GEM Report UNESCO’s Post

I just read about this eye-opening new report from UNICEF - Beyond Maths and Science, teaching kids about climate change from an early age can make a huge difference in building a more sustainable future. The report shows that climate education in early childhood improves resilience and helps kids develop solutions for environmental challenges. Makes total sense when you think about it! Little ones are so passionate about nature and have amazing creativity.  Here are some key points from the report: 📌Investing in quality early childhood programs provides an average economic return of $13.70 for every $1 spent. Win-win! 📌24 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean include environmental education in school curricula. But only 3 have specific climate change content for early learners. More work is needed! 📌Educators and parents have a crucial role in fostering harmonious coexistence with nature from the start. 📌The report urges putting kids at the center of climate action and integrating environmental education into curricula beginning in early childhood. Empowering our smallest citizens with climate knowledge can have an enormous impact. As Greta Thunberg says, "You are never too small to make a difference." Let's equip kids to drive positive change. The future depends on it! What do you think? Should we be integrating climate education earlier on? I'd love to hear your thoughts! #climateeducation #students #sustainability #unicef #environmentaleducation

Today, we honour and recognise the transformative power of education! Education isn’t just a fundamental human right. It’s the foundation of a fairer, more equitable, more sustainable future for all of us. In a world brimming with challenges, from climate change to social inequalities, education provides the tools, knowledge, and connections to create solutions together to face these head-on. #InternationalEducationDay #Education #Knowledge #Learning #GlobalEducation #EducationForAll #NeverStopLearning #EducationMatters #EducationDay

In commemoration of International Youth Skills Day 2023, This is what young people are saying "To ensure the availability of green skills for young people to address climate change, government and policy stakeholders must invest in education reforms that incorporates environmental and sustainability education into the school curriculums to raise awareness and understanding of climate-related issues from an early age" ©Sani Muhammad #IYD2023 #YouthSkillsDay #GreenSkillsForYouth #SustainableDevelopment #ClimateAction #EmpowerChange

In commemoration of International Youth Skills Day 2023, This is what young people are saying. "To ensure the availability of green skills for young people to address climate change, government and policy stakeholders must invest in education reforms that incorporates environmental and sustainability education into the school curriculums to raise awareness and understanding of climate-related issues from an early age" © Sani Muhammad #IYD2023 #YouthSkillsDay #GreenSkillsForYouth #SustainableDevelopment #ClimateAction #empowerchange

Integrating climate change and equity into education isn't just about awareness—it's about preparing future leaders for the challenges ahead. By educating students about the intersection of these issues, we equip them with the knowledge, empathy, and problem-solving skills needed to navigate an ever-changing world. #ClimateChange #ClimateEquity #Education #Equity

Delighted that the latest edition of the Springer Handbook of Children and Youth Studies is now published online including a new section on #Climate. The climate section comprises five research chapters (written by Sharon Todd, Catherine Walker & Ellen van Holstein, Jeremy Rappleye, Hikaru Komatsu & Iveta Silova, Kirsi Yliniva & Kristiina Brunila & Yoko Mochizuki and Audrey Bryan) as well as an introductory chapter synthesising recent literature and theorising in relation to climate and children/youth. The chapter by Yoko Mochizuki and myself critically explores the discursive construction of children and youth who make up the Anthropocene generation, with particular reference to overlapping representative framings of this generation in terms of their innocence/vulnerability, their exceptionalism/heroism, their mental health/eco-anxiety, and their agency/activism. We highlight what is invisibilized, obscured, or neglected within these interwoven frames and discuss how they undercut meaningful social and educational responses to the climate crisis. Central to our analysis is the ideal learning subject that emerges from the discursive construction of the Anthropocene generation. This hopeful, resilient, post-political figure obscures more uncomfortable realities about some children and youths’ implication in the ecological crisis; occludes more nuanced and expansive encounters with responsibility and vulnerability; and bolsters a misguided pedagogical preoccupation with fostering “hope,” “optimism,” and “resilience” which reinscribe “business as usual (but greener)” (BAU-G) politics rather than the system change that is so desperately required.

Interesting paper here. It appears to show that absenteeism related to attending school strikes for climate has little effect on academic achievement: https://lnkd.in/e48Bx8Q6 Open access. There are interesting findings on the socio-demographic profiles of the strikers too: "While the movement has succeeded in mobilizing young individuals of color and those with foreign ethnicities, our results also reveal an enduring gap in participation based on socioeconomic status (SES). The persistence of this education and SES gap in political engagement among youth within the context of Fridays for Future is consistent with previous research, which has highlighted structural availability as a crucial factor in explaining these disparities." - Interesting stuff re: lack of diversity in the environmental sector more broadly.

I did not learn much about #climatechange in school! They didn't teach us much about it. Today is #EarthDay and if you had asked me about its significance in my school days I would not have found it easy to answer. The question is still difficult for millions more students across the world especially in low income and disaster prone countries. Yet, there is an intricate link between Education and Climate change and students and the school system can be a great resource. In the joint publication below #GPE and #SaveTheChildren present a new tool-the #ClimateandEnvironmentInterventionMatrix to help gvts and donors understand the cost of building climate-smart education systems. You see; 😳 Climate-induced disasters can directly and indirectly impact children’s education. (access to education is disrupted and academic achievements are affected - Deaths, injuries, health hazards, absenteeism drop outs etc) 🍀 On the flip side, education is a critical pillar of climate action, adaptive capacity and environmental sustainability. Higher levels of education can result in increased resilience to adverse climate impacts as well as increased levels of innovation and leadership that can support both adaptation and mitigation efforts. 🍀 The reality is that governments cannot meet either their climate or education goals without making progress on the other: a generation that lacks a quality education will be unfit to adapt to, mitigate, or cope with the losses and damages of the climate crisis. 🍀 Equally, an education system that is not resilient in the context of the climate crisis will fail to provide a quality education to children in the future. ✅ Governments and donors must therefore shift their thinking and investment strategies to focus on the synergies between education and climate and mobilise funding that helps tackle both priorities together. Find time to go through this rich resource http://g.pe/vanB50RleKu #Raiseyourhand #FundEducation

Educators from the Teachers College, Columbia University Center for Sustainable Futures Center for Sustainable Futures address the growing need for justice-driven climate education. Their testimonies are a call for a sustainability curriculum that informs students directly affected by climate injustice AND high-quality professional development to ensure that educators are supported in the delivery of this material. Read more from real educators and researchers on what is needed for true climate education and justice. https://lnkd.in/gYubVC82 #ClimateEducation #EnvironmentalEducation #ClimateJustice

GPE has developed a policy dialogue tool to help mainstream climate change into education policies and practices. The incorporation of climate change into educational curricula and assessments remains significantly deficient. Policymakers must also begin to endorse the construction of disaster-resistant school buildings, minimize excessive heat exposure, and provide accommodations for those most impacted yet least protected by climate change: the youth and the disabled. There is no time to wait. ⛔ https://lnkd.in/g26PCrTb