The Climate Change Education Research Network (CCERN), a GW4 funded project, hosted the first in a series of online conferences on 20th April 2021. The event saw 300 attendees register from across the education sector and beyond.
The conference kicked off with a video compilation of youth climate activists explaining why they believe the climate emergency should be top of all teachers’ priority list – watch the Youth Voice video here. The inspirational words from the young activists addressed the ‘why’ teachers ought to respond to the climate crisis, the next question was ‘how’. To tackle this from a research-informed perspective, we interviewed Martha Monroe of the University of Florida to establish the theoretical context. Monroe shared findings from a recent review into effective strategies in climate change education. Watch the full interview with Martha Monroe here and read the review here.
The next section of the event was a series of quickfire presentations from a multitude of experienced practitioners sharing best practice from the classroom. We heard valuable contributions from teachers from across the CCERN network – watch them here. Sam Williams of Cotham Garden Primary School spoke about his work embedding a climate change curriculum in the primary school setting. Robert Walker of Fairfield High School offered a secondary school perspective from his role as Global Learning Co-ordinator. John Davidson and Simon Ross of Geography Southwest gave an insightful presentation of some of the common misconceptions around climate change. Celia Tidmarsh (University of Bristol) and Will Roberts (Fairfield High School) spoke about various initiatives on the PGCE course which seek to encourage an interdisciplinary approach to climate change education, including the Green Apple project. The Nature Relations group presented a beautiful series of photos to provoke new perspectives in how we think about our relationships with the natural world. Finally, the Primary focus group presented learnings from success stories from their own classrooms.
A further purpose of the conference was to launch the CCERN School Survey – an innovative approach to researching the current state of climate change education in schools using teachers as researchers to gather data on the ground. Find out more and get involved here.
While meeting on Zoom can never fully replace the connections made at in-person events, the conference certainly gave a feeling of being part of something bigger than oneself. The chat was used to make introductions and share ideas – see the chat text here.
The Climate Change Education Research Network (CCERN) is an initiative of the University of Bristol, University of Bath, Cardiff University and the University of Exeter. We exist to connect academic researchers and educators to address the big questions in Climate Change Education (CCE) together.
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This blog is written by Lauren Hennessy. Lauren is the Research Associate on the Climate Change Education Research Network. She is also a Maths teacher by training and her research interests are youth climate activism and effective strategies for delivering climate change education with a focus on social justice.
September 2020 saw the arrival of the latest cohort on the MScR in Global Environmental Challenges. This year, we have students representing four Faculties, and six Schools; each with a unique independent research project that focuses on some of the most pressing challenges faced today.
With projects ranging from using chemistry to create clean air to artistic expressions of activism in Chile, we are delighted to introduce to you some of our new students below.
Harry Forrester
Can glacial flour stimulate N cycling in croplands? – School of Geographical Sciences
This research involves an investigation of the effects of glacial flour as a stimulant of microbial nitrogen cycling in cropland. Through this study, I aim to establish myself as a well-rounded Biogeochemist and explore interdisciplinary collaborations throughout the academic community. I hope to gain insight into environmental policy making, preparing me to enact effective change.
Lauren Prouse
An analysis into the ability of CMIP6 models reproducing the Sahelian droughts and what impact this has on their future climate predictions – School of Geographical Sciences
After completing my undergraduate dissertation here in the Geography department, I wanted to continue working on something similar. My undergraduate dissertation investigated the climatic impacts of the Great Green Wall of Africa – a forestry initiative implemented following the droughts across the Sahel region. Working with my supervisor Paul Valdes, we devised an idea of examining the ability of CMIP6 models to represent the Sahelian droughts of the 1970s and 80s, and whether their ability to do so affects their future climate change predictions for the Sahel. This is particularly important because the IPCC has recognised this region as a hotspot for the impacts of climate change, so researching potential future impacts will be useful for mitigation planning.
Dora Young
What would a “just transition” in Bristol look like? – School of Geographical Sciences
I’m a geography graduate from the University of Manchester. My academic interest areas are critical cartography and public participatory GIS. My experience studying Indigenous research methodologies in Australia and environmental humanities at undergraduate level also inspired me to develop research techniques that demonstrate a multiplicity of situated, embodied knowledges for democratic land use planning.
I’m excited to join the City Futures theme and its inspiring cohort. I hope to build on my skills of research design to produce a useful map-based participatory planning tool for Bristol and, potentially, other urban areas. It’s my intention map and visualise qualitative and quantitative spatial data, gathered as a collaborative community project, in order to inform both academic institutions and political governing bodies as they embark on ecological transitions and actualise shared futures.
