Towards Climate- and Ecosocial Curricula

Based at Centre for Applied Ecological Thinking (CApE) and Common Ecologies in collaboration with Casa dels Futurs Barcelona, the project discusses how to bring socio-ecological education into the existing curriculum and schools of public education systems, in Europe and worldwide. 

This project (2024 is its pilot year) brings together schoolteachers, educators, parents, policy makers and activists who think the socio-ecological crisis urgently needs to be addressed in schools. It proceeds via collective online fora and labs that investigate the state of eco-social education in different contexts, identify needs and potentials, and exchange tools, tactics, as well as campaign experiences across different institutional frames and local-national contexts. In this process, we are building a mutual support network of educator-activists within which broader campaigns, demands and approaches are discussed and tested, as well as an archive of existing eco-social learning materials and curricula.

Our process is open to all and sets out to provide a frame for mutual support in our efforts to make education reflect socio-ecological crises and knowledge about them, from the smallest attempts to bring exercises and materials into classrooms, to larger campaigns within specific institutions as well as at different national levels. This is a co-research process that seeks to respond to specific needs and situations of participants and is therefore open-ended and flexible.

 

  • What tactics and strategies are teachers, students and parents trying out currently, to get eco-social education onto their institution's agenda?
  • What is the role of education NGOs, policy makers, administrators and activists in working with public schools? What synergies can be built?
  • What core concepts, matters and methods does eco-social education need to feature at different age levels?
  • What is the state of the art of eco-social education across different regional contexts in and beyond Europe, who are pioneer actors at the school, political, social movement and social level?
  • What demands may we forge across different regional and social contexts, when it comes to public eco-social education?

 

Public schools are the most fundamental and vital organs for establishing consciousness and knowledge about eco-social matters from an early age. Whether at primary, secondary or higher education levels, educational institutions are sites where knowledge and values for resilience, justice and earth care must be discussed and forged. Children and young people care a great deal about climate and ecological crisis and suffer a great deal from anxieties relating to their future, yet at this stage few national curricula take our current ecological crisis into account at all, not to mention its social dimensions. It matters a great deal that schools become sites for learning about how to imagine and build sustainable futures, empower young people to be active at different levels, and offer training and knowledge that students find useful for future work and life. Ecological and social matters are highly interdependent, as sustainable and just futures are part of the same problem of building worlds where human and more-than-human life are valued and cared for. This is the core idea of eco-social education we pursue here.

 

 

 

Activities

From January to September 2024, there will be a monthly online forum featuring campaigns and tools presentations, two online laboratories and an in-person meeting. 

Forums (online)

Between January and June 2024, monthly online forum sessions bring together different practitioners and activists in the field of eco-social education, to develop a baseline shared analysis, identify stakes and potentials, and build a group and network. Each forum session features presentations of one or several inspiring campaigns, methods and learning resources, followed by a collaborative advice clinic where participants exchange knowledge, support and share resources.  All sessions are held in English, partly with translation, with a focus on participatory co-research and debate. You can watch our inaugural forum.

The forums take place from 6:30 PM to 8:15 PM CET on the last Thursday of each month excluding public holidays.

Laboratories (online)

There’ll be online labs focusing on specific traditions and methodologies of situated co-learning and campaigning.

  • On February 15th, 2024, from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM, the lab focused on methods and methdologies for eco-social education.
  • On May 2nd, 2024, from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM CET, the lab will delve into place-based pedagogy and militant research.

Gathering (in-person)

There will be a gathering in early autumn (September 20th-22nd, 2024) to collaborate, assess our progress, launch the archive of materials we're compiling, and transition into our next phase together.

 

Since the project is in its pilot year, each session is a part of a participatory and explorative process. The program and events will be adjusted accordingly as we progress.

  • FORUM 1 – 25 January, 6:30 PM – 8:15 PM: Crafting a Climate Education Guide and Curriculum. Hosted by Edulater (CAT/ES)
  • LAB 1 – 15 February 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM: Eco-social education lab 1
  • FORUM 2 – 29 February 6:30 PM – 8:15 PM: Student-led Environmental Research, featuring Stepwise (CA/GR/UK)
  • FORUM 3 – 21 March 6:30 PM – 8:15 PM: Struggles to change the Curriculum -  Campaigning, Institutional and Policy Work. Experiences from Austria, Turkey and South Africa.
  • FORUM – 18 April 6:30 - 8:15 PM: Postponed
  • FORUM 4 – 2 May – 4 May 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM: Teacher training for Eco-social education.
  • FORUM 5 – 23 May, 6:30 PM – 8:15 PM: Positionality, Privilege and how we avoid Patronizing in eco-social education.
  • FORUM 6 - 27 June,6:30 PM – 8:15 PM: Parent’s perspectives and strategies for eco-social education: mutual aid clinic
  • LAB 2: 2 July 6-8 PM: Towards a common resource for eco-social education
  • GATHERING IN PERSON, 19 September – 22, 2024: In Vienna, Austria (email us to find out more).

All events are scheduled in Central European Time (CET) and will be conducted online unless otherwise specified.

Register below to receive the links for participation!

 

Researchers

Name Title Phone E-mail