Climate Change Communication & Education
Climate change is the most important issue of our generation. It is one of the greatest ecological and social challenges of the twenty-first century. Education is seen as a critical tool for boosting both resilience and the capacity to carry out the enormous social and technological changes necessary to cut risks as humanity face accelerating climate disruption. The goal of this resource page is to gather as many useful, relevant, reliable and authoritative resources on climate change and education. The resources are organized by questions you might have.
I am interested in climate change and sustainability podcasts. What should I listen to?
I am an educator. What should I know?
- American Federation of Teachers (AFT): Special Issue of American Educator on Climate Change
- Webinar on climate change with Dr. Jason Smerdon, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University.
- For more information see Climate Change: The Science of Global Warming and Our Energy Future.
- Zero Hour: There’s No Stopping Climate Change, But How Bad It Gets Is Still Up To Us
- Climate Change, Education, and Sustainability – Podcast with Arjen Wals
- Climate Change and Education Policy – Podcast with Marcia McKenzie
- What is the role of education in times of climate crisis? – FreshEd Podcast
- US Government Data on Climate Change
- US Climate Resilience Toolkit
- Climate Maps from Climate.Gov
- NASA Video on Freshwater Movements
- NASA 360 Video
- Center for Sustainable Futures: NYC Climate week
- Carbon Climate: Everett Cafe Book Display (Jan-Feb 2022)
- PBS Learningmedia for Teachers: Audio/Visual Resources on Climate Change
I am an educator. What can I do?
Subject to Climate
SubjectToClimateTM has just launched their website for K-12 teachers of all subjects to find credible, unbiased, and engaging materials on climate change at no cost! Overall, their goal is to enhance climate change knowledge and inspire action by making climate change teaching and learning accessible to all!
Check out their:
Climate Change S.O.S
Curate age-appropriate books and materials and display the collection at the school library or in any other public space. At Teachers College, for example, the team of the Gottesman Libraries have curated "Climate Change S.O.S" reading list and displayed it at the Everett Library Cafe.
How to talk about climate change with young children?
Here are three books about Greta Thunberg, a Swedish environmental activist who has gained international recognition for promoting the view that humanity is facing an existential crisis arising from climate change.
What about art and climate change?
Resources:
- A Song of Our Warming Planet
- The sound of climate change from the Amazon to the Arctic
- For Spanish-speaking teachers or teachers in bilingual schools, four children’s songs about the earth:
- A series of dance video reflections on the environmental justice project called Renewable Rikers with additional resources about Renewable Rikers and prison abolition, and a separate set of videos with audio descriptions for visually impaired visitors
How are our responses to climate change and the COVID-19/Coronavirus linked?
What does the general public know and think about climate change?
Where can I find new research about climate change education?
- Check out these stories from the Hechinger Report on Climate Change Education in the United States here and here
- The North American Association on Environmental Education (NAAEE) frequently posts cutting edge research and access to climate change education resources here.
- Environmental Education Research Journal publishes myriad research on climate change education and environmental education such as:
- Climate change education and research: possibilities and potentials versus problems and perils?
- Identifying effective climate change education strategies: a systematic review of the research
- Significant life experiences, motivations and values of climate change educators
- The influence of personal beliefs, friends, and family in building climate change concern among adolescents
- Webinar: Integrating Cognitive, Social and Emotional, and Behavioural Learning in Education for Sustainability: Insights from comparative research with Dr. Aaron Benavot
- Purdue University Global: 45 Sustainability Resources You Need to Know
- Columbia Climate School: A History of Intergovernmental Regulations
This pathfinder was developed by students in ITSF 5031 Introduction to Environmental and Sustainability Education (Spring 2020) in honor of the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day.