I’m also interested in the diverse ways that people ‘read’ the messages expressed by their landscapes – natural and built – and how we form ‘cognitive maps’ of our surroundings. This is particularly interesting to me as we navigate radically shifting environments. I have some (limited) experience working across disciplines; my sister – a neuroscientist at the Charité University, Berlin – and I hosted a virtual spatial navigation workshop earlier this year. We explored the impacts of lockdown and modern life more generally on our spatial navigation capacities, cultural histories of navigation and how they relate to neural development, and how navigating can help combat eco-anxiety. We are currently working on a collaborative book chapter exploring the latter theme with two German authors; one GIS specialist and spatial anthropologist from the Universitaet Goettingen and a futures studies master from FU Berlin.
Fanny Lehmann
How is the global water cycle responding to climate change? – School of Geographical Sciences
I am a graduate mathematics student from the Ecole Normale Supérieure. I come from Grenoble, a city in the French Alps surrounded by mountains. I am naturally passionate about mountains, a place where climate change is so undeniable that it impacts our sporty lives. I see mathematics as a tool to model the world and help to predict its evolution. My Master’s by Research project focuses on the impact of climate change on the water cycle as part of the Global Mass project. I am delighted to start this year in such a vibrant community and hope to make the most of it to determine the research area of my PhD.
Helen Sheehan
Machine learning for wind flow modelling – School of Civil, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
I graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2016 with an MEng in Aerospace Engineering, and since then I’ve worked for a consultancy in Bristol as an engineer within the energy sector, primarily in nuclear power and offshore wind. I’m back at university to undertake Cabot’s MScR programme, with a project on “Machine Learning for Wind Flow Modelling”, which combines my interests in low carbon energy and software development. Although it’ll probably be a very different university experience for the first few months at least, I’m excited to take on this new challenge, gain new skills at the cutting edge of energy technology, and meet researchers from across the Cabot Institute!
Lauryn Jones
Eco-innovations for sustainable consumption: Bringing refill stations into leading supermarkets to reduce household plastic consumption – School of Management
During my time at Cabot I hope to gain lots of new insight into environmental challenges around the world and meet new people with innovative ideas. My personal research will be focussing on bringing refill facilities into supermarkets in order to reduce single use plastics, as well as looking at possible impacts the coronavirus pandemic may have had on people’s perception of the use of plastics.
Adam Chmielowski
Change: environmental, cultural, technological change and the stories of sustainable futures – School of Management
I’m thrilled to be starting my MScR at Cabot. My research topic is “Change: environmental, cultural, technological change and stories of sustainable futures” and I’ll be exploring different ways of thinking about change, asking what forms of change are conceptualised in environmental campaigns and how effective they are in helping people transition to a more sustainable society. I’m fascinated by the role of culture in enabling or constraining human behaviour, storytelling and the role of future visions to inspire action, and how you create change at a systemic or cultural, not just individual, level. My research will run parallel to my day job which is running a strategy and insight agency called Starling (I’m awe-struck by murmurations!) where we help brands innovate and communicate better by analysing culture. In the spirit of cross-disciplinary collaboration, I believe there is much more that the business world and academia can learn from each other to help tackle environmental challenges, so I hope I can help advance that effort.
Over the next year, we look forward to sharing their work and providing opportunities to mingle with the wider Cabot Institute community. Our very first cohort will also be graduating soon, so stay tuned to hear more about them and share in their success!
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This blog was written by Cabot Institute MScR Coordinator, Jo Norris. You can start the Cabot MScR at any time of year and there are plenty of incredible earth-saving projects to dive into. Find out more on our website at bristol.ac.uk/cabot/postgraduate-opportunities/cabot-masters/
Do you feel like you learnt enough about climate change in school? Most likely, you didn’t as only 44% in a national survey of students felt like they had. If you think that’s disgraceful than I have good news for you. In the last few months the National Union of Students (NUS) launched a partner charity called Students Organising for Sustainability (SOS). SOS’s first campaign is ‘Teach the Future’ which aims to incorporate sustainability into the wider English curriculum instead of the topic being squeezed into either Geography or Science. The campaign includes the first ever legislation to be drafted by pupils and students: The Climate Emergency Education Bill!
