June 2021 – Learning for Sustainability

Learning for a Sustainable Future – free massive online open course (MOOC)

We are delighted to share with you news of a free online course available in autumn 2021. A trailer for this free course was released last night so is very much hot off the press and it will hopefully give you an idea of what to expect.

Interested in #sustainability? Start your journey towards a sustainable future with these NEW #free #online courses from @edinburghuni @BCScotland @LfSScotland @EducationScot. Starts Autumn 2021. #Learningforasustainablefuture#ThisisLfS@COP26

Over five weeks participants will work together to learn more about current global issues and consider how we can all take action, personally or locally. The course can be done at a time and place of your choosing and will include a mixture of videos, articles and discussions. The course will help you to consider your response to major issues and challenges that face our world and support you to take positive actions towards a sustainable future.

The course has an additional strand for anyone working in education and you may want to include the issues and activities explored into your work with learners. This will tie in perfectly with the #CountdowntoCOP work planned for September.

To keep in touch with developments please join the mailing list for this course.

Get involved with Countdown to COP

The UK will host the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP 26) in Glasgow on 31 October – 12 November. This conference seeks to unite the world to tackle climate change. John Kerry US climate envoy describes it Glasgow is “the last best chance” the world has to come together and avoid the worst environmental consequences for the world.

With this in mind Education Scotland and partners are delighted to work together to help practitioners and learners engage with COP26 through a flexible offer called Countdown to COP.

Here are a few key points to help you get ready to engage with Countdown to COP and how you can become involved:

Countdown to COP will take place 13 September – 1 November.
The 5 themes of Countdown to COP are the same themes the world leaders will discuss when they come together at COP 26 in November. These are nature, energy, clean transport, finance and energy and resilience.
Anyone can become involved with Countdown to COP. The offer is open to learners, practitioners, families and communities and you can engage with it according to needs, interests and time available.
Countdown to COP will include live and pre-recorded material and will feature practice from settings, schools and partners from around Scotland.

For more information, please see the Countdown to Cop poster

If you are a GLOW user, please join the LfS Team in order to keep up to date with information. We would love to hear from you if you have practice you would like to share. Please get in touch with Mairi.Thomson@educationscotland.gov.scot or Mark.Irwin@educationscotland.gov.scot

Learning for Sustainability Awards 2021

In November 2021, the United Nations COP26 Climate Summit will be arriving in Scotland. This will be one of the biggest events of its kind ever to be hosted in our country with 200 world leaders in attendance. There is hope that the event will result in a truly historic agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions and address the climate emergency.

The COP26 Summit provides us with a unique opportunity to recognise and celebrate innovation in the Scottish education system and our commitment to Learning for Sustainability (LfS). Within Scotland’s curriculum, LfS is recognised as an entitlement for all learners and a recent international PISA study showed that our learners are world-leading global citizens.

In partnership with the Daily Record, Education Scotland is delighted to launch the Learning for Sustainability Awards. The Scottish Government has identified People as a key theme for the COP26 Summit and has declared that it wants it to be the most inclusive COP summit ever to be held. This includes a strong focus on young people and on engaging disadvantaged and hard-to-reach communities.

The Learning for Sustainability Awards support these ambitions and will help to recognise the amazing achievements of Scotland’s people and the settings, schools and communities that have demonstrated passion and commitment to building a socially-just, equitable and sustainable world.

To find out more about the award categories and how to nominate, visit the LfS award website: http://www.learningforsustainabilityawards.co.uk/

Learning for Sustainability Conference – launched 4 June

Dumfries & Galloway’s first annual Learning for Sustainability Conference focussing on all aspects of LfS launched on Friday 4 June.

Due to ongoing COVID restrictions this year’s event is an online conference. It is hoped that the keynote addresses, workshops & marketplace will provide practitioners with insight and continued learning in all aspects of Learning for Sustainability.

All conference materials are available from Friday 4 June within Glow. These materials will be available throughout Term 4 and into next session to support all practitioners.

Guidance information on how to access and navigate the conference OneNote:

Learning for Sustainability Conference 2021 Access Guide

Learning for Sustainability Conference 2021 List of Participants