Conor Twyford, the new Community Organiser at NZEI Te Riu Roa, talks about the work she’s doing and how she’s supporting members to get active on climate change. “If we’re going to tackle the big issues like climate change,” Twyford says, “we need to do it in community, we need to do it together.”
As Taranaki makes a “Just Transition” from fossil fuels to a carbon-neutral economy, educators, whānau and tamariki must transition as well.
For many communities in Aotearoa the impacts of climate change are already being felt. Ako talks to educators about floods, droughts and hurricanes, and how they get through.
Early childhood centres are educating and empowering tamariki on how to make their world a better place. The work is changing mindsets and behaviour far beyond centre walls.
As mātauranga Māori is more widely recognised, schools and kura are using Te Maramataka to connect with the environment and themselves.
Once you identify that you want to take climate action, how do you get everyone on board? Ako asks educators who have succeeded how they created change.
As a political scientist interested in children’s futures and serving on the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), an international science body that produces regular reports on the state of the world’s climate, I worry a lot about our changing climate and the implications for children and future generations.
Where I come from, the kererū is revered. A food for royalty and women. Our kaumātua describe how the sky would get dark as clouds of kererū flew overhead, sounding like a loud helicopter as they flapped their wings through our echoing valleys. This memory from long before I was born was a sign of abundance.
I’m not sure if it’s the increase in grassroots movements, or the current government’s desire to highlight climate change, but in the education sector there’s a real thirst to be lifting our game.
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