The Climate Emergency Education Bill has extensive demands from students across the UK for sustainability to be included in all parts of their education, as well as a guide for supporting teachers and student voices. There’s even proposed money earmarked for making educational buildings net-zero carbon. Here’s an excerpt from the Bill’s cover that explains all of the demands in a bit more detail:
A government commissioned review into how the whole of the English formal education system is preparing students for the climate emergency and ecological crisis (in the gift of the Secretary of State);
Inclusion of the climate emergency and ecological crisis in teacher training and a new professional teaching qualification (in the gift of the Secretary of State);
An English Climate Emergency Education Act that:
obligates education providers to teach the climate emergency and ecological crisis, and to have a member of their leadership team responsible for it;
provides new funding for: the upskilling of existing teachers and lecturers; development of teaching resources; vocational centres of excellence on low carbon skills; establishing youth voice climate boards; more youth-led climate and environmental social action; support with eco-anxiety;
requires, and provides new funding, to ensure all new state-funded educational buildings are net-zero from 2022, and all existing state-funded educational buildings are net-zero by 2030.
Emma and I were lucky enough to win a competition and get spots on the exclusive guest list for the launch of the Bill at Parliament on the 26 February 2020! We met up with the 46 students aged 13-26 in Parliament Square for photos before heading into the main event at Parliament. The reception was filled with students, representatives from environmental and educational charities, and MPs. We spoke with everyone, advocating for the Bill, before stopping to watch the speeches. Speeches were given by students, Parliamentarians, and educational leaders all emphasizing the urgent need for educating pupils across the nation about the climate emergency and its effects. Interestingly, most of the speakers emphasised the need for the social and economic effects of climate change to be included in the curriculum alongside the environmental. As Emma and I are quite ‘in the know’ about the devastating social effects of climate change it was good to be reminded that not everyone does. We left the event feeling inspired and ready to tackle sustainability challenges in Bristol and beyond!
If you want to support the Teach for the Future campaign write to your MP and ask them to help make the Bill into law.
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This blog was written by Anya Kaufman, a Sustainability masters student at the University of Bristol.
You only have to visit forums like Mumsnet to see that climate change is being discussed quite frequently and with anxiety (for those who care) around how it will affect their children’s futures. As highlighted on the Victoria Derbyshire programme, young women across the world are contemplating whether to have kids at all for fear of how climate change will degrade their children’s lives. In fact a new group called BirthStrike has risen up in the belief that it would be unjust to raise children in an increasingly damaged world. Even Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, an increasingly popular American politician and activist said in an Instagram livestream “Our planet is going to hit disaster if we don’t turn this ship around … there’s scientific consensus that the lives of children are going to be very difficult”. So for women today, if you do decide to have children or already have them in this warming world, you do have these feelings of guilt, as well as anxiety and despair for their futures.
When you are a mum working in the environmental sector, it’s really quite tough balancing being a good mum and doing your bit for the planet, even with the best intentions! Whether we like it or not, kids and babies are incredibly wasteful. Whether it is growing quickly out of their clothes that they’ve only worn for the last three months or wasting food by throwing it around or not eating their meals because they are fussy, all the things they break that have to be thrown away and replaced and even all the washing you have to do, so much water and energy is used on a weekly basis. And don’t even get me started on all the plastic tat, balloons and wasteful gifts produced for children’s birthdays…
As someone who decided to have a child a couple years ago knowing full well what was happening to the planet because I work for the Cabot Institute for the Environment, it really was a tough decision for me. But I was technically going to be a ‘geriatric mother’ by the time I gave birth and so I decided that I would have a kid before it was too late biologically. I justified it to myself by deciding to buy second hand toys and baby clothes where possible (luckily I’ve had lots of hand me downs!); cut back drastically on consuming animal products; I have a 100% renewable energy tariff and I haven’t flown for three years besides many other things I’m trying my hardest at doing for the sake of the planet. I also decided that I would raise my kid as best as I could to know what nature was, to respect it, cherish it and protect it and my hope is that he will contribute something positive to the planet as he grows up. Yet still there is that guilt and feelings of hypocrisy that what I am doing is not enough.
How do academic mums feel?
Working at the University of Bristol are many mothers who study the effects of climate change on the atmosphere, land and oceans and on living things such as animals, plants and humans. There are mothers who look at risk, uncertainty and climate related disasters and there are engineers who are dreaming up ways to fix things. So how do these mums feel about knowing what will happen in the near future? I asked around and here are some responses from my colleagues:
Professor Dani Schmidt
Professor Dani Schmidt
Dani studies the biotic response to climate change, focusing on ocean acidification and its impacts on marine ecosystems. She is a Wolfson Merit Scholar with the Royal Society and sits on the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change Working Group II, Chapter 6 Ocean Systems, AR5. Dani said:
“I think it is important to remember that our children will have the power to change the world. It is in our power to change what the world will look like in which our children will grow; the world they will look after. We need to raise thinkers, scientists, engineers who think differently. The worst we could do for our children is to give up hope and not empower them to come up with ideas. Despair hinders action. There is so much to do, new transportation, new energy efficiency, learning to take the CO2 out of the atmosphere again to name just a few. We need to inspire our children to love nature, as we will protect what we treasure”.
