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Education bridges the gaps to enhance climate action
Cissy Mutesi a senior five student of Wanyange Girls while washing her hands using water from a tank made out of waste plastic bottles. PHOTOS/TAUSI NAKATO
What you need to know:
Climate change stands as one of the defining challenges of the 21st Century, affecting every corner of the globe
On Monday August 26, Kololo Secondary school hosted the national climate change debate with various schools under the theme ‘Innovations that work” where various schools took part in national climate change debate challenge under the Green Schools initiative.
Hearing these learners’ submissions got me thinking that this generation has practical solutions to contribute to climate change agenda for many years to come.
Climate change stands as one of the defining challenges of the 21st Century, affecting every corner of the globe. Its consequences are not just environmental but extend into economic, social, and political realms.
Climate change impacts people everywhere and transcends national boundaries.
The National Climate Change Policy clearly spells out its agenda to mainstream climate change concerns in education curricula at all levels and provide mechanisms to ensure the development in the medium term of appropriately skilled professionals and address specific technical challenges associated with climate change.
Strangely, relatively little attention has been paid to implementation and integration of this policy in Uganda’s education system to improve climate literacy, encourage behavioural change and be a critical part of other systemic climate-related initiatives.
The push to teach climate literacy in schools should be set in motion and more concerted effort is needed to make education part of every country’s climate strategy which includes mobilising high-level political support. In addition to encouraging behavioral change through climate literacy, education can help build the necessary skills, knowledge and mindsets needed for a just and effective transition to a green economy which is critical.
Education is also important to teach adaptation strategies, especially now that the world has committed to doubling support for adaptation. So far, investments in adaptation have mostly gone toward seawalls, dams, new seed technology and irrigation systems. However, these investments often lack flexibility, and their effectiveness is unclear given the highly uncertain future impact of climate change. But investments in education can help people and societies adapt to the everyday realities of climate change-such as developing sustainable systems of resource management (e.g., for scarce water) and nurturing mindsets that value environmental stewardship, social and gender equity. By centering education as a strategy for climate action, we can shift power through civic mindsets, empowerment, building learners’ agency, and creating opportunities for climate leadership and action.
More so Education is strongly connected to a person’s ability to adapt to changing circum[1]stances something that will be crucial for society as the effects of climate change intensify. Improving access to education that builds adaptive capacity and removes barriers to empowerment is critical to building climate resilience. Moreover, schools that adapt themselves to be more resilient could provide protection, and shelter in case of disaster, ensure food security through school meals, boost mental health and help build the future workforce.
By increasing students’ awareness and understanding of climate change and climate action, education can empower young people to become agents of change in their local communities, instilling new norms and inspiring a sense of the possible. Climate action projects, where students learn hands-on about climate change and what they can do to address it, may be particularly powerful.
To accelerate climate literacy for behaviour change and collective climate action, educators, institutions, and governments must commit to creating interdisciplinary curricula for action-oriented, empowering programming (as opposed to mere ‘information dissemination’), and training teachers accordingly.
In parallel, schools must invest in greening their own infrastructure (transportation, food, energy, etc.), lead by example, and offer experiential learning opportunities for students since economies are transitioning from ‘brown’ to ‘green,’ education has a critical role to play both in equipping current workers through reskilling and in laying the groundwork for the students who will work in (and redefine) the jobs of tomorrow and therefore education must take a more central place in the global climate dialogues , national climate and adaptation strategies, and the global education sector must mobilise itself for climate action.
Marysalome Namirembe,Educationist and consultantat Orca Consults ltd [email protected]
