In the USA, the National Center for Science Education (NCSE) and the Texas Freedom Network Education Fund (TFNEF) looked at how each US state science standards for public schools addressed climate change. These standards identify the basic information and skills students are expected to master in their courses of study. They guide the content of…
Student’s views on sustainability – A report from Students Organising for Sustainability details their 2019-20 research into Higher and Further Education student’s views on sustainability in their education settings. Only 36% of respondents say that understanding how human activity is affecting nature has been covered during their time in higher education so far, but 70% agree that…
Today’s post is by Dr Karen Kerr, a previous science teacher and now lecturer in education at Queen’s University Belfast. Karen teaches future science teachers and is involved in research in outdoor learning and environmental education, with a specific focus on researching with children and young people. Karen is also a member of the Education for Sustainable Development Forum…
Goodbye to 2020 – Last year is perhaps not one that we shall want to recall with much fondness, but it’s worth remembering that not all the news was gloomy. Future Crunch has set out a collection of global good news stories including these: – [i] all six major US banks have now ruled out…
Only 70 national leaders attended a virtual “Climate Ambition” summit on December 12th, five years to the day after the adoption of the Paris agreement. The agreement has a ratchet mechanism which requires that countries come forward at five-year intervals with increased national climate goals, reflecting technological, economic and social progress in the previous five…
This is a round up of recent and relevant evidence and reports, policy agenda developments, large scale delivery sector initiatives, resources and news items from the UK and abroad. It supports the Strategic Research Network for People and Nature to develop better coherence and collaboration in research and to improve links between research, policy and…
Reasons to be Cheerful: A review of what are the Environmental Success Stories of 2020, takes place on 16 December at 1900. This is the seventh in a series of informal meet ups that Creative Carbon Scotland organised following COVID-19 physical distancing measures as a way for ecological and artistic minded people of all kinds…
We noted a new book recently. Carbon Choices: “an easy to read summary of complex issues.” The publishers say: “Coming from Scotland, host of the global 2021 climate conference, Carbon Choices tells the most remarkable story on planet Earth. How one group of sociable animals came to emit 40 billion tonnes (40,000,000,000) of an invisible…
After the voting finished in the final Mock COP26 caucus the treaty and letter to world leaders were published. The press release is here. Don’t forget the MC26 YouTube channel which captures some of the activities that took place at the Mock COP. . Karine Polwart, Edinburgh street band Oi Musica, and the Soundhouse Choir produced Enough is Enough to mark the…
NAEE was pleased to receive an honourable mention for its two national curriculum guides at the launch of the consultation for the OCR Natural History GCSE. The guides’ careful analysis of the way that the national curriculum provides opportunities for the study of environmental and ecological issues was described as “brilliant work”. Our original two guides are:…
Two resources were published last week aimed at helping school governing boards to adopt environmental sustainability as a core value and make it a key element of strategy development. These arise from a collaboration over the Summer between NAEE and the National Governance Association [NGA]. One resource is the NGA’s own guidance on sustainability for governing boards: Developing…
It is argued that our relative lack of experience of environmental change leaves us vulnerable to something called shifting baseline syndrome. This describes an inability to perceive change over time; this could be personal or more social. For example, what we consider to be quite normal ecological conditions are shifting (for the worse) as time passes.…