Dr Frances Cooper
Dr Frances Cooper
Frances’ research is focused on understanding the mechanics of large-scale continental deformation and the evolution of orogenic systems. In plain English, her work looks at natural hazards and risk. Frances said:
“My son is nearly 18 months old, which means he will be my age in 2056. If global warming continues at its current rate, it will have breached the 1.5°C recommended by the IPCC by this time, resulting in more severe weather patterns, destruction of ecosystems, and melting of the ice caps. It is, of course, impossible not to dwell on this when I think about his future, but I think it’s important to respond with affirmative action. Although he is too young at the moment to understand climate change, it will be an important part of his education and I want to raise him as someone who is engaged with the issue and proactive about doing something to prevent it. Nurturing his curiosity in nature and the outdoors will be an early stepping stone, getting him excited and interested in the world around him. This way, I hope that he will grow up with an appreciation of how his actions impact the environment and that he has a responsibility to protect it.”
Dr Katharine Baldock
Katherine is a community ecologist whose research focuses on insect pollinators and how processes such as urbanisation affect pollinator communities. She is a NERC Knowledge Exchange Fellow based in the School of Biological Sciences. Kath said:
“The effects of climate change on animals, plants and processes that maintain the earth’s ecosystems are becoming ever more concerning. Unseasonable temperatures and unpredictable weather can impact on natural biological processes. The timing of events such as leaf emergence, insect emergence and flowering can be altered and become uncoupled from species which depend on them, for example flowers may be in bloom before their pollinators have emerged in the spring.
“What effects will these changes have on the natural world that my son grows up to experience? Will polar bears still have a habitat in the wild or will they be confined to only to zoos? Exposing our children to nature from an early age will benefit not only their health and wellbeing but hopefully embed in them a sense of wonder of the natural world and a desire to preserve and protect it. And they need first-hand experience, not just through the wonderful wildlife documentaries on our screens. I have recently started taking my 18 month old son to forest school, a first step on his journey with nature. He is already fascinated by birds and other animals and I hope this will grow into an appreciation for the environment and an understanding of how important his and others’ actions will be to the future of our planet.”
A motherly uprising?
It’s not all doom and gloom and anxiety and guilt though. There are some fantastic female led groups who are rising up to take on the climate change challenge, like 1 Million Women, who are building a global movement of women and empowering them to change their lifestyles. By doing this the many mothers who make up this group are also empowering and changing the lifestyles of their friends and families too. It’s win win. There is a new group of mums called Mothers Rise Up who are sick of feeling helpless about their children’s futures in the face of catastrophic climate breakdown and have announced “We are organising!“. Then there is Mothers Against Climate Change who say “Women also make ~ 85% of the purchasing decisions and tend to be more empathetic and willing to share what they have learned”. Also Mothers Out Front who are “mobilising for a liveable climate”. Even former Irish President Mary Robinson and comedian Maeve Higgins have created Mothers of Invention – an uplifting new podcast celebrating amazing women doing remarkable things in pursuit of climate justice. Mothers really can, are and will make a huge difference to the way the world will tackle climate change.
Mothers as educators
If you are privileged enough to have access to educational resources on climate change, whether that be books, apps, websites, TV programmes and documentaries, do use them and share them with your child and others. If you don’t have access, visit your local library and ask to borrow some free resources.
If your child has completed a degree but wants to go on to a Masters programme, you could direct them towards the Cabot Institute’s brand new Masters by Research in Global Environmental Challenges. This is a unique one-year research project, supported by an expert supervisor, with access to a bespoke training schedule designed to enhance your child’s career prospects and help them not only to develop an interdisciplinary approach to the most complex environmental challenges of today but also to support them in becoming future leaders in environmental challenges.
The University of Bristol also offers free open online courses as part of Bristol Futures. It helps participants to investigate some of the major opportunities and challenges facing our generation: including Innovation & Enterprise; Global Citizenship and Sustainable Futures. Here at Cabot we’ve also recently partnered with actor Jeff Bridges on his new educational programme aimed at educating school and university students, focusing on issues featured in his recent award winning documentary Living in the Futures Past. Watch Cabot’s contribution to that programme, a short film on emergence by Tom O’Shea.
