Climate Change and Sustainable Development Goals: Small Acts Create Huge Impact

What is the highlight of this course?
Climate change poses a major threat to humanity. Researchers and communities have shown us that climate change affects where people can live, grow food, maintain infrastructure, and be healthy. Climate change is connected with many global issues, including biodiversity loss, economic development, poverty reduction, and global peace and security. Government policies and technological solutions are not enough to solve this complex challenge. We need major changes to the ways we think and act.
Even though it may seem as if the impact of climate change is still far away, the planet is already suffering from existing and irreversible damage. The way we treat the planet and its natural resources can have significant impact on our daily lives. Even if we don’t immediately notice the effects, it will have huge repercussions on the lives of future generations.
How Schools are going to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals?
Around the world, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has emerged as a cornerstone for tackling climate change. Based on the idea that we all have a role to play in addressing global challenges, ESD helps us develop the knowledge, skills, and values we need to take action for healthier, fairer, more environmentally sustainable society.
More and more schools are adopting whole-school approaches to ESD and climate action. The basic idea of the whole-school approach is that all members of the school community - not just one or two teachers and/ or students - need to be involved in order to address diverse education and sustainability issues. These issues include reducing the environmental impact of our schools, reorienting what and how students learn, and making stronger links between our schools and communities.
Climate Literacy
Climate change education is central in making people sensitive to the global epidemic currently underway. Termed ‘climate literacy’, it helps foster an understanding of climate change and awareness to the current state of the world. It is important to gain knowledge how to introduce climate change and sustainable development goals in education curricula. Climate literacy requires a practical education. This, in turn, needs ample resources and coordination among different teachers in schools. Teachers must be trained in climate awareness first, so they can impart awareness to their students.
Objectives:
To develop greater competence in:
- Having sense of belonging in the school community;
- Applying more meaningful, relevant, and hands-on learning opportunities;
- Achieve significant ecological footprint reductions;
- Developing greener and more beautiful school grounds;
- Efficient using of resources;
- Gaining access to teaching resources, expert knowledge, and financial support;
- Encouraging students to search and make use of resources beyond the classroom and the school;
- Using new technologies which are rich sources of learning and learning materials, and can generate ideas and solutions;
- Achieving agreement on environmental, social, cultural, and economic values in the school community;
- Participating in making decisions about sustainable development issues and projects;
- Teaching lessons that help students develop knowledge about sustainable development and climate change, the skills to investigate different possibilities for action, and the resolve to take action;
- Urging everyone in school community to take part in making the school sustainable
- Reinforcing expectations for sustainable, climate-friendly behavior by celebrating appropriate actions and treating others with respect;
- Fostering interdisciplinary learning about sustainable development by transforming school timetables;
- Carrying out assessments (such as waste and energy audits) to measure school’s progress in becoming more sustainable;
- Mentoring younger students who are just learning how to take part in climate action;
- Enhance creativity and social environmental responsibility;
- Acquire shared leadership and group integrity;
- Identifying and promoting learning resources to support Education for Sustainable Development (ESD);
Integrating ESD into the curricula;
- Strengthening cooperation on ESD regionally, nationally and internationally;
- Providing practical tools to deal with difficult environmental problems at school;
- Integrating students’ critical thinking and creative behaviour about the climate crisis into classroom activities;
- Discover effective tools that can help teachers to address the climate crisis in the classroom;
- Identifying local sustainable development issues that the school could tackle;
- Sharing technical expertise about sustainable development and climate change.