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The "Changemaker" Cycle for Meaningful Service Learning

Forget Grades! Educate for Human Potential Instead.

How Big is My Ecological Footprint? Assessing the Sustainability of Our Lifestyles

"A Career in the Environment? But There's No Money in That!"

May 3, 2019
3 min

"A Career in the Environment? But There's No Money in That!"

Children pick up on tiny cues from their parents, teachers and wider society. They are sponges constantly scanning their surroundings for new knowledge and information, shaping their views and opinions on a daily basis. In school, I pursued the sciences and social sciences. I was always interested in the world, by people and by living things. "There are plenty of career avenues for people who study the environment, and there are set to be many more in the fight against climat

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The Challenge to Be Optimistic in the Face of Environmental Disaster

Apr 28, 2019
5 min

The Challenge to Be Optimistic in the Face of Environmental Disaster

This is a blog post I've been meaning to write for a long time, but I could never quite articulate it. For me, it was a dark feeling lurking deep inside that I didn't want to acknowledge or dwell on for too long. But the reality is now inescapable. The natural world is collapsing all around us under the pressure of human industrialized society. Like many, I've spent much of my career as an outdoor sustainability educator to try and help us get on the path towards a brighter f

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Part I: Rivers Are Perfect for Teaching Sustainability. Here's Why!

Apr 23, 2019
3 min

Part I: Rivers Are Perfect for Teaching Sustainability. Here's Why!

River systems are perfect for children to study how their day-to-day actions can have wide-reaching impacts on a river's water quality and ecological health. Unlike complex large-scale Earth systems, such as global climate patterns and ocean currents, river systems are relatively easy to explore, observe and investigate scientifically using placed-based learning. "Practically everything we do, from the products we buy in the supermarket, to the amount of water we use in our h

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Balancing Planet, People & Profit: A New Lens for 21st Century Education

Apr 2, 2019
3 min

Balancing Planet, People & Profit: A New Lens for 21st Century Education

Environmental and sustainability education encourages children to acquire the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values necessary to shape a sustainable future in the 21st Century. It relies on experiential teaching and learning methods that motivate and empower learners to change their behavior and take action. In order to reach a sustainable society we must learn to balance the needs of the planet, with the needs of people and profit. Educating children for a sustainable futu

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Best 5 Pedagogical Approaches for Top-notch Sustainability Education

Dec 29, 2018
2 min

Best 5 Pedagogical Approaches for Top-notch Sustainability Education

Environmental and sustainability education means incorporating key sustainable development issues into teaching and learning; for example, climate change, disaster risk reduction, biodiversity, poverty reduction, and responsible consumption. The UN's Sustainable Development Goals break down the complexity of worldwide sustainability issues into a comprehensive framework of 17 specific objectives for the global community to achieve by 2030. It also requires participatory teach

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Top 5 Ways to Empower Children to Tackle the 21st Century Environmental Burden We're Leaving Them

Dec 5, 2018
4 min

Top 5 Ways to Empower Children to Tackle the 21st Century Environmental Burden We're Leaving Them

Environmental Education (EE) in the context of sustainable development is essential for the next generation to build a brighter future in the 21st Century. It's vital in order to meet the sizable (and growing) environmental challenges we face. What's certain is that today's youth must gain deeper levels of environmental understanding and ecological literacy, through carefully constructed education which begins in pre-school, and is not only integrated, but intimately interwov

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Outdoor Education & the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Nov 2, 2018
4 min

Outdoor Education & the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Outdoor education has come to mean many things. It can mean anything from adventure-based learning to environmental education, service learning in the local community or visiting a local museum. Essentially, when I refer to outdoor education, I'm including any learning which takes place outside of a traditional classroom setting. "The UN Sustainable Development Goals are a universal call to action with the aim of achieving 17 extraordinary global objectives by 2030." This blo

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Community Mapping: What's Affecting Your Neighborhood?

Oct 20, 2018
5 min

Community Mapping: What's Affecting Your Neighborhood?

In service learning, students learn to tackle real-world problems in their community, while building deeper understanding and skills for themselves. I've seen first-hand what service learning can do to help the local community, while also providing valuable learning experiences for young people. The best thing is - it can be a real win, win. By both empowering youngsters to make positive real-world change (e.g. tree planting, building community facilities in under resourced c

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Can We Educate Today's Youth to Create a Sustainable Future?

Oct 17, 2018
5 min

Can We Educate Today's Youth to Create a Sustainable Future?

Changemakers are people who desire change in the world and, by gathering knowledge and resources, make that change happen. To achieve meaningful change on sustainability issues, it's crucial that the next generation are well-informed of global socio-political and environmental issues and develop well-formed values, based on knowledge and critical thinking. But being informed is only half the answer, as young people also need the confidence and resilience to make real change a

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