NUS has published the 8th year of its Sustainability Skills research, which includes perspectives on sustainability in education from students studying in the UK in both higher and further education. As before, demand for action remains high with around of students 80% saying they want to see action from their institutions. The proportion of students who say they are willing to make a salary sacrifice of £1000 to work for a company with a positive social and environmental record has steadily increased from 62% when the research commenced in 2010-11 to a high of 75% in 2017-18. You’ll find the full report here.
This year, the research included students studying in HE around the world as well as the UK – a first step in building up a more comprehensive picture of student attitudes towards and experiences of sustainability within their education and how this varies on an international basis. The results showed a desire for action on sustainability by their university, with 91% agreeing that this is something they’d like to see. 81% also stated they’d like to learn more about sustainability.
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The latest newsletter from RCE Severn is here. It includes information about a new UNESCO publication that provides practical information and tips on how teacher educators and teachers can embed Global Citizenship Education (GCED) into their teaching practices. It presents a conceptual framework for transformative education, provides examples of creative pedagogies and demonstrates how GCED can be integrated into different subject areas. A wide range of relevant resources is also listed in the publication. You can read it here.
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NAAEE says there’s evidence that 81% of participants who have played the World Climate simulation gained increased motivation to combat climate change, regardless of their political orientation. It adds: “This NSF-funded, research-based program gives educators a way to provide learners with an enjoyable meaningful experience and to make a difference in the real world. It’s free, fun, and easy to use!!! What more could you want?
It’s been used in hundreds of formal and informal settings and the Germany Ministry of Education designated World Climate as an official resource for German high schools. Here are 3 ways to learn more:
- Click here to see a 2 minute video
- Click on this link to see a 60-min webinar about the simulation and what it takes to run it
- Read about Juliette Rooney-Varga’s recent research on the impact of the simulation, published in PLoS One
- Read a new blog on the Climate Change Initiative website.
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The World’s Largest Lesson starts today. There are free online resources and projects in multiple languages you can use to introduce children to the Sustainable Development Goals, dig deeper into issues and encourage everyone to take action. Click here for films, comics, projects and lesson plans.
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Trees for Cities recently celebrated Edible Playgrounds at three London primary schools. One highlight was a Year 3 child from Olga Primary school describing a salad of tomatoes and basil from their Edible Playground: “Have you ever thought of growing your own juicy, ripe tomatoes? It is a feeling like no other, it is seriously the best feeling ever.” Countryside Classrooms has more details.
The same link will take you to details of the Edina Trust’s offer of grants to primary schools in parts of the UK to help develop their primary science programmes. The scheme provides £600 a year for three years to all eligible schools that apply. Grants could be used for outdoor investigation equipment, to develop a garden, or improve school grounds for science, for example
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The London Natural History Museum hosts the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition again. It opens on October 19th. The museum website’s specimen spotlight this month is on trilobites: distant relatives of crabs. By 251 million years ago, they had all gone.
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SEEd says, are you frustrated by not getting the support you need to embed sustainability in your workplace or institution? Are you left doing it all as the eco-champion? Are you unsure how to make change happen? If so, then its facilitation course for you. You will get the skills, tools and support to begin to make real change happen. In its 10th year, the next course will start at the end of October 2018 and continue in Jan/Feb 2019. You can book your place here.
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The following take you to articles in the Permaculture Association’s research digest:
- Permaculture principles in the PhD process (online)
- Evidence for permaculture principles (journal)
- Agroforesty is climate resilient (online)
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The GA has announced the launch of a new project in partnership with the Department of Education to provide free CPD for primary and secondary teachers’ to boost subject knowledge and build confidence and capability in curriculum planning and teaching. You can find out more and check if you’re eligible here.
The GA is also still accepting research paper proposals for its 2019 Annual Conference which includes a series of sessions focusing on and reporting recent research into geographical education. You can find out more about presenting your research here.
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A paper in Biological Conservation reports that churches are particularly good at promoting bird conservation. The more complex the building (all those niches, nooks and crannies) and the taller the towers, steeples and spires, the better, it seems. Bats have known this for a long time.