Priyadarshani Joshi, PhD’s Post

Petition for climate education Make your voices heard - on your experiences of climate learning, and what you think governments should do to ensure education systems are better equipped to tackle the climate challenge. I urge all of our partner institutions who work with and for youth to amplify the call to sign these petitions to their youth ambassadors and networks as part of their commitment to be active global citizens! AFS Intercultural Programs AFS Youth Assembly SAP Lukas Findeisen Noam Angrist Blue Planet Alliance Ilan Enverga Ellen Dixon The Stevens Initiative at the Aspen Institute Joann Halpern

AFS Youth Assembly, August 16 to 18 2024 I have really enjoyed my engagements at the Youth Assembly and with AFS Intercultural Programs. The Assembly focuses on macro topics linked to all the Sustainable Development Goals, which fit perfectly with the GEM Report UNESCO agenda of articulating and advocating for education's role in the SDGs, and leveraging youth leadership and action for climate action, technology, and consultative decision-making. The gathering's dynamism comes from its highly energetic leadership and staff Daniel Obst Yumna Khan Ana Carolina (Carol) Cassiano Efrem Fisher Nicole Lebenson Angulo Milena Miladinovic Syed M. Ali Mustafa; influential speakers; and the young leaders in attendance from over 80 countries. It was a pleasure to reconnect with Lukas Findeisen Joann Halpern and to hear from Anand Verma (Dr.) on AI. I had the opportunity to: - speak on a digital technologies in education panel (Efrem Fisher Mariama Kabia Frederico Menino, Ph.D. @ChristineJaneShiau, The Stevens Initiative at the Aspen Institute, Patrick Freeman); - facilitate a workshop on education for climate action (with Andrés Peñaloza Lanza); - contribute to a plenary (Yumna Khan Ilan Enverga Asha Castleberry-Hernandez Helmut Schuster Henk Rogers); - listen in and participate in the SDG Zone focus on #LeadingSDG4: Youth-Led Education Transformation for the 2030 Agenda (Ilan Enverga Un Wa Lok Amanda Bennett Rivera) It was also timely to have the chance to highlight three different ongoing GEM Report initiatives: - Youth Petition to express their voice, and for government to transform climate education https://lnkd.in/ew3meBDw - Youth-led consultation and demands on technology in education. Launch in September. https://lnkd.in/e5JYS4AG - Ongoing development of the Youth Indicator, linked to the Transforming Education Summit. The Youth Indicator is likely to be a groundbreaking opportunity. This pioneering effort could be used by other sectors to shape their strategies and processes. As before, in connecting and listening to young people from Nepal, Nigeria, Philippines, Argentina and other countries, you can't help but be moved by their enthusiasm, solutions orientation, and hunger to envision a better world, and #Forgeoursharedfuture together. We are living in difficult and frustrating times, nearly 10 years after the beginning the Sustainable Development Goals agenda and aspirations. A positive development is that young people and their possibilities are now spoken with more respect and trust. Youth hope, optimism and determination have become visible. This is due to the leadership young people have demonstrated in holding governments accountable and getting their demands heard. This is an earned respect, and was not given easily. It is time now to turbo-charge youth voice and leadership. Thank you Yumna Khan Daniel Obst and everyone else for the invitation, and for this highly motivated and interesting convening!

