October 21, 2024 • 30 mins
Today we're going to be taking a closer look at teaching the climate emergency; we look at what the impact is for the planet and our classrooms. Plus, we introduce you to our climate and sustainability teaching ideas that work alongside books in the our Cambridge Reading Adventures series.
Our host for today is Tamsin Hart. She is joned by Cindy Forde and Eddie Rippeth. Cindy is an author, activist and founder of the Earth-led education company, Planetari. Eddie is Head of Primary Publishing, Products and Services at Cambridge and commissions our guided reading scheme, Cambridge Reading Adventures.
Show notes:
Planetari - https://planetari.world/
Primary guided reading series, Cambridge Reading Aventures - https://www.cambridge.org/education/subject/english/literacy/cambridge-reading-adventures
Climate change education activities - www.cambridge.org/education/blog/using-stories-to-change-the-world
Cambridge Primary Wellbeing curriculum - https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/programmes-and-qualifications/cambridge-primary/curriculum/wellbeing/
Cambridge Lower Secondary Wellbeing curriculum - https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/programmes-and-qualifications/cambridge-lower-secondary/curriculum/wellbeing/
Cambridge wellbeing resources - https://www.cambridge.org/education/subject/humanities/wellbeing/cambridge-primary-and-lower-secondary-wellbeing
Creating a Wellbeing Framework in your School, Brighter Thinking Pod - https://www.cambridge.org/education/blog/brighter-thinking-pod-creating-wellbeing-framework-in-your-school
Seagull, Cambridge Reading Adventures - https://www.cambridge.org/education/subject/english/literacy/cambridge-reading-adventures/cambridge-reading-adventures-seagull-red-band-paperback?isbn=9781316503102&format=PB
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Hello and welcome to our latest episode of the Brighter Thinking Pod from theInternational Education Group of Cambridge University Press and Assessment.
I'm Tamsen Hart, a Product Marketing Manager, and I'll be your host today.
We created our Brighter Thinking Pod to support teachers around the world.
Each episode brings you helpful advice and interesting conversation from some of ourauthors, teachers and academics.
(00:26):
Today we're going to be taking a closer look at teaching the climate emergency.
What the impact is for the planet and our classrooms.
For this episode, we're joined by two special guests, Cindy Ford and Eddie Rivath.
Retaking that.
For this episode, we're joined by two special guests, Cindy Ford and Eddie Rivath.
(00:50):
Cindy is an author, activist, founder of Planetary.
Sorry, gonna retake that as well.
Cindy is an author, activist.
founder of Planetary, pioneering Earth-led education, earning a Climate Positive Award atUN COP 28.
Her groundbreaking children's book, Bright New World, Building a Better Planet, hasgarnered critical acclaim, selected among the best new children's books by The Guardian
(01:19):
and held as outstanding by new scientists in 2022.
It has been adopted by the Australian National Curriculum.
Eddie Ripoth is Head of Primary Publishing, Products and Services at Cambridge UniversityPress and Assessment.
Eddie Ripoth is the Head of Primary Publishing, Products and Services at Cambridge,including commissioning our guided reading scheme, Cambridge Reading Adventures.
(01:47):
Cindy and Eddie, welcome to the show.
Hi Tamsin.
Hi, it's lovely to be here.
Great to have you both here.
Now remember, all the links and info that we discussed are available in the show notes foryour ease.
And if you want to get your voice heard on the show, you can get in touch on X orInstagram at CambridgeINT.
(02:13):
Now let's start with a question that celebrates the wonder of the natural world.
What is one of your favourite experiences you've had in the natural world that has justfilled you with wonder?
Eddie, let's start with you.
All right, thank you, Tamsin.
It's a very, very difficult question because the natural world surprises me every day.
(02:37):
Even just cycling down the river to come into the office today, I saw a kingfisher.
And I think when I consider this question, it actually comes down to the beauty of birds.
If I could single one aspect out of it.
And it's...
When something crops up during the day that you don't usually see, let's say like akingfisher, perhaps it's a goldfinch or a woodpecker, it's always a wonderful reminder of
(03:07):
the natural world and the beauty it brings us.
Now, a lot of, you know, this can happen anytime, any, you know, really locally.
I'm very privileged in terms of actually, you know, for work trips, travelling furtherafield and obviously there's more opportunity to see, you know, a greater variety of
birds.
just thought I'd relate to a favorite moment, which was on a work trip in Pakistan.
(03:33):
Now, we turned over to a hotel.
It was in Pakistan during quite a serious security lockdown.
It's all these very heavily guarded guys, guns, metal detectors.
I'm getting, I mean, at the moment, if you can imagine being padded down for hiddenweaponry in the grounds of this hotel, and I spotted a greater flame back.
(03:56):
in a little pine tree by the hotel entrance.
Now this is a gorgeous South Asian species of woodpecker.
It's this combination of black, red, and obviously the gold in its name.
And so you can imagine I was suddenly getting really, really excited with these gun-totingguys wondering what on earth is going on.
And I thought that just sort of really captured the power of nature, that in the mostunlikely moments it can provide you with something beautiful and exciting like that.
(04:25):
And it...
always underscores just how beautiful and valuable nature is and we really do need to takecare of it properly.
