SScotCHEM CLIMATE CHANGE CHALLENGE: Scientists, Schools & Sustainability

Chemistry Week (1-12 November) is an annual celebration of the chemical sciences. This year, to coincide with the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow on 1-12 November 2021, Chemistry Week will last for the full 12 days of the Conference.

The ScotCHEM CLIMATE CHANGE CHALLENGE: Scientists, Schools & Sustainability will align with the activities of COP26 and Chemistry Week 2021 – with a theme of sustainability.

ScotCHEM represents chemistry research in Scotland – across universities
and connecting with industry, government and, most importantly, education.

ScotCHEM invite entries for a challenge to prepare public engagement material aimed at primary school pupils in Scotland.  Centred around the issue of sustainability and climate change, this material should promote the role of chemistry in driving solutions to climate change as well as promote chemistry as a science and as a career for primary school aged children.

The outcome of the challenge is to provide a sound scientific basis to better understand climate change and advances towards sustainability, for primary school pupils.

Creating a link to COP26 will provide opportunities for engagement with this major event being hosted in Scotland.

The project will also provide on-going curriculum-linked resources that can be used well beyond the duration of the challenge itself, thereby creating a longer-lasting legacy and extending the reach of the activity.

Through the national remit of ScotCHEM and by working closely with Education Scotland, we hope to increase the number of chemists actively participating in meaningful school engagement across Scotland.

The challenge is open to researchers within ScotCHEM member departments, at any career level (PhD to Professor).

The following topics/questions have been identified as being of particular interest and relevance to primary school pupils regarding climate change.

• What is climate change – busting the myths?
• What am I, as a researcher, doing to tackle climate change?
• What can you, as a young person, do to help tackle climate change?

Submissions should be either a short (3-5 minute) video or short PowerPoint presentation that answers one or more of these questions, keeping the overall theme of sustainability in mind.

Submissions should also align with the Scottish curriculum.

Winning entries will be showcased throughout Scotland, via Education Scotland and ScotCHEM channels, to primary schools and to the public during Chemistry Week 2021.

The winners will also receive a £1000 prize (one per theme) which can be used for the following:
• Further public engagement activities related to chemistry and climate change
• Developing new research under the theme of sustainability
• Improving the sustainability of their research

In addition, any engagement resources judged to be excellent by our panel will be brought together to create a resource for Scottish schools to access when talking about sustainability and climate change. These resources will be made available through Education Scotland’s online platform as well as ScotCHEM’s YouTube channel.

The challenge is open to all postgraduate researchers and staff within ScotCHEM member departments, at any career stage.

Deadline for Challenge submissions 5pm Friday 15th October 2021.
Review of challenge entries by schools 21st – 28th October
Challenge winners announced 29th October
Showcasing of winners during Chemistry
Week 2021 1st – 12th November

Entry forms should be submitted by email to scotchem@st-andrews.ac.uk
Entries must be received by 1700 Friday 15th October.
Enquiries to Dr Alan Wiles (Director of Operations ScotCHEM)
scotchem@st-andrews.ac.uk

COP26 Drop in session LfS Practitioner network in Glow

Join us for the COP26 Drop in session in the LfS Practitioner network in Glow on 9th September.

Participants need to be members of the LfS Practitioner network to take part.

The link for the session is posted below  (Glow log in needed).

The session begins at 5 pm.

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Learning for Sustainability Awards – Nominations open until 12th September

The United Nations COP26 Climate Summit is being hosted in Glasgow from 01-12 November with around 200 world leaders expected to attend. There is hope that the event will result in a truly historic agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions and tackle the climate emergency.

In the run up to COP26, Education Scotland and the Daily Record are encouraging nominations for the Learning for Sustainability Awards. Learning for Sustainability is recognised as an entitlement for all learners in Scotland’s curriculum and a recent PISA study showed that our learners are world-leading global citizens. We want to shout about this and celebrate the commitment and passion of Scotland’s young people, practitioners and communities to building a socially-just, sustainable and equitable world. We are particularly keen to encourage nominations from disadvantaged and hard-to-reach communities to help make this the most inclusive COP event ever.

There will be five winners in each of the six award categories: youth, practitioner, leadership, learning community, educational supporter and community learning and development awards. Visit the Learning for Sustainability Awards website to find out more or to apply: https://www.learningforsustainabilityawards.co.uk/

Those submitting early nominations may also be featured in the Daily Record’s national media outlets and shared with its readers around the world:

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/special-features/glasgow-primary-children-help-regenerate-24618361

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/special-features/couple-repurposing-garbage-scotlands-rivers-24516512

For more support preparing for COP26:

Communities Stories Fund – Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022

The Communities Stories Fund has opened for applications, as part of Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022 (YS22).

The fund is directed at providing an opportunity for communities across Scotland to put on events that tell the stories that are unique or important to them.

With £300,000 available for awards of between £500 and £5,000, the fund will provide an opportunity for new, creative events, activities and programming. Applicants are invited to respond to any of the five, cross cutting Year of Stories 2022 programme strands:

  1. Iconic Stories & Storytellers
  2. New Stories
  3. Scotland’s People and Places
  4. Local Tales and Legends
  5. Inspired by Nature.

The deadline for applications for this round of funding is 1st October 2021. A further round of funding will open on 24 January 2022.

Full details of the criteria and how to apply can be found here: https://www.museumsgalleriesscotland.org.uk/funding/year-of-stories-2022-community-stories-fund/

Applications must be made through the Museums Galleries Scotland website, and applicants must first register online to create an account before making an application. If applicants have any questions in relation to their application they should get in touch with the MGS team by contacting grants@museumsgalleriesscotland.org.uk

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

 

 

 

Young Citizens – Resources to support a mock G7 Summit

The 47th G7 summit is scheduled for 11–13 June 2021 in the United Kingdom while it holds the presidency of the G7. The attendees will include the leaders of the seven G7 member states as well as representatives of the European Union.  

What is the Mock G7 Programme?

Aimed at students aged 14-18 years this resource will provide teachers with the tools they need to run an immersive, active learning programme in the classroom around the G7 2021.  Over three lessons students will explore what the G7 is before being challenged to take part in a mock G7 Summit.

  • Part 1 – What is the G7/Y7? A lesson plan to introduce the concept of the G7 and Y7 to the students
  • Part 2 – Research – students are split into 7 different groups (each group representing a different country) and then are allocated a role (world leader, Sherpa, Finance Minister and Youth Minister). They research their country’s position on ‘ocean action’, using ‘country packs’ and videos from real-world diplomats
  • Part 3 – Negotiation exercise – the students take part in a simulated negotiation exercise to mirror the G7 Ministerial/Leader level dialogues. At the end of this, they produce a ‘communique’ of their top three recommendations on ‘ocean action’.

Impact

The Future Leaders Network and Young Citizens piloted the pack in 5 schools across the country in April, and the feedback was hugely positive:

  • 100% of the teachers stated that they would recommend this resource to a colleague.
  • 100% of the teachers either ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’ with the statement ‘the learning objectives from the lesson were met by the majority of students’.
  • 100% of the teachers reported that through participating in the programme students gained the following skills and benefits: communication, presenting, listening, debating, team working and critical thinking skills.

How to get involved

If you’d like to host a Mock G7 between 7 – 25 June (or even better, alongside the G7 itself, from 11 – 13 June), all you need to do is register your interest here: Mock G7 Pack | Young Citizens. The pack is provided to them absolutely free of charge, as the development of the materials was funded by the G7 Outreach Programme Budget.

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