What if… we wanted to better equip young people to address climate change?

What if… we wanted to better equip young people to address climate change?

Environmental degradation is the global challenge of our times, and the sheer scale of the task facing humanity is a growing feature of public debate. Following international treaties on climate change, the UK Government has made clear its own ambition for reducing carbon emissions. Commentators and campaigners have been more explicit about the need to recalibrate fundamentally our relationship with nature and the profound implications for our current way of life. As demonstrated vividly by the climate strikes among school pupils, many young people feel passionately about ‘saving the planet’, but this cause is also a source of anxiety and even a sense of helplessness. In these times of ‘climate emergency’, is the National Curriculum and the knowledge and skills it seeks to develop fit-for-purpose? What contribution, if any, should campaigning organisations and their materials make to the delivery of the curriculum on this matter? How do schools avoid simply adding to young people’s climate anxiety in the face of such a momentous challenge?

Please put your comments and questions to our experts.

This is a virtual event that you can access online via Slido. The recording will be made available on the UCL Institute of Education (IOE) website following the event.

Speakers include:

• Douglas Bourn is Professor of Development Education and Co-Director of the Development Education Research Centre, IOE
• Laura Kravac, Head of Programmes, Action for Conservation
• Miranda Lowe, Principal Curator and Museum Scientist, Natural History Museum, London
• Alex Standish, Associate Professor of Geography Education, IOE

Chair: Sue Rogers, Director (Interim), IOE

Access profile

• This event will take place online via Slido.
• A link to the event will be sent to you prior to the event start time.
• Questions for our speakers will be taken via the Q&A feature on Slido and on Twitter using the hashtag #IOEDebates.
• A subtitled version of this event will be published on the IOE website following the event.

The aim is to make the events as inclusive as possible so if you have any accessibility requirements or enquiries that are not covered in the above access profile please contact the events team at [email protected]. If you could contact the organiser allowing for as much time as possible before the event they will be able to ensure where required the appropriate measures are taken.

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Follow the organiser online and submit questions to our speakers using #IOEDebates