This blog post collates information from the national Learning for Sustainability network for practitioners and senior managers working in Falkirk education establishments. It shares exciting new materials and information about the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties which takes place in Glasgow between 1st -12th November 2021 (known as COP 26 – click the image to visit the official site).
The five themes of this international event are:
- Nature
- Clean Transport
- Energy transition
- Adaptation and resilience
- Finance
This link will take you to a Tweet and video clip from the organisers of this event in which David Attenborough explains how vitally important its outcomes are. The Scottish Government commitment to the goals of COP 26 is shared via its Net Zero Scotland campaign which you can learn more about here.
Some of the many education resources for use with pupils connected to COP 26 may already have come to your attention. The links below take you to key national support and teaching materials which you can use as part of your usual curriculum content, or for any new subject-specific or interdisciplinary learning contexts you feel will engage your children and young people and contribute to their development of the four capacities of Curriculum for Excellence.
The #CountdowntoCOP learning materials developed by Education Scotland are now live and can be accessed here . These will enable you to engage your learners with the big #COP26 themes of nature, energy, transport, finance, adaptation and resilience.• Early Years – See Dug’s Discovery Den ThingLink resource and eBook of Dug’s visit to Arran
• Primary – A ThingLink resource for learners covering all five COP26 themes and accompanied by a practical guide for teachers
• BGE Secondary – Countdown to COP resource for learners in S1 to S3.
• New! – We’ve also now added COP26 challenges to encourage learners to develop creative and innovative solutions to climate change.
Between 3-11 November the New York Times is taking over the SWG3 building on the Clydeside – right next to the official COP26 Green and Blue Zones at the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow. Their Climate Hub experience will be the biggest fringe event outside official UN COP26 negotiations. It will bring together citizens, scientists, inventors, academics, delegates and journalists from around the world to answer the most urgent question of our time: How do we adapt and thrive on a changing planet?
Click here to register for the New York Times Educate on Climate day on Friday 5 November, for free! Don’t worry if you can’t join live on the day – catch up recordings will be available once you’ve registered so you can watch the sessions at a time that suits you. This one-day event has been designed by educators for educators and will seek to tackle some of the biggest challenges in education. What world will our learners inherit, and how can we prepare them to thrive in it? How should we nurture the next generation of climate leaders? How do we empower students to think critically about the challenges facing our planet, and how can we work hand-in-hand with young people to help shape climate solutions?
Countdown to COP Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) Live sessions being run by Education Scotland in partnership with Founders for Schools and e-Sgoil. Click here to find out more about these live and recorded sessions which provide an insight into a wide variety of green jobs linked to COP themes. Live sessions are running Fridays at 11:00am through to the start of COP26.
Scotland’s Assemblies – click here for more information about these live and recorded assemblies which are a great way to introduce learners at First and Second Level to COP themes.
Education Scotland is asking every school and setting to build a lasting legacy for the COP26 conference by ensuring that all learners in Scotland receive their entitlement to Learning for Sustainability, an entitlement that is embedded within Scotland’s curriculum. Find out about the wide range of resources and professional learning support available through the following pages:
• Learning for Sustainability summary page
• Outdoor learning summary page
• Climate change in Scottish education briefing
To view the recording of the 10.6.21 Education Scotland professional learning session about COP 26 please click here.
To view the Wakelet of resources and ideas created by the Education Scotland LfS team relating to COP 26 click here.Â
To explore how you can combine COP 26 learning contexts with your pupils’ development of STEM skills, click here
To explore the professional learning and education resources provided by our Scotdec partners click here
Learn more about the Children’s Parliament Climate Change group, vision and aims by clicking here.
The EIS are offering a series of twilight professional learning webinars looking at the clinate emergency and the role of education and trade unions in tackling this – click here for more information.
Click here to learn more about the BBC Scotland Climate Tales writing competition for children and young people aged 5-16.
Click here to view an example of the data available about our planet from the NASA website. There is powerful data evidencing the current twin emergencies of climate change and loss of biodiversity including a range of satellite images comparing the same locations over time.
Argyll and Bute Council are hosting their first ever Education Climate Summit on 27th and 28th October – click here to find out more.
Education Scotland colleagues have set up a GLOW Learning for Sustainability Practitioner Network in MS Teams for practitioners/leaders with an interest in LfS and COP 26. Please use this code o4sj08j to join the network. This Glow LfS MS Teams space will be used to host drop-in sessions, provide support and signpost information/resources. This will also be a space for practitioners to connect with like-minded practitioners and share resources, ideas and practice.
Ian Menzies, senior development officer for Learning for Sustainability has created this power point presentation (narrated) which is a wonderfully broad overview of Learning for Sustainability and can be used by whole staff groups in education establishments to refresh and review LfS within their curriculum. Ian and colleagues are encouraging practitioners and senior leaders to use the LfS self-evaluation tooklit (click here ) to inform school improvement planning and help with this process.
And finally – for anyone in need of inspiration to do something about climate change – including those with a passion for sport – take a look at BBC Sport 2050 resources here. These include powerful video clips which explore how predicted impact of climate change will affect the sports we are most passionate about AND how sport is already being affected!
This blog post is the first of a series which will share specific Falkirk education establishment COP 26 teaching and learning. Please comment below or email jane.jackson@falkirk.gov.uk or yvonne.mcblain@falkirk.gov.uk to let us know what you are planning or what we can do to help!
