Six of our climate education advocates went to a call with John Swinney and Liam Cahill (responsible for Learning for Sustainability policy) where they discussed the aims of the Teach the Future campaign, its progress thus far as well as how we think the devolved government can best support systemic reform - with the much needed societal shift in accordance with climate justice.
Shortly after launching our campaign in early July 2020, the Teach the Future Scotland took the opportunity to lobby our government to allocate funding for retrofitting educational facilities to be net-zero. Through this, we gained contact with the office of the Deputy First Minister of Scotland and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, John Swinney, who offered to continue our conversation regarding reform to learning and education through a call.
Contact with politicians in the Scottish Parliament is massively beneficial, with the sharing of ideas helping to guide our campaign forward and gain direct support from parties and people across Scotland. As John Swinney is the Deputy First Minister, he has a lot of influence regarding policy - especially concerning education.
On the afternoon of Thursday 3rd, 6 of our climate education advocates went to this call with, not only John Swinney, but also Liam Cahill (responsible for Learning for Sustainability policy) where they discussed the aims of the Teach the Future campaign, its progress thus far as well as how we think the devolved government can best support systemic reform - with the much needed societal shift in accordance with climate justice.
After explaining our campaign and what we call upon the government to do in the coming years, John Swinney agreed to continue discussions with us and look into our asks including a government commissioned review into how the whole of the Scottish Formal Education system works and how our asks could fit in the SNPs party manifesto. We are very happy with the progress of this call and I hope that John Swinney sticks to his word and continues to work with us to integrate our asks into the Scottish government and education system.
Anna Brown, 18
Teach the Future Climate Education Advocate