scholarly journals Conceptualization and Evaluation of a School Project on Climate Science in the Context of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mareike Schauss ◽  
Sandra Sprenger

Anchored in the thirteenth of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), climate change is one of the key content areas in education for sustainable development. This evaluation study describes a school project that introduces students to scientific work and, more specifically, to scientific research methods in climate research. Using a pre-post design, the evaluation uses a scale measuring epistemological beliefs, as well as two other scales addressing the relevance of climate change in society and career prospects in the field of climate research. The quantitative questionnaire data indicate an increase in future career aspirations in the field of climate research. The qualitative interview data reveal positive changes in the understanding of science and show that an understanding of the nature of science can be promoted.

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
BARUCH FISCHHOFF

Abstract The behavioral sciences were there at the beginning of the systematic study of climate change. However, in the ensuing quarter century, they largely faded from view, during which time public discourse and policy evolved without them. That disengagement and the recent reengagement suggest lessons for the future role of the behavioral sciences in climate science and policy. Looking forward, the greatest promise lies in projects that make behavioral science integral to climate science by: (1) translating behavioral results into the quantitative estimates that climate analyses need; (2) making climate research more relevant to climate-related decisions; and (3) treating the analytical process as a behavioral enterprise, potentially subject to imperfection and improvement. Such collaborations could afford the behavioral sciences more central roles in setting climate-related policies, as well as implementing them. They require, and may motivate, changes in academic priorities.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Andrijevic ◽  
Jesus Crespo Cuaresma ◽  
Tabea Lissner ◽  
Adelle Thomas ◽  
Carl-Friedrich Schleussner

AbstractGender inequalities are reflected in differential vulnerability, and exposure to the hazards posed by climate change and addressing them is key to increase the adaptive capacities of societies. We provide trajectories of the Gender Inequality Index (GII) alongside the Shared-Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs), a scenario framework widely used in climate science. Here we find that rapid improvements in gender inequality are possible under a sustainable development scenario already in the near-term. The share of girls growing up in countries with the highest gender inequality could be reduced to about 24% in 2030 compared to about 70% today. Largely overcoming gender inequality as assessed in the GII would be within reach by mid-century. Under less optimistic scenarios, gender inequality may persist throughout the 21st century. Our results highlight the importance of incorporating gender in scenarios assessing future climate impacts and underscore the relevance of addressing gender inequalities in policies aiming to foster climate resilient development.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (19) ◽  
pp. 5499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Goritz ◽  
Kolleck ◽  
Jörgens

Education is considered an essential tool for achieving sustainability-related goals. In this regard, education for sustainable development (ESD) and climate change education (CCE) have become prominent concepts. The central characteristics of both concepts influence the non-hierarchical network governance structure that has formed around them: (1) their international origin, (2) the conceptual ambiguity that surrounds them, and (3) the limited implementing power of international organizations who developed these concepts. Hence, networks are essential to ESD and CCE, however, only few studies have used social network analysis (SNA) techniques to analyze their governance structure. The aim of this article is to illustrate how to use SNA, based on Twitter data, as an approach to examine the governance structure that has developed around ESD and CCE. We conduct an illustrative SNA, using Twitter data during three global climate change summits (2015-2017) to examine CCE-specific debates and identify actors exerting the most influence. We find that international organizations and international treaty secretariats are most influential across all years of the analysis and, moreover, are represented most often. These findings show that using SNA based on Twitter data offers promising possibilities to better understand the governance structure and processes around both concepts.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Ojala

SammanfattningKlimatförändringarna är ett av de mest allvarliga hållbarhetsproblem som mänskligheten står inför och är en viktig del av utbildning för hållbar utveckling. Genom dess existentiella, politiska och moraliska/etiska karaktär är klimatfrågan värdeladdad och även förknippad med en mängd känslor. Många människor oroar sig över klimatförändringarna och studier har visat att känslor ofta uppväcks i klassrummet då man undervisar om detta problem och andra hållbarhetsutmaningar. Syftet med denna artikel är att genom en genomgång av teorier och tidigare empiriska studier visa på att inte bara känslor utan också känslohanteringsstrategier är en viktig del av klimatundervisningen och att lärare spelar en viktig roll för om dessa strategier kommer att främja eller hindra läroprocesser inom detta område. Lärare har betydelse både genom att vara förebilder och genom hur de bemöter ungas känslor i klassrummet. I artikeln argumenteras för vikten av att inkludera främjandet av en ”kritisk känslokompetens” dels i lärarutbildningen och dels i utbildning för hållbar utveckling i skolan. Avslutningsvis ges några konkreta exempel på hur detta kan genomföras.Nyckelord: utbildning för hållbar utveckling, klimatförändringar, känslor, känslohanteringsstrategier, meningsfokuserad coping, lärandeEmotions, values and education for a sustainable future:Promoting critical emotional awareness in climate educationAbstractClimate change is one of the most serious sustainability problems facing humanity today. It is also an important part of education for sustainable development. Through its existential, political and moral/ethical nature, the climate issue is value laden and also associated with a multitude of feelings. Many people worry about climate change, and studies have shown that emotions are often evoked in the classroom when teaching about this problem and other sustainability challenges. The purpose of this article is to show, through a review of theories and previous empirical studies, that not only emotions but also emotion regulation strategies are an important part of climate change education and that teachers play a vital role in whether these strategies will promote or hinder learning processes. Teachers are important both by being role models and by how they respond to the feelings of young people in the classroom. The article argues for the importance of including and promoting "critical emotional awareness" in teacher education and in teaching about education for sustainable development in schools. In the end of the article some concrete examples of how this can be done are presented.Keywords: education for sustainable development, climate change, emotions, emotion regulation strategies, meaning-focused coping, learning


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 52
Author(s):  
Helen Foley

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is seen as fundamental in the shift to realising sustainability. Unfortunately, the integration of ESD, especially in higher education is poor. An important question therefore is, what are the barriers preventing the integration of ESD? This paper explores key barriers preventing the integration of ESD. Additionally, it is emphasised in this paper that the dominant social paradigm fundamentally shapes and reinforces ESD barriers. It is argued here that addressing ESD barriers, particularly the dominant social paradigm, is fundamental to the integration of ESD. Within the context of anthropogenic climate change, resource overuse, water stress and wealth inequality, addressing ESD barriers is now imperative.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Irene Muller ◽  
Lesley Wood

The United Nations Children's Fund 2008 report, Our Climate, Our Children, Our Responsibility, warned that children will suffer most from the effects of climate change. Environmental education is one way to prepare children to cope and enable them to educate their families and friends about the need to act now to minimise the danger climate change poses. This article reports on findings from a participatory action research project aimed at integrating education for sustainable development into the Grade 7 curriculum, with a specific focus on climate change. Critical participatory action research has a transformative intent, engaging participants in learning to cultivate a sense of purpose and increase their capacity to solve local problems. Learner responses to qualitative questionnaires and recorded discussions related to the Do One Thing (DOT) strategy were used to determine learning about climate change and enable both learners and community members to identify action for change. Thematic coding was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the DOT strategy in increasing awareness of agency and resultant learning. The findings indicate that not only did the learners gain knowledge about the causes and consequences of climate change but the potential of the learners and community members to identify possible actions for change was increased as well. We provide suggestions as to how teachers can use the DOT strategy as part of an action research approach to integrating environmental education for sustainable development in order to raise awareness of local environmental threats and encourage learners and their families to behave in a more environmentally friendly way. The explanation of the research process offered in this article also highlights how participatory learning activities can help engage learners as active agents in their own learning.


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