Thought Leadership Webinar, GREEN: Global Response to Education and the Environment Network, August 2024 On August 13, I had a stellar opportunity to present the Education and Climate Change paper with Aaron Benavot at the GREEN Network's webinar series. This paper has been a major collaborative project between several members of the GEM Report UNESCO team and the Monitoring and Evaluating Climate Communication and Education (MECCE) project. Marcia McKenzieAnna Cristina d'Addio Daniel April Aaron Redman Kristen Hargis Chandni Jain Nicola Chopin While I presented the comprehensive framing, findings and recommendations, Aaron focused on the MECCE project, the greening education indicator proposal, and indicator related methodologies and preliminary findings. The engaged audience posed questions focused on gender, youth, financing, the role of higher education, the importance of infrastructure and transportation and the implementation of curriculum practices. My two reflections from recent discussions I have been a part of: First, there is now quite a bit of focus on thinking about the multi-faceted adaptation needs and issues (education as victim), which is absolutely essential; but we need more focus on education as an active contributor/change agent as well (education as hope). Second, youth political leadership on climate action needs to be given even more innovative and decision-making space so that we catalyze climate action with their energies. Thank you Yolande Miller-Grandvaux for spearheading such an important, innovative and growing network; and for inviting us to speak!

On August 12, 2024, I participated virtually in a session focused on the Alarming Impacts of Climate Change in Pakistan: Evidence and Call for Action from ASER 2023, organized by Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA). Baela Jamil I left with a strong picture of the challenges faced and the need for contextualized solutions especially for the most marginalized communities in Pakistan. - Monazza Aslam highlighted the vulnerability faced by Pakistan which is likely to cause a substantial GDP drop, heightened marginalization and inequality, cause major disruptions to teaching and learning processes, and have long-term consequences. She highlighted critical pieces of longitudinal research and insights from previous natural disasters. - Fozia Parveen mentioned research on the difference in wellbeing and learning linked to green spaces, and the importance of creating opportunities to interact with green spaces in large cities such as Karachi. In her engagements trying to mainstream climate change education in higher education and develop toolkits for K-12 education, she noted the greater emphasis on cognitive understandings of climate change, and argued that it is a must to focus much more on climate action. - afia salam spoke of the need to also reach out of school children, deal with the disproportionate impacts on girls, have better geographic planning of schools. Governments have to make alternative displaced camp arrangements so school systems are not disturbed for prolonged periods. She stressed the value of informal, contextualized learning – highlighting how community-based organizations use multiple tools using local language content, graphics, and even theater plays to provide contextualized learning and awareness. - Muhammad Toheed stressed the disproportionate impacts on marginalized groups in informal settlements, where children face very poor indoor environment quality due to rising temperatures, and suffer from hours of power outages, lack of ventilation etc., which directly impact their cognitive function and learning outcomes. He recommended that NGOs, schools and educators can better advocate for policy change for climate resilience buildings, especially to provide a comfortable learning environment. In my pre-recorded message, I briefly discussed the reflections, findings and recommendations of the GEM Report UNESCO Education and Climate Change paper, and as I typically do - asked the panel and experts at Pakistan to think about how we can prioritize education systems in the discourse/narratives as climate change rises up the political agenda. The panelists ended with a plea to listen to communities' demands, focus on what is critical for the communities for their survival, highlighting the need for roads, the pooling and collation of successful strategies, and learning through drills and practical work and not just in classrooms. Thank you to Sehar Saeed for the invite. I learned a lot from the experts!

