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Even as the year draws to an end, there has been lots of action in the social justice and climate change arena, from the intense negotiations of COP29 through to the inspiring hīkoi to Wellington. In this newsletter we present different opportunities for you to have your say on some of the issues that are so important to us all, along with new resources and events to see you through to the end of the year.

Finally, we would like to thank you all for your continued support and your hard work in this massively important area of education. We wish you, your family and friends a wonderful summer and look forward to working with you in the new year.

ACEC represents a broad group of individuals and organisations working across climate change education. Please get in touch if you would like to find out more or make sure we are connecting with your networks.

New resource: Educating for Climate Action and Justice

The North American Environmental Education Association (NAAEE) has recently released a new “Guidelines for Excellence” resource. 

Educating for Climate Action and Justice: Guidelines for Excellence is organised around five key characteristics for excellence in practice:

1. Collaborative, Welcoming, and Responsive Learning Environments

2. Knowledge and Skills to Foster Climate Action 

3. Attention on Climate Emotions 

4. Locally Focused and Community Driven 

5. Civic Engagement for Climate Action 

The Guidelines comprises a set of recommendations designed to assist educators in developing and implementing effective programs that focus on climate change, address injustice, and ignite action. Suggestions are offered for creating more inclusive and equitable learning environments that support learners as they make informed decisions and take collective actions to address our changing global climate.

Climate Change Learning Programme

The Climate Change Learning Programme, which supports climate literacy for young people aged 10-14 has recently been updated to reflect current climate science and knowledge.  It will still be hosted on and available through the NZAEE website, but will now require users to go through a short registration process first. It will remain free for teachers and home educators, and there is a separate form for organisations wishing to use it, and there is also an easily accessible User Guide that provides an overview of the programme.

A growing number of local councils are working on ways to support the learning programme as they work on climate adaptation. A 2024 project in Nelson and Tasman was recently profiled when a group of Nelson students spoke at a Council meeting earlier this month. 

Te Tiriti hīkoi

Some of our members were able to join the Hīkoi Mō Te Tiriti in the various centres that it passed through. It showed us the power that there is in working together as tangata whenua and tangata tiriti. Now that the hīkoi is over, the next  - and just as urgent - step is to make a submission on the Treaty Principles Bill. The official submissions page is here, and the closing date is Tuesday 7 January 2025.  

We’ve come across these resources which may be helpful:

• Emily Writes guide

• Human Rights Commission submission on the Bill

• Waitangi Tribunal findings on the Bill 

Give your input on the direction of long-term National Infrastructure Plans 

Our infrastructure delivers services we depend on like power, water, transport, healthcare and education. Te Waihanga, the NZ Infrastructure Commission is "testing their thinking” as they begin work on developing a National Infrastructure Plan. Climate resilience and decarbonisation are acknowledged in their discussion document along with 17 discussion questions – you can answer as many or as few as you wish.  

Find out more about the discussion document here. 

Feedback on the discussion document closes on 10 December.  

Nationally Determined Contributions Submissions

The Climate Change team at MFAT want to bring your attention to this opportunity to comment on our next international climate change target.

New Zealand is required to set Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement. New Zealand’s second Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC2) will cover the period from 2031 – 2035 and must be a progression on our first target.

The Ministry for the Environment are asking New Zealanders for feedback on how the Government could weigh the different factors it must consider when setting its second NDC. This is also an opportunity to provide any feedback on the Commission’s advice or on NDC2 more generally before final decisions are made.    

People can provide their feedback through a short survey on the Ministry’s website, where they will be asked to rank how important certain aspects of the NDC are to them and provide any other relevant information or feedback.

Please follow the link below for more information on contributing to this important piece of advice.

Opportunity for feedback on our international 2035 climate change target | Ministry for the Environment

The opportunity for feedback closes at 11.59pm on 8 December 2024. 

Climate literacy project at COP29

In the wake of the inclusion of greater environmental and climate focus in the 2025 Science Programme for International Assessment (PISA), based on a new framework Agency in the Anthropocene, the OECD are launching a new project. This project aims to develop test items for inclusion in the maths and readings domains to encourage consideration of the integration of particularly climate aspects into these areas. A proposal has been taken to COP29 in Azerbaijan to look for support and funding. This is part of a wider effort to include climate education as a response to the climate crisis. We hope to have more details on this in the future. 

Although COP29 sessions are in person, the Climate Video Hub is a great place to view short videos on the myriad ways climate change is affecting the way we live. You can also keep up to date with COP29 news here.

Australian Climate Education Summit

A one day online summit was held in October that aimed to bring together like-minded people to foster and promote climate education in that country. The one day summit was preceded by a series of webinars featuring key actors in responding to the climate crisis and highlights and key messages from these webinars were shared at the summit. Examples of how young people and communities are responding to the crisis were also showcased on the day. The summit also featured discussion sessions during which delegates shared ideas for the way forward, contributing to an action plan. Hosted by the Centre for Regenerating Futures at Deakin University, recordings for the summit can be accessed here - https://ccesummitaustralia.deakin.edu.au/summit/

Teaching and Learning for a Sustainable World seminar series from University of Auckland

Teaching and Learning for a Sustainable World consists of a group of academics at the University of Auckland | Waipapa Taumata Rau. This year they have organised and hosted a seminar speaker series that runs until the end of 2024.  

The final seminar for the year is on 6 December at 1pm. Dr Susanne Pratt’s presentation will explore transdisciplinary curriculum and pedagogies for fostering positive social and environmental impact. She will discuss pedagogies that address real-world complex challenges by creatively applying practices from different fields, and bridge diverse perspectives and knowledges to imagine and create regenerative futures. 

Previous seminar recordings from the 2024 series can be viewed here: 

Teaching and Learning for a Sustainable World

Rangatahi and da taiao - final NZAEE webinar for the year December 3, 4-5pm

This free webinar will see Quack Pirihi and Tyra Begbie talking about rangatahi and their connection to da taiao, focussing on intergenerational solutions to climate change. Tyra and Quack were unable to speak at the October conference, so this is an opportunity to hear their thoughts on an intergenerational challenge that requires intergenerational decisions and change-makers. Register here. 

Climate-change hope through facing anxiety and ambivalence: Implications for education for a sustainable future.

This free webinar by Professor Maria Ojala will explore hopelessness, helplessness and the importance of promoting a constructive form of hope through climate-change communication and education. Register here.

Date: Thursday, 12th December, 7pm

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