Declaring a Climate Crisis at Woodbridge High School, Redbridge

Across the UK awareness around climate change is growing and following recent school strikes and demonstrations some of our schools have declared a climate emergency and began to examine what they can do about the scale of crisis we face. In this piece we learn how one London secondary school has responded.

Context:

The overwhelming majority of the scientific community acknowledge that addressing the climate crisis must become the defining issue of our time, and that on current trajectories there is little chance of meeting the Paris COP target of keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees of preindustrial levels. Furthermore, “if we do not change course by 2020, we risk missing the point where we can avoid runaway climate change, with disastrous consequences for people and all the natural systems that sustain us”. (UN general secretary Antonio Guterre, September 2018)

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10 Oct 2018

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      string(3036) "this as a quick and intense introduction to key issuessuch as poverty, policing, ageing, climate change and energyuse. Each issue only features around a dozen articles, whichcan be read relatively quickly, and range from light-heartednews pieces to more in-depth analysis. Under the topic ofenergy use, for example, you will find: plans for the world’smost innovative power plant, a man-made tidal lagoon in theUK’s very own city of Swansea; how one zoo in Detroit willtransform human and animal waste into electricity to powertheir veterinary hospital; what other cities can learn from thefailure of London’s Low Emission Zone; and more.A word of caution: the site does allow comments, so youmight want to do a quick check before letting students loose.CityLab(citylab.com) Key Stages 3-4Maisie GouldAs a charity that champions and supports pioneers insustainable energy, Ashden is a very useful source ofinformation and resources on a variety of highly innovativetechnologies. The Ashden vision is sustainable energy for all,so there’s an emphasis here on technology that would helppeople living in remote areas, not just those in cities.It’s easy to forget that many people don’t have access toenergy. In fact, 1.5 billion people lack access to modern formsof electricity, while some three billion (that’s more than a thirdof the world’s entire population!) cook on smoky, inefficientstoves or fires, causing dangerous indoor air pollution andmore than 4.3 million premature deaths a year. Part ofdeveloping our own sustainable solutions as developedcountries, then, should be ensuring these technologies reachthose that need them the most.Head to Ashden’s resources section where you’ll finda selection of useful fact files on different sustainabletechnologies, ranging from the potential of biogas and biomass,to wind and micro-hydro power, to solar home systems forhouses ‘off the grid’. Each fact file includes a brief introductionand a series of slick drop-down menus explaining how thetechnology works, how it is used, what the benefits are, howmuch it costs, whereand how widespread itis currently, plus plansfor future development.A s e l e c t i o n o fp h o t o g r a p h s a n dvideos provide furtherclarity.Also available hereis a series of pagesfor schools , whichfeatures a range of energy-related activities, supported bydownloadable teacher notes, PowerPoint presentationsand films (the films can also be used on their own using thecharity’s helpful quick activities and key questions guide).These activities are cross-curricular in nature, and look to beeasily adaptable to older and younger children.Also worth mentioning is the ‘Taking action’ page forschools, which provides practical advice for school staff andgovernors on reducing fuel bills, cutting carbon and engagingwith the children and the wider community to make a realdifference to the future of this planet.Ashden(ashden.org/resources) Key Stages 1-3http://www.citylab.comhttp://www.ashden.org/resources"
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Creative Teaching & Learning

The future is just a click away

11 Feb 2016

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