Climate change education for social transformation: Greening teacher training and education systems’ capacities

Following the success of the first webinar series on greening education policies and curriculum on the road to COP27 and the second series on greening schools on the road to COP28, UNESCO and UNFCCC are launching a third series of six conversations on climate change education for social transformation, from May to December 2024, on greening teacher training and education systems' capacities on the road to COP 29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The conversations will delve into the challenges at all levels of education, including early childhood, primary, secondary, and tertiary, from the diverse perspectives of teachers, educators, young people, and policymakers as well as explore concrete solutions to greening teacher training and education systems’ capacities in order to deliver quality climate change education. The webinars feed into the ACE Hub, an initiative launched by UNFCCC and the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia in 2022 to foster education and public awareness, training, public access to information and participation in climate action.

Background

It is increasingly recognized that education is crucial for addressing the climate emergency through building capacities for mitigation, adaptation, resilience, and sustainable development. However, recent UNESCO findings1 show that around half of the 100 countries reviewed had no climate change mentioned in their national curriculum frameworks. While 95% of surveyed teachers felt teaching climate change is important, less than 30% felt ready to teach about climate change in relation to their local context. 70% of youth surveyed said that they cannot explain climate change or only in broad principles and are frightened about their future.

Building on this, the Greening Education Partnership was launched at the UN Transforming Education Summit in September 2022 as a global initiative to deliver strong, coordinated, and comprehensive action. The Partnership has been supporting countries in accelerating the transformation of education by integrating climate change education and climate action at its core. As an open and inclusive community of practice, which currently includes over 1,200 organizations and 86 member states, the Partnership aims to “get every learner climate-ready” through four pillars of action: Greening Schools, Greening Curriculum, Greening Teacher Training and Education System’s Capacities, and Greening Communities.

The third season of webinar series will focus on the third pillar of the Partnership ‘Greening Teacher Training and Education System’s Capacities’ which aims to strengthen policy, planning, financing and the capacities of teachers, educators, and policymakers on how to integrate climate change and sustainability into teaching and learning to transform education systems to become climate-resilient and sustainable.

Access the Concept Note here.

The webinars are conducted in English. Live interpretation in French and Spanish will be provided. Written interactions during the webinar are available in English, French, and Spanish.

"The time to learn and act for our planet is now!"

Climate Change Education for Social Transformation

Climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution have led to a planetary crisis that requires an urgent response. UN Secretary-General António Guterres calls the climate crisis ‘a battle for our lives’, as we struggle to transform our societies to reach the 1.5-degree path recommended by the Paris Agreement. In an increasingly complex and interconnected world with a real, existential threat such as climate change, there is a growing call for education to enable individuals, as agents of change, to acquire knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes that lead to for the green transition of our societies, as enshrined in SDG Target 4.7, and, indeed, in the entire 2030 Agenda. 

To respond to the urgent calls for action from young people to ensure every learner is equipped to tackle climate change and to promote sustainable development, as enshrined in the Sustainable Development Goal Target 4.7, UNESCO and UNFCCC are launching a series of monthly conversations on climate change education for social transformation. This series builds on the success of the ‘On the road to Berlin’ series of 7 online workshops between 2020-2021 which brought together over 15,000 stakeholders to discuss cutting-edge ESD issues. 

UNESCO-UNFCCC's Webinar Series consists of 8 webinars for this season, one on the last Tuesday of every month from April to November, on the road to COP27 to be held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt from 7 to 18 November 2022. 

The series is organized as part of the Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) Hub, promoted by the German regional government of North Rhine-Westphalia in to foster education and public awareness, training, public access to information, and participation in climate change action.

Tune into the first season, dedicated to the goal of greening every education policy and curriculum to be climate ready. Each episode will explore the critical role of climate change education, and how to harness its transformative power, in leading up to COP27.