Tag: climate change

Decolonising and Decarbonising Education

Posted on by Lucy Backwell

A School of Education Reflection by Pier Luc Dupont Picard and Alison Oldfield

In March 2023, a group of students and staff at the School of Education came together to learn about how climate justice and decolonising work are inextricably linked. We discussed the educational implications of decolonising and decarbonising agendas, reflecting on what this means for our theory and practice as students, researchers, and teachers. In this short post, we share some of our thoughts and provocations. (more…)

How might global indicators inform national discourse on climate change education? The case of England

Posted on by Lucy Backwell

By Paul Howard-Jones and Justin Dillon

On April 21st 2022, the UK government published its first education strategy for England on sustainability and climate change. It envisions that, by 2030, “the United Kingdom is the world-leading education sector in sustainability and climate change”.

Many might consider the threat of climate change alone as sufficient grounds for prompting a sense of urgency in educational policy making. However, global competitiveness and national prestige are potent political motivators that often feature in government discourse and policy, and it appears as true for climate change education as it does for other areas.

It could be claimed that the UK kickstarted global industrialisation in the 1700s, along with all its many opportunities and challenges, including the warming of our planet. It might be appropriate, therefore, that the UK wishes to lead education development in this area and such ambition should be applauded. In many respects, it’s exciting and reassuring to think of a world in which nations compete in a virtuous race to improve climate change communication and education (CCE).

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Introducing our new Master’s pathway: MSc Education (Education and Climate Change)

Posted on by Lucy Backwell

By Dr Alison Oldfield, MSc Programme Director, School of Education

We live in a time that is increasingly affected by the complex issue of climate change and what it means to live, work, and learn in a warming world. The implications of a warming climate are now regularly felt across the world and often in unequal and unjust ways. These changes bring with them questions about the role of education in shaping and addressing how we individually and collectively respond to and thrive on a warming planet. In recognition of this, the School of Education has developed a new pathway to add to its current master’s programmes, and this is now recruiting for its first class of students to start in September 2023. (more…)

What can prehistoric preschool teach us about climate change education in the present?

Posted on by Lucy Backwell

Blog by Professor Paul Howard-Jones, School of Education, University of Bristol

Several years ago in Turkey, an archaeologist invited me to descend into a pit where one of the first urban settlements was being unearthed. There was a hearth, holes for holding pots and the remains of plaster on the walls, still bearing traces of decoration.

The layers of development exposed by this excavation revealed a continuous period of innovation since around 6000BC. Over its lifetime – around 1,200 years – the site hosted the first “urbanites”, who had left their nomadic, hunter-gatherer lifestyle behind and begun a journey of creativity and invention. Among their ideas were novel building techniques, cooking methods, and ways to create and use pottery. (more…)

Global Dialogue: Reflections as a student participant

Posted on by Lucy Backwell

Global dialogue reflections as a student participantBlog by Emily Hui Sein Yue (Elim), Master of Education (MEd)(Comparative and Global Studies in Education and Development)student, Faculty of Education, the University of Hong Kong.

I first participated in the Going Global Project in 2019, going on to be a facilitator. In this article, I share my experiences and thoughts about the value of the dialogue meetings that I have been involved in. (more…)

The School of Education Climate Justice Challenge 2022: Get involved!

Posted on by Lucy Backwell

The School of Education is launching the Climate Justice Challenge 2022 and we want you to get involved!

As part of the “Advocacy” element of the School’s Climate Action Plan, during the month of March 2022, the School of Education is undertaking a ‘Climate Justice Challenge: Learning from Change’, supported by cCHANGE, a team of experts in transformational change from Norway.

The aim is for the challenge to help us explore how we mobilise to make wider changes. In particular, it will help us work on how we can act, as individuals, in teams, in our School, and in the wider University community, in ways that are consistent with the University’s declaration of a climate emergency. The challenge focus was chosen to reflect the broad agenda and commitments of the School. (more…)

Voices from Small Island Developing States: priorities for COP26 and beyond

Posted on by Lucy Backwell

This blog is written by Dame Pearlette Louisy; Dr Merle St Clair-Auguste; Dr Aminath Muna; Dr Aminath Shiyama; Dr Rosiana Lagi; and the ESSRG Leadership Team, and first published on the Cabot Institute for the Environment blog

The School of Education’s Education in Small States Research Group (ESSRG) in collaboration with the Cabot Institute for the Environment and the Centre for Comparative and International Research in Education (CIRE), have produced a short (15 minute) video as a direct contribution to COP26 in Glasgow. This has been developed from the zoom recording of a joint online event titled ‘Voices from SIDS at the Sharp End of Environmental Uncertainty: Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Speak to COP26’ held on 5 October 2021. (more…)

Network connects educators with latest research in Climate Change Education

Posted on by Lucy Backwell

Blog post by Lauren Hennessy, Research Associate, CCERN, University of Bristol

The Climate Change Education Research Network (CCERN),  formed in November 2020, was funded by the GW4 generator grant, to connect academic researchers and educators to address the big questions in Climate Change Education (CCE) together. (more…)