XVIII World Congress of Comparative Education Societies (WCCES), Cornell University and UNESCO at Ithaca, NY July 22 to 26 2024 In my first time attending a WCCES, I listened to several plenaries and commentaries on the role of education for our sustainable futures, with an emphasis on marginalized knowledge systems and global governance of education. These continue to be timely and timeless issues. I chaired a GEM Report UNESCO organized session on the Research, Policy and Practice Implications of Education for Climate Change. Some highlights from our panel: I presented our Climate Change paper, the motivation behind our focus on education’s interlinkages with the other SDGs, and the importance of reaching beyond the non-education audience. https://lnkd.in/eagi-hKV Aaron Benavot highlighted the MECCE project, the importance of greening curriculum and education, the link with the UNFCC Action for Climate Empowerment framework, and some findings and methodology. He highlighted the different ways that greening education indicators could be utilized – e.g. serving as a basis for targeted climate policy action by youth activists and civil society organizations, and holding governments accountable. Radhika Iyengar traced the journey of integration of sustainable development in education, starting with a brief history of sustainable development, and how the United States has been non-committal – it is one of the five countries that still has not conducted a voluntary national review. Then she presented a deeper look at New Jersey, a pioneering state on climate change education. Anvi Anand, Millburn High School, presented her Eco Ambassador summer experience, what she learned during the program, the competencies she built through data collection, storymaking, and space to share her impacts, and highlighted the need to improve awareness of the SDGS. She ended on the importance of global citizenship – the need to stay informed, empathize with others, have strong morals, and give our world justice. As discussant, Fernando Reimers noted that the GEM Report was a great example of the global governance architecture in education (Thank you for that comment!). He deftly highlighted the tensions between the realities of lack of basic learning and the much more ambitious education we need for the future. He appreciated how an emphasis on curriculum and competences was a powerful way to change aspirations of governments, our discourses and our education practice. He viewed the focus on science and of NJ's pioneering climate education as a welcome development that needed to be appreciated and built on incrementally to build critical skills. Thank you to all speakers and attendees, and to UNESCO Futures team for their engagement and convening of the congress, as we continue to engage on the climate-education interlinkages issue. UNESCO Sobhi Tawil Keith Holmes Elena Toukan Charles Hopkins Katrin Kohl Prachi Srivastava

On the occasion of World Youth Skills Day, had the opportunity to do a brief intervention at a UNESCO-UNEVOC event showcasing GEM Report UNESCO 2024 Gender Report on Technology, with some perspectives on gender, youth, STEM and technology. [30:00 onwards] The Gender Report, led by Anna Cristina d'Addio, speaks more broadly to #Techonherterms. It documents how technology is helping, and can be better utilized to help achieve gender equality in education. https://lnkd.in/efmP6yQ7 https://lnkd.in/e8sbfvCm

SDG 13 at the High Level Political Forum: the GEM Report perspective and breakfast briefing On July 10, SDG 13 (climate action) and its interlinkages with other SDGs were reviewed at the High Level Political Forum. All panelists, member states, major groups and international organizations stressed the urgency and our global vulnerability. While all spoke to the outcomes we need to improve: reduce temperatures, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, mitigate biodiversity loss, improve water conservation, soil erosion etc. – barring a few exceptions, such as Ireland, there was limited formal discussion of the human transition that is necessary to make all of this happen. On July 11, I had the pleasure to chair and moderate the GEM Report UNESCO organized breakfast briefing precisely focused on this topic: based on our evidence-based assertion that education – formal, nonformal and informal learning – is critical for climate adaptation and mitigation, and that education systems have to transform to meet the demands of the climate change challenge. It was a dynamic event, with diverse perspectives and contributions, and an engaged audience. Events like these bring together different types of voices of pragmatism and hope. It prompts us to make use of our spheres of influence to make individual and collective impacts on our seemingly insurmountable climate crisis. Thank you to all speakers and attendees! A few highlights: Astra Bonini, PhD spoke to United Nations UNDESA’s perspective on the role of education for climate action, highlighting discussions of synergies and tradeoffs from the Global Sustainable Development Report. She urged all of us to engage fully outside of our siloes and in meetings and at all major convenings such as the SDG summits. Ambassador Camilla Mellander, Consulate General of Sweden in New York highlighted the intergenerational shift in Sweden on pollution and climate awareness, stressing that education and individual actions do matter in creating systemwide change. Aissata M.B. Camara highlighted the efforts taken by City of New York in education and awareness raising programs, as well as the importance of involving youth in decision-making processes Neeraj Negi spoke of the Global Environment Facility’s project financing objectives, the importance of capacity building efforts aimed at behavioral change, and the need for strengthened monitoring and evaluation metrics Jennifer Williams, EdD discussed the diverse activities of Take Action Global, the importance of centering educators and youth voices, and shared inspiring stories of action while highlighting work they are undertaking to fill climate action research gaps Thasnim Tabasoom provided a youth perspective, discussed her climate action learning journey, and how it continues to evolve in her nursing education at New York University. Helen Sahi Souad Fennouh AFS Youth Assembly Mathematica Shivani Nayyar

Join us tomorrow to hear from national, local, youth and global expert perspectives on the interlinkages between education and climate change.

