Education against Climate Change - Countdown to Copenhagen

Education against Climate Change will see students and staff across the country adapting their scheduled lessons to incorporate climate change for one day, with workshops and discussions within the week 30th November to 4th December, leading to the climate change march on 5th December in London.

By doing this you will part of a national protest where faculties, departments and even whole universities and colleges will be using the scheduled timetables with scheduled lecturers and adjusting the lesson to have a climate change slant, for example, business and climate change with an emphasis on the importance of the Copenhagen talks in December. It could include the significance of the Vestas factory occupation, the influence the student body has and the affect sociologically if abrupt climate change happens.

This event will take place in the week leading up to the London climate change march on the 5th December.

To date the Universities and college union (UCU) nationally have backed the campaign and will dedicate space on their website to included resources, references, sample lesson plans and teachers packs, in order to enable lecturers and teachers to engage with the campaign with ease.
National Union of Students, the Trade Union Group, Unison and other campaigning organisations are also being contacted.

With the support of national UCU, local groups can be contacted for support, advice and guidance.

At institutions where consultation between staff and students has not begun, interested parties should start with a meeting between key people who will push the campaign and negotiate and encourage staff and students to engage with the campaign.
This group can discuss possibilities, co-ordinate events, delegate tasks and discuss ways of drawing more key people in to the campaign locally. It is important that meetings and progress is fed back to the campaign nationally in order to build momentum and encourage other people to start something within their institution.

Key people within institutions that should be approached can include environmental managers, green groups and generally sympathetic staff and students, as these will be the ones with the most enthusiasm and support in order to get an initial meeting started.

The students union in many institutions could play an important role in passing motions to support the campaign, by approaching the academic (and if available the environmental) officer as they can provide a role in supporting students and staff through their internal and external networks.

In order to keep the campaign democratic and to have least disruption to students, once the behind the scenes work has been put in place, it can be taken to each class involved and put out to a vote. Someone involved in the campaign can explain to the class the importance of taking part and that this is part of a national campaign and let the class decide if they would like their regular lesson or to be part of the protest.

In the short term this campaign will highlight the importance and influence on future environmental policy that the Copenhagen talks will have, and engage a layer of people who may not be involved in the climate movement, as well as paving the way in a direct way for future changes of incorporating sustainability into the curriculum.

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You can download this information as a .pdf fo print out, or alternatively a shortened version is available as a flier.

Some teaching materials and other useful internet links

1. General
Wellcome Climate Health Impact game
http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/Education-resources/Teaching-and-education/Big...

BBC Climate change scenario predictions website
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/climateexperiment/

Basics of climate change from Open2.net. Needs flashplayer
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/climateexperiment/

General briefing on climate change by People & Planet
http://peopleandplanet.org/resources/climatechangebriefing/

Open University economic impact page
http://www.open2.net/sciencetechnologynature/worldaroundus/economic_impa...

The climate bill summary from People & Planet
http://greenjobs.itcilo.org/pilot-training-1/distance-learning-package-a...

Calculate your carbon footprint on
http://www.carbonneutralcalculator.com/myfootprint.aspx

2. Green energy
Open University Green Energy pages
http://www.open2.net/sciencetechnologynature/worldaroundus/greening_elec...

Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute podcasts
http://www.eci.ox.ac.uk/podcasts/index.php

Defra’s Securing the Future report
http://www.defra.gov.uk/sustainable/government/publications/uk-strategy/

3. Green Jobs
ILO’s training materials on Green Jobs produced by their training centre
http://greenjobs.itcilo.org/pilot-training-1/distance-learning-package-a...

New Economics Foundation’s Green New Deal proposal
http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/greennewdealneededforuk210708.aspx

UNEP’s Green jobs report
http://www.unep.org/labour_environment/PDFs/Greenjobs/UNEP-Green-Jobs-Re...

Obama’s green recovery
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/obamas-green-jobs-revol...

Commercial agencies for green jobs
http://www.greenjobsonline.co.uk/
http://www.greenjobs.co.uk/
http://www.greendirectory.net/Jobs/latest.cfm
http://www.greenenergyjobs.com/

4. Videos and clips
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWfb0VMCQHE
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/climate-shorts.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/climateexperiment/
http://www.theplastiki.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl4lUSCec2s
http://www.wearewhatwedo.org/
http://www.globalreboot.org/english/english.html