Climate Education- A Necessity for Young Minds to meet Global Climate Challenges

The purpose of writing this article is to discuss the perceptions and understandings of Climate change and the extent of awareness these Young Minds have for the subject. Given the constant environmental degradation, sudden weather changes, intense drought, rivers drying up and causing water scarcity, flooding, rising sea levels, melting Polar Ice and many other, it becomes imperative for us to create that awareness, train and educate them, and mobalize them to understand what is Climate Change, who is causing that Change, What are the evidences to support that our Climate is fast changing, why is Climate Change so serious? How do we solve this and how the youth of the country, their knowledge, perceptions and understanding be channelized in the right direction to meet this global contingency.

It is very important to understand why the youth should be involved, it is the adolescents, the young minds who will contribute to the development, bring in innovation and research to combat this Climate change and meet these Climate related challenges. For this positive youth development theory can be extremely useful, it is seen that this theory inculcating the aspects of Climate Change to young minds have created positive impacts on their mental health and research instincts however there are bottlenecks. Our current education system somewhere lacks in highlighting this problem or creating that much needed awareness. In fact there is an urgent need to include Climate Change, Crisis and Action in the curriculum, it should compulsorily form the part of the syllabus. The education in this regard should start from Class 8 onwards, from the age group of 8 to 19 years.

Since Climate change poses contemporary threats and serious risks and impacts on Population, Biodiversity, Health and Livelihoods it becomes accountable for Climate actors, forums, NGO, Philanthropic Organizations and other Climate Actors to consider sensitizing the young brigade and building their capacities towards Climate Change as change makers and change agents. In order to explore the potential of the young generation, educational institutions should contribute to creating workshops, training sessions and regular time table class inclusions. Our young minds are more vulnerable to climate changes, the socio economic conditions, the changing Climate patterns and its repurcation"s on Psychology involving Mental and Physical health.

Following recommendations cum Activities for Positive Youth Development:

1.)In the School Curriculum there should be a differentiation in the sessions taken from Lecture, Tutorial and Practical where the Practical sessions be held in the form of Expedition Workshops, taking students to Project sites/Field Trips that promote Climate Resilience showing students the intricacies of Research that has been carried out, the innovations involved that meets the Climate Protection Criterion and how the Project impacts lives, livelihoods and Biodiversity around, the impact on Global Climate Health Index and Economic stock of the country.

2.)Case Study Development, Short Internships and Live Projects can be arranged by school for the students to undertake to get a better understanding and hands on experience on the subject matter.

3.)Making Edible Greenhouse Gas models and other Climate based models or solutions they can think of.

4.) Understanding the difference between Climate and Weather through provision of Climate Resource Kit, Climate Vocabulary Pack, Puzzles and Role Plays in Class.

5.)Enrolling into Short Term Programmes, Cohort based Climate Change online Sessions and Webinars, Quizzes and Trivia sessions both online and offline organized by multiple Climate based Stakeholders.

6.)Guest Lectures by eminent experts from the Social Sector, Climate and Sustainability experts and enthusiasts.

7.)Brainstorming sessions and Group Discussions on inspiring students to think locally.

8.)Students can enrol themselves on Climate lessons and importance of Sustainable Development Goals, NETZERO Goals and reduction of Carbon Footprints at United Nations initiative including UNITAR , Programmes by UNICEF.

9.)A Short activity in school for example to measure GREENHOUSE EFFECT :

Global warming is a key component of climate change, and it’s caused in part by an enhanced greenhouse effect. Climate change activities like this one show kids just what that term means. Place two thermometers side by side in a sunny spot. Put one inside a covered glass jar, and leave the other one outside. Observe the temperatures after about 20 minutes to see which is higher.

10.)Do a Climate Change Printable Word Search in the PUZZLE to reinforce learning and identifying the grasping power of these students.

Some figures for Reference:

Conclusion: This article is based on secondary data and based on references taken from online magazines, websites, pictures, face to face interviews and self perception. Hence, this article can be taken as a short ready reference, can be implemented. To discuss this further or to seek support write to us!

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