And more locally, Bristol mum Traci Lewis set up Catalyse Change CIC, a social enterprise supporting girls and young women to develop sustainability skills and knowledge for ‘healthy, happy and green’ communities, careers and planet. This is a great initiative because ultimately these will be the mother’s of the future and they will continue to share their knowledge as they become mothers and grandmothers and influencers in their careers.
Mothers as communicators
A lot of women like to talk and the best thing you can do is to talk and talk some more with the people around you about climate change. I’ve made a point to talk lots with my hairdresser about climate change issues, mainly to inform her in the hope that she will talk to her hundreds of customers about the issues too but also that she will think about her own actions.
Parents are not just carers, cooks, role models, cleaners, nurses and counsellors etc they are also educators. It’s important for mums (and dads) to be supportive of their kids in the quest for knowledge and like Dani said, to ‘inspire’ our children and that can be done by leading by example, so may be consider putting yourself on the Bristol Futures courses or attending a climate strike. Greta Thunberg is organising another international school strike on 15 March 2019. As mothers we could encourage our children to attend, we could also go with them and show our support, even better we could rally up our friends, colleagues and family members to join in too.
I, like my colleagues, am incredibly privileged to have up to date access to the latest research on climate change. If you want to be kept informed too, do sign up to the Cabot Institute newsletter. I am not only a mother but an educator and I will do all that I can to pass on my knowledge to my child and inspire him in the wonder of nature, that we as humans often forget or don’t realise we are intrinsically part of, so that his generation may just have a brighter future by learning to ‘mother’ their Earth.
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This blog is written by Amanda Woodman-Hardy, Cabot Institute Coordinator at the University of Bristol. You can follow Amanda at @Enviro_Mand on Twitter. Amanda would like to extend her thanks to Dani, Frances and Kath for taking the time out of their incredibly busy schedules to contribute to this blog.
The Manifesto suggests seven mechanisms for government and civil society by which they can strengthen UK delivery of educational commitments towards The Future We Want. These are proposed within four areas: governmental responsibilities, formal learning, informal learning, and emphasising the connection between ESD and the economy. Most focus on improved dialogue, collaboration and coordination between government, NGOs, educational institutions, community groups and businesses.
Manifesto’s7 mechanisms for government and civil society
Governmental responsibilities
Better coordination of efforts and collaboration between governments and across government departments on formal and informal learning for sustainable development
Improvement of dialogue between the education sector, civil society and government departments
Enabling education sectors to develop an appropriate curriculum to meet current and future sustainability challenges through a realignment of funding with The Future We Want in mind
Formal learning (education and training sectors)
Six curriculum change recommendations including: teacher training, incentives from education quality enhancement bodies, national curricula objectives, Natural Environment White Paper implementation, student involvement in curriculum design and interdisciplinary learning opportunities
Three institutional change recommendations including: institutional leadership in SD, strengthened links between education institutions and local communities, support for young people not engaged in formal further education
Informal learning
Increased collaboration between NGOs and formal education providers
ESD and Economy Connections
Increased collaboration between governments, NGOs, business and education sectors to ensure young people are sufficiently prepared for the opportunities and challenges of a Green and Fair Economy
At the launch on 17 December, 2013 at the House of Commons, more than 80 people from these different sectors, and representing all forms of education, gathered for an event hosted by Joan Walley MP, Chair of the Environmental Audit Select Committee. Speakers included the Shadow Schools Minister, Kevin Brennan MP, and a number of individuals providing ‘witness accounts’ of ways that education can support sustainable development. These ranged from primary school pupils and NGO representatives to university youth ambassadors and a Director from HEFCE. During this portion of the launch, the University of Bristol’s Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Coordinator Aisling Tierney gave a presentation. Aisling presented ways in which the ESD unit helps support University lecturers and professors to incorporate aspects of ESD into their teaching. Following the witness accounts, all attendees participated in a round table discussion about how and why they can commit to taking the agenda forward.
Cabot Institute at Big Green Week
educating the public about overfishing
and climate change
The Cabot Institute can do its part in the fulfilment of the Manifesto through the Informal Learning route, which calls upon Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to support community learning about sustainable development. Cabot pursues continued engagement with the public to share the university’s latest research on risks and uncertainty in a changing environment. Examples include Cabot’s participation the Festival of Nature and planned activities surrounding Bristol’s position as the 2015 European Green Capital. Such initiatives continue to help to raise awareness within the wider Bristol area on topics including climate change, natural hazards, food and energy security and human impacts on the environment.
