Change at the Top – Both the Secretary of State (Gavin Williamson) and the Minister of State for School Standards (Nick Gibb) have gone from the DfE in last weeks reshuffle to be replaced by Nadhim Zahawi and Robin Walker. It is too soon to say whether these significant changes will make a difference to how the Department views environmental education in the curriculum, but hope is in the air in many quarters. The complete DfE team can be seen here.
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Reading the Runes – If you missed the Climate Education Summit from Reading University last Wednesday, or if you thought it was so good that you should like to watch it again, you’ll find videos here:
– Keynote Plenary: Session 1 Can our education system better prepare all young people for the challenges of a changing climate? What changes in our approach to climate education are needed for young people to acquire skills and knowledge vital for the 21st century?
– Keynote Plenary: Session 2 We are facing a climate crisis. Greater understanding of our changing climate is vital for all young people to be prepared for the challenges ahead and equipped to look after our planet. How do we ensure all aspects of education fully prepare young people to thrive in a changing world?
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Planet Partners – Reading says that if you need more information and to access resources for schools and colleges, you’ll find them here. You can also register for its free, online course ‘Planet Partners: Tackling the Climate Crisis Together’. Reading says that this is “perfect for 16-18 year olds” but it’s open to everyone. This 4-hour beginners course can be studied at your own pace. See this:
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Climate Futures: Youth Perspectives – The Cumberland Lodge Report on climate futures has now been published with “a resounding call to action from young people across the UK and around the world, to tackle the climate emergency.” The report summarises the key themes and best-practice recommendations that emerged from a virtual conference that took place in March 2021. Justin Dillon, NAEE’s president was one of the youthful contributors.
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Listening to Children – Caroline Hickman, from the University of Bath’s Climate Psychology Alliance, suggests that eco-anxiety – anxiety about ecological disasters – now affects more children than ever before. Previous studies have found that 45% of children suffer lasting depression after surviving extreme weather and natural disasters. Eco-anxiety predicated on climate change, Hickman suggests, is a very rational fear based on events and stories from around the world, underpinned by the weight of evidence that our climate is changing. Based on her research talking to children about their feelings about climate change, Hickman argues that young voices pressing for urgent change could act as a rallying cry to politicians around the world. There is more detail here.
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License to Watch – The Educational Recording Agency (ERA) a not-for-profit organisation that operates a licensing scheme for the educational use of television and radio broadcasts which schools require to use broadcast TV and radio in the classroom. The DfE pays for that licence for state-funded schools. The Agency adds value to the ERA licence by providing free videos and teaching resources for use in the classroom. One example is the Natural Curriculum, a programme of KS2 grammar lessons based on BBC natural history clips.
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IUCN – Every four years, some of the biggest issues facing the planet are discussed in a global meeting of conservation scientists. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the global authority on the status of the natural world, recently hosted the World Conservation Congress in Marseille, France, which was attended by 4,000 people, from government ministers and academics to indigenous leaders and business executives. Click on the link to hear the highlights. Harrison Ford was there. Click here to read about the outcomes.
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Action for Nature – Great Big Green Week and Climate Fringe Week run from 18–26 September. RSPB says that this is when it’s celebrating action for nature and the climate. We can help by taking an action for nature and showing what we’ve done. Every action we take is evidence to our leaders that you care about nature and the climate, and want them to act to save it at COP26 – a worldwide climate conference for the world’s leaders. More detail here.
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Crop Carbon – Food production generates more than a third of human-made greenhouse gas emissions – a new framework tells us how much comes from crops, countries and regions. A new study at the University of Illinois, reported in The Conversation by Xiaoming Xu and Atul Jain, provides a detailed way to calculate the climate impact of food production, which could lead to more sustainable farming policies and methods.
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Sausage Carbon – The Conversation also reports a University of Leeds study by Alice Garvey of the carbon footprint of a full English breakfast – and how to reduce it. The numbers are surprising, especially if tomatoes are included. By contrast, a bowl of porridge is a low-carbon source of energy and nutrients, with a carbon footprint about one-tenth that of a single pork sausage – unless you add cow’s milk to it. How many school breakfasts and lunches are created with carbon in mind?
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This Week – This is the Great Big Green Week. Click on the link to find out about the activities near where you are.
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This Day – WeNaturalists is introducing World People of Nature Day on 1st October to celebrate the individuals and organizations working on preserving, conserving, and protecting the planet. It was this day when the thought of bringing people of nature together on one stage got established and it was the day WeNaturalists was born.
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Habitat Man – Denise Baden, the promoter of eco-fiction at Southampton University, has herself written an eco-themed rom-com which combines comedy, fiction and science to foster green solutions. Tim – the unlikely hero – is fifty, single and trapped in a job he despises. In a desperate quest to find love and meaning, Tim transforms himself into Habitat Man, an eco-friendly twenty-first century superhero who endeavours to rescue the planet through a combination of wildlife gardening, composting toilets, bird psychology and green funerals. However Tim’s struggle for a better future soon becomes threatened by secrets from his past. Tim’s crises mirror those faced by the planet, and his sharing-economy, costing-for-nature policies offer hope for us all. Jonathon Porritt said: “Habitat Man is both great fun and a delightful reflection on the ways we live – and die! – at a time when more and more people are grappling with today’s environmental challenges.”
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Fiat Lux – The explaining science blog looks at the topical subject of the equinox – it occurs this week on September 22nd at 1941 (UTC). This might answer all your questions, and some you didn’t think of, including perhaps what the equilux is. For reference, this occurs on September 25th this year (in the UK).