That sounds an absolutely gorgeous bird, Eddie.
I frequently walk down my garden just to hang out with some very friendly robins we've gotdown there.
And now Cindy, what about you?
Wow, that's such a fantastic story, Eddie.
(04:48):
Very much like Eddie, I'm really lucky.
I live in the middle of a field and I do yoga every morning and I'm in a room that faceseast.
So every morning I see the sunrise and it's just so stunning.
Depending on the time of year, you get different colors.
Sometimes the glorious orange and red and pink.
(05:09):
Sometimes it's almost diamond white.
But every single morning I can't help but just be awed by this incredible force, this lifeforce that powers a whole planet.
So there's numerous other examples, but that is my daily burst of awe and joy.
(05:30):
Yeah.
That sounds a beautiful start to the day.
So let's get onto the main theme of our discussion today.
Cindy, can I ask you please, what is the challenge facing us with climate change and whydo you think urgent action is needed?
(05:54):
Well, the challenge facing us with climate change is, you know, it's actually a complexone, but to speak to it in its simplest form, basically all of the systems that we
currently operate by, our economic system, our food system, our transport systems, how wetreat our carbon sinks, our oceans, our rainforests, are systems that are not compatible
(06:17):
with keeping Earth a safe space for human life.
So we really need to.
rethink how we design our ways of living here.
And I think that's where the education system comes in because the education system is oneof the most powerful tools for change.
If we raise a generation of humans, the next generation of humans that understand how todesign whatever they want to be, whether it's astrophysicists or hairdressers, adventurers
(06:49):
or wallpaper designers, if they decide.
If they learn how to do that within the planetary boundaries, then we're all set for asustainable, for a thriving future.
So that's a really important part of this challenge, recognising that the way that wecurrently live is not compatible with keeping Earth a safe space for human life.
(07:11):
We can change how we think, so that's very positive.
And the difficulty is we have to do this fast.
We've put such pressure.
on our life support system that we really are looking at six to eight years to rapidlyreduce emissions and rapidly increase the amount of oceans, of land space, of biodiversity
(07:34):
that's put under protection so that nature can get back on with doing this incredible jobthat she does of keeping, I know, of keeping earth regulated and balanced and safe for us
to live here.
So there's systems change in how we think and then there's this clock
ticking so we don't have, we know what we need to do but we need to act fast.
(07:55):
I think that's, those are the biggest challenges.
Thank you, Cindy.
And what do you think of the biggest successes so far in responding to climate change?
Well, I think human beings are an incredible species.
We can, it seems like we've done something incredibly stupid that we've brought our lifesupport system to the brink of not functioning for us anymore.
(08:21):
Earth is 4.6 billion years old.
She may be damaged, but she will recover.
But what the difficulty is, people talk about saving the planet, it's actually aboutkeeping Earth.
in a state that will support human life so that we can thrive.
So it's about saving ours.
And as an incredibly intelligent species, we know how to do it.
(08:42):
We already know what we need to do.
The solutions are very clear, and they're out there.
So I think that's a huge success.
In the time that we've understood this problem, renewable energy has been innovated,developed to this point that it's now cheaper.
than fossil fuels.
You know, that's a massive success.
We know what we need to do with our food systems, our land systems.
(09:05):
There's incredible innovators.
I'm really lucky because I work with many of them across the globe who are working out howto get the biodiversity under protection, how to get our oceans under protections, how to
produce food in a way that means we can feed eight billion of us on the planet withoutstress on the land.
We're doing an incredible job of working out.
(09:28):
what needs to be done, not just theoretically, but in practice.
So what we need to get better at to make this happen is to have the leadership that givesus the mandate to get on and accelerate these innovations rather than the constant blocks
that we live with at the moment because of politics.
(09:48):
Thank you.
Eddie, do you have anything further to add?
Yeah, I think in terms of the biggest successes, I think it's really important withclimate change to be very positive about what we are doing and celebrate the successes and
point out that the stuff we're doing does not mean the end of life as we know it, or theend of driving a car, or the end of visiting places.
(10:16):
I think for me, there's a need to sort of
to engage and make people optimistic and to offer sort of a really powerful vision of thefuture.
Because, you know, we just talked about the successes, we can do this, I think, is themessage that, you know, Cindy's telling us.
(10:39):
And actually, change is exciting and, you know, it's often a very positive thing.
So I think...
It's about encouraging people to embrace change and actually not sort of be sort of stuckin a sort of very siloed view of how the world should be.
(10:59):
Brilliant.
Thank you, Eddie.
Now let's take this back to the classroom.
To come back to you, Eddie, how do you think we can introduce climate change andsustainability topics into our lessons?
Well, coming from the primary end, it's actually very easy because children are fascinatedin the topics which are related to climate change.
(11:21):
They are fascinated in animals and rainforests and dolphins and whales.
So it's about sort of picking the topics which we know will really engage them andactually sort of showing how that topic is relevant, relevant to sort of the climate
issue, but also they're very important.
(11:42):
before you get to the climate issue, it's around the conservation.
It's about the importance of the nature around us.
And if we're protecting nature for the sake of its beauty, you're actually always, that isgonna always benefit, I would imagine, climate change.
I don't think