Plus, organic farms are home to 30% more species on average. So by buying more organic food, and supporting your local organic farmer, you can help wildlife to flourish across the country.
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Early notice from Circle of Life of a session on Natural Musicians (run by Chris Holland) on Saturday 2nd February 2019. This is a training day for those who would like to become kitted up with loads of activities for delivering the Music Curriculum outdoors through Nature Connection activities. There’s more information here.