2024 High Level Political Forum (HLPF) Breakfast Briefing on Education and Climate Change Date: Thursday, July 11, 8:00 to 9:30 AM Location: Scandinavia House, 58 Park Ave, NY Learn more and RSVP:  https://bit.ly/4cIbWzh Report: https://lnkd.in/eagi-hKV I am excited to moderate a stellar event on the interlinkages between climate change and education, organized by GEM Report UNESCO and our partners to discuss how education - formal, nonformal and informal learning - is an essential but underappreciated aspect of needed climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts. As the conversation around education and climate change increases within the global education community - with a substantial growth in research agendas, programming, policy and planning conversations - we take this opportunity to engage with collaborators whose central business is not always about education. Broadening the actors engaged in this conversation is an essential need to ensure education has appropriate space in the climate conversations, and to help us progress on both education and climate agendas. The HLPF is the annual meeting and the central follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs globally. This year the HLPF reviews #SDG 13. It is an opportune moment to enhance our efforts to bring education (#SDG 4) and climate (#SDG 13) communities together. Come join us and follow our conversations. Astra Bonini, PhD Aissata M.B. Camara Neeraj Negi Jennifer Williams, EdD Angela Busheska

Education and Climate Change: Learning to act for People and Planet - https://lnkd.in/eM2rk_N9 It has been my great honor and privilege to lead the development of the GEM Report UNESCO paper on Education and Climate Change with Marcia McKenzie Aaron Benavot at the MECCE Team [with Manos Antoninis Anna Cristina d'Addio Daniel April Chandni Jain Aaron Redman Nicola Chopin Kristen Hargis]. Thank you to all researchers who engaged with us, and many more who are doing such important work on the topic. I chose a career in education because I sincerely believe that education has the potential to be the difference maker in addressing our societal challenges, if and when education development is adequately integrated into broader agendas. This requires bringing education and non-education interests under newer collaborative umbrellas. As you engage with our paper’s research, messages and recommendations, I hope that it becomes clear that the paper has several ambitions for comprehensiveness: (1)   It highlights the need for better quality education, a focus on curriculum content, and the need for education that motivates climate action; (2)   It speaks from a variety of disciplinary perspectives (education, communications, economics, sociology, psychology, public policy, demography etc.) (3)   It speaks of a variety of formal, nonformal and informal learning settings (schools, universities, youth networks, cities, communities, homes etc.) (4)   It cites conceptual, qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods publications (5)   It highlights the need for innovative evaluations of learning happening in all different settings to convince skeptics (6)   It includes endorsements from influential organizations who are not primarily focused on education This type of comprehensive approach, and an intergenerational network of unexpected collaborators, is arguably central for ensuring education fulfils its potential for the SDGs – as we had highlighted with the 2016 Global Education Monitoring Report on Education for People and Planet. at the beginning of the SDG agenda. Thank you to all of the diverse youth movements for bringing climate action to the political center stage. And, to all individuals and institutions working to advocate for education for climate action! I look forward to your reflections on the report’s message and implications, and tracking how this paper resonates in policy, research and other discourse. Radhika Iyengar Christina Kwauk Kehkashan Basu, M.S.M., MBA Daniel Obst Shivani Nayyar Astra Bonini, PhD Tulika Narayan Emilie Bagby EARTHDAY.ORG Noam Angrist Harry Anthony Patrinos Emily Hannum Jennifer Williams, EdD Riley Justis, Ph.D. Koen Timmers, FRSA Anthony Leiserowitz Pedro Conceição Moira Faul Hugh McLean Milena D'Atri Yona Nestel Inge Vandevyvere Yolande Miller-Grandvaux