GLOBAL SURVEY LAUNCHED TO SUPPORT EDUCATION FOR CLIMATE ACTION

Washington, D.C. (October 11, 2022)- Take Action Global, Shift Insight, and EARTHDAY.ORG announce a partnership to create and launch an open, global survey for educators. The survey is an opportunity to share experiences and perspectives on teaching and learning about climate change and education for climate action around the world. The survey seeks to uncover successful strategies the global education community is using to overcome knowledge, institutional, and cultural barriers to teaching and learning about climate change. The survey design drew upon our shared institution knowledge with insights and consultations from more than 25 education professionals from 14 countries representing classroom teachers, labor unions, nonprofit organizations, governments, and researchers. The global survey seeks to uncover the views of practitioners, decision makers, and researchers across the stakeholder spectrum. Results of the survey will add to the growing body of knowledge on climate action education and will provide recommendations for practice for PreK12 teaching and learning and directions for future research. 

According to the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, “The world is facing a grave climate emergency. Climate disruption is happening now, and it is happening to all of us. (…) We are in a battle for our lives. But it is a battle we can win.” Education is a vital resource as humanity pushes toward climate action. Speaking at the launch of the Transforming Education Summit, Guterres went on to share, “if there was one seed to prevent climate change…. it was education.” Furthermore, a recent UNESCO survey found that while 95% of surveyed primary and secondary teachers felt that teaching climate change is important, less than 30% expressed a readiness to teach it. 

The survey will help policymakers and education professionals better understand:

1. The barriers and opportunities to implementing high quality education for climate action

2. Strategies for removing barriers and amplifying opportunities for education for climate action 

3. Ways to better support peers and colleagues in their mission to teach about climate change 

4. Global networks and resources to facilitate and develop education for climate action in classrooms, schools, or communities. 

Click here to take the survey: https://bit.ly/educlimatesurvey 

Take Action Global is a leading education non-profit organization committed to climate education for all and equitable educational learning opportunities for global educators and K-12 students. TAG has served over 2,700,000 students and educators from 149 countries through online learning programs and has supported over 83,000 tree plantings. Programs include Climate Action Project, Climate Action Schools, and Climate Action Day. Learn more at www.takeactionglobal.org.

EARTHDAY.ORG’s mission is to diversify, educate, and activate the environmental movement worldwide. Growing out of the first Earth Day (1970), EARTHDAY.ORG is the world’s largest recruiter to the environmental movement. Today, more than 1 billion people in more than 192 countries participate in Earth Day activities each year. Learn more at: https://www.earthday.org.

Shift Insight is a UK-based market and social research agency with a global reach, experts in speaking to diverse audiences about education and sustainability, developing research and generating insight in these areas. One of the first B Corp market research agencies in the UK, Shift is passionate about using its twin specialisms of education and sustainability to work on collaborative projects which make an impact in addressing the Climate Emergency. 

“Educators work everyday with communities and institutions at the front lines of the climate crisis. Around the world, educators continue to develop and implement remarkable and innovative solutions to engage learners and families in positive climate action. Through this survey, we hope to learn from the educator community to network knowledge, skills, and resources to teach, engage, and drive worldwide environmental actions.” 

-Matthew Aruch, PhD Director of Global Education 

“We see educators and students leading the charge to protect the planet through climate action. Classrooms are moving forward with hope and optimism, and instead of focusing on barriers and challenges, they are united in efforts with emphasis on collaboration and collective impact. We see this survey as an opportunity to document the diverse experiences and perspectives within the global education community and as a supportive resource to guide the way forward, adding to the growing body of knowledge on climate action education.” 

-Jennifer Williams, EdD Co-Executive Director, Take Action Global 

“Our own UK research in the cross-section between education and sustainability has shown that educators are keen to incorporate education for climate action into class teaching and wider school activities. We’ve been delighted to lend our methodological expertise to this collaborative project with TAG and EARTHDAY.ORG, which we hope will generate useful guidance and best practice to help with this aim, and to contribute to the body of work in this area.” 

-Jenny Kedros, Research and Insights Director, Shift Insight 

EARTHDAY.ORG 

For more information, or to request an interview, contact [email protected]. 

Take Action Global

For more information, visit https://www.takeactionglobal.org/ or message [email protected]. 

Shift Insight For more information about Shift Insight, visit www.shift-insight.co.uk or message [email protected].