Young people are worried about the climate emergency; many are suffering from eco-anxiety and teachers are often not sure how to respond. The case studies here are designed to present a different approach to the gloom and doom that is often prevalent in the media – more a case of gloom and bloom.
The work is designed as a way to involve the young people in conversations about what the future might look like if we make the changes necessary to mitigate climate change. Some young people feel betrayed and abandoned by adults and it is important for them to know that many adults are working really hard on researching and implementing the changes we need to make. Now more than ever young people have access to information about the world and have many research skills.
The case studies have been prepared by scientists and educators to guide students into the solutions. Each case study has a research briefing that provides links to trustworthy and reliable YouTube videos and other online sources of information. Together the case studies convey a feeling of hope for the future which all of us need in the face of the climate emergency.
Working with partners from RICE (Reducing Industrial Carbon Emissions) we devised a one-day conference for the Youth Councils of Wales to give young people some sense of hope that we do have the knowledge, understanding, skills and capacity to become Zero Carbon in Britain and that we can implement the ideas discussed here to help mitigate the climate catastrophe.
Teachers can choose to replicate a one-day conference with young people as we did, or each case-study can be a stand-alone activity that can be completed as part of classroom lessons. The content would fit well with geography, science, English, social studies, business studies or media studies. Each proposed solution to the climate emergency has links to YouTube videos for research and some online publications (see each of the briefs). We downloaded all the videos in advance onto laptops to ensure there were no problems in finding the resources needed to complete the challenge on the day. Each group had a maximum of 10 minutes for their presentation.
Using the materials for a one-day conference
Our conference was attended by 70 young people, aged 14-18, from Youth Councils across Wales. We prepared six case studies to illustrate some of the changes that can be made in the UK if we are to rise to the climate emergency. We considered different aspects of land use, travel and housing. We put the young people into 6 groups and each group were given a research brief (see below). During the morning they completed the research as guided on the brief and created a presentation of their proposed solution for a ‘Dragon’s Den’ team. Each presentation was judged on its persuasiveness and how well it demonstrated Holistic Sustainability – that means emphasising how the proposed solution is good for the environment, the economy and social life. Taken together the six case studies give a good understanding of how we need to transform our way of life if we are to meet the demand for Zero Carbon Britain.