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.…
The NAEE Annual Review was published this week. This is a report on our work during 2019/20. It is an account of key developments in the year, with contributions that reflect on the context in which our work is carried out that were published during the year in our journal or as blogs on the…
Today’s post is by Mick Waters, one of NAEE’s Vice-Presidents. Mick was the Director of Curriculum at the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) from 2005-09 and now works with the Alliance of Leading Learning. What follows are Mick’s own views and are not necessarily shared by the Association, though we do like the nice things he says…
The World’s Largest Lesson has a guide to learning more about how to talk to young people and children about climate change. The focus is on encouraging honest conversations in classrooms that give hope, whilst not ignoring the reality and scale of the problem. The main themes include Optimism & hope, Changing the narrative, Changing…
There is now considerable (though by no means universal) agreement with the idea that young people in schools should have an entitlement to learn in some detail about the climate problems we face, and what they individually and collectively might do in terms of adaptation and mitigation. In what follows, our Chair of Trustees, Bill…
1 The UK Youth Climate Summit launches today with 163 free online sessions for primary and secondary students. This is the largest and most ambitious environmental education event run in the UK for decades. Thanks to Global Action Plan and over 50 teachers & organisations from across the UK. Registration and programme details are here. The Closing…
Today’s blog is the first in a series from Richard Jurin who, before his retirement, ran the Environmental Studies programme at the University of Northern Colorado, launching a degree in Sustainability Studies. His academic interests are environmental worldviews and understanding barriers to sustainability. As ever, with our blogs, Richard’s views are not necessarily shared by…