Blog
July 11, 2022
Last month, the educative publishing company Pearson released the new Pearson School Report. By surveying nearly 7000 teachers and headteachers in England, this report reveals what our educators think about education in England, including their insights into climate anxiety amongst pupils and the need for climate education incorporated into the curriculum.
July 9, 2022
A few weeks ago, I spent an evening at a community farm in south London. Here's a little of what I learned about our food system and how it's broken.
July 5, 2022
Like all areas of our society, climate activism isn't exempt from Western colonial attitudes. As climate activists, we need to consider our approach to climate activism and education and understand the intersection of climate injustice with other social injustices such as racism, sexism, and classism.
July 3, 2022
Despite being a human right and one of the UN’s sustainable development goals, access to education is far from equal. However, efforts are nonetheless being made. Here, we look at what this means for climate change.
June 26, 2022
Last month, the Guardian revealed, in a shocking report, that the world’s biggest fossil fuel companies are devising plans to unleash unprecedented amounts of “carbon bombs” with their new oil and gas projects, jeopardising the target set out in the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5C. Why is this important? Who let it happen? What can you do about it?
June 25, 2022
Despite centuries-long campaigns for women's rights, in many aspects of life, they still do not have the same rights, power or opportunities as men. This imbalance is demonstrated clearly by the impacts of climate disasters. As the climate crisis worsens, the burden of responding to it will fall heavily on the shoulders of women, deepen inequality between men and women, and, unless things change drastically, leave more praise at the feet of men for the work of women. Here, we explore more deeply, how exactly the climate crisis is exacerbating gender inequality.
June 14, 2022
In this paper we present an analysis of the sustainability and climate change strategy for education and children's services systems in England, produced by the Department for Education. Using critical discourse analysis, we juxtapose qualitative data collected from >200 youth teachers and teacher educators in the context of co-creating a manifesto for education and environmental sustainability. Through analysis of these two datasets, we evaluate the government's proposals for climate education and sustainability. We find that the strategy foregrounds economic concerns, with educational priorities driven by the ‘net zero’ policy agenda, and an over-reliance on increased science-focused knowledge and skills. The strategy suggests an absence of governmental responsibility and attention to the political dimensions of climate change. This is in contrast to stakeholder perspectives which see economic priorities as part of the problem and call for pro-environmental action at all levels, including from policymakers. The strategy has a depoliticising effect as it introduces additional demands for teachers and schools without the associated enabling policy environment. We argue that the strategy runs the risk of becoming a placebo for policy, with the appearance of ‘doing something’ whilst failing to address the fundamental policy problem.
May 29, 2022
Our society is ableist. Disabled people have always known this. In order to have a just transition as we move to a sustainable world, we must listen to disabled people to build systems that include and value them at every level, creating a society that's better for disabled people and the environment.
May 22, 2022
The extreme heatwave in India and Pakistan is causing widespread damage across the sub-continent, from severe cases of heatstroke to soaring food prices. Here are the details of what's going on, and why events like this cannot be ignored.
May 19, 2022
What is Fast Fashion?Fast fashion is a way to describe the business model that mass produces lots of clothes quickly, cheaply and poorly, leading to them having shorter lifespans. It's why there are always different clothes when you go into shops like Primark and H&M.How does it impact the Climate?Fashion on its own is one of the largest polluters, producing 10% of global greenhouse gases, which is more than the aviation and shipping industries combined. Due to how fast trends move global apparel consumption has risen to approx 62 million tons a year, and this leads to even more pollution due to the rate and amount produced.
May 15, 2022
Can creativity solve a crisis? Is theatre an untapped tool with the power to educate and mobilise the masses? Can we use the arts to create positive change in the face of the sixth biggest mass extinction? I believe so. The arts are a form of communication that can break down big conversations and equally provide a place to escape and an outlet for grief and anxiety surrounding climate catastrophe.
May 8, 2022
We know that for modern society to become truly sustainable, some big shifts need to happen. Let's take a look at some of the systems and mindsets that may change in the near future.