EcoSchools Canada teams up with the Climate Action Project

PRESS RELEASE: EcoSchools Canada joins global non-profit to support students from over 125 countries in their climate change efforts, gains support from world leaders

“Partnering with the Climate Action Project is an opportunity to extend high-quality climate change resources to schools here in Canada. The climate crisis can only be solved by working together across nations, cultures, and languages; the Climate Action Project provides an amazing a strong foundation for meaningful action throughout the education sector and beyond.”

– Lindsay Bunce, Executive Director, EcoSchools Canada

In its fourth year, the project has gained support from world leaders and global experts with endorsements from HH the Dalai Lama, Dr. Jane Goodall, Austrian President Van der Bellen, Irish President Michael Higgins, and Ziauddin Yousafzai, father of Malala Yousafzai. In Canada, the project has also been endorsed by Federal Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard, Jonathan Wilkinson. Any student, anywhere on the planet is invited to be a part of the project created by the education non-profit Take Action Global in collaboration with WWF International, NASA, and the United Nations. The project is further endorsed by the European Commission and Ministries of Education and Environment from 15 countries, including Canada, South Africa, the Philippines, Belgium, Croatia, Venezuela, and Argentina. By working with governments and leading agencies and organizations, the project is designed to bring about change at levels of nations with aims for mandated climate education and bans of single use plastics.

The project designers—a global team of hundreds of volunteer educators—are committed to providing students with access to action despite challenges of COVID-19, reliable wireless connection, and inequities in regard to technology and resources. As part of the project, teachers receive high-quality professional development offered by world-renowned education leaders, and all classrooms have access to the complete curriculum which is co-authored by WWF and translated in over 10 languages.

Over the course of the six weeks, students will work to develop their own solutions to climate change after building foundational knowledge, considering bias and scientific evidence, establishing trusted sources, and creating personal connections with the work of environmental justice.

Classrooms will expand perspectives of the climate crisis beyond the walls of schools through intergenerational interviews and in class-to-class virtual exchange experiences working with other youth who may look and live differently from them. Students will progress through hands-on learning experiences to gain understandings of causes, effects, and solutions as both global collaborators and also knowledge constructors. The project is designed to inspire questions as opposed to simply providing answers. Students will design, invent, campaign, and share their stories with the world through use of technology and creative expression of ideas.

The Climate Action Project will conclude with a week of action and Climate Action Day, a global online celebration of learning to be held on November 5, 2020. During the online event, classrooms will join to hear from presenters, including primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall, Princess Esmerelda of Belgium, explorer Céline Cousteau, NASA Head of Mars Mission Dr. Rick Davis, and experts from WWF, UN, and UNEP. Participating students will also have the opportunity to apply to join as speakers to share their solutions with the world.

Teachers are invited to join the Climate Action Project and registration is open for all on the Climate Action Project website.

Contacts

Galen Drinnan, Communications Manager, EcoSchools Canada
outreach@ecoschools.ca
www.ecoschools.ca

Additional resources

• Access the Climate Action Project image library

Quotes in support of the Climate Action Project

“Climate change is real. All around the world where the patterns are changing and affecting people, animals and the environment. To tackle this growing crisis we have to take action. We have to change mindsets.”

– Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, Founder the Jane Goodall Institute & UN Messenger of Peace

“Education is key to changing students’ behaviour and societies’ mindset. For this we need to understand that students can do so much more than memorizing facts about climate and environment. They have the capacity to solve real-world solutions and take action for a better world.”

– Koen Timmers, Founder Climate Action Project

“Climate change is the greatest environmental challenge that the world has ever faced, but we can take active steps. Whatever happens in the next decade, the future is going to look very different, and it is essential that young people are prepared for that future, and given the opportunity to shape the world that they will inherit. This includes understanding how we must work with nature if we want to achieve a healthy and sustainable world.”

– Cecily Yip, Global Education Coordinator, WWF

“When it comes to climate change, young people are using their creativity and doing things for the common good. They are taking matters into their own hands to protect people, the planet, and their future.”

– Jennifer Morgan, Executive Director Greenpeace International

“This new generation is moving forward in climate action pursuits and impacting international dialogue on societal issues and policy. Through the use of networks and compelling messages of solidarity and resilience, these young activists are taking causes beyond the classroom to social media, city streets, and the steps of government buildings. As citizens of the world, they are demonstrating that an individual person can make a positive impact on climate and the environment. They are mighty and fearless and serve as voices of hope–and, the whole world is watching them.”

– Dr. Jennifer Williams, Co-founder Take Action Global, Climate Action Project author

Key project points

• Planting of over 1,000,000 trees
• Live interactions with NASA astronauts to understand lessons of climate from learnings from Mars
• Messages to Mars
• COVID-19-proof learning: flexible options for teachers, including face-to-face learning experiences and distance learning options
• Open source lessons: create vertical gardens from trask, build solar lights with water bottles, make bioplastics from milk and vinegar
• Curriculum co-authored and endorsed by WWF

Innovations and inventions created by past Climate Action Project classrooms

• Students in Malawi created a program to plant 60 million trees (with presidential support)
• Irish students brought national change with the green dots after visiting the Minister of Environment
• American students developed a solar suitcase which now offers free electricity to a Kenyan school
• Canadian students 3D-printed coral reefs and made edible water bubbles
• Indian and Argentinian students developed their own bioplastics and created water bubbles
• Nigerian students created small biogas plants which they brought to their communities
• Indonesian students developed eco-bricks

Project endorsements from public figures

• Dr. Jane Goodall (YouTube)
• HRH Princess Esmeralda of Belgium (YouTube)
• David Jensen – UN Environment Programme (YouTube)
• Kumi Naidoo – Secretary General Amnesty International (YouTube)
• Ziauddin Yousafzai – father Malala (YouTube)
• Jordan Naidoo – UNESCO (YouTube)
• Bhumi Pednekar, Bollywood actress (YouTube)
• Matt Larsen-Daw – Head Education WWF (YouTube)
• Further endorsements are available on the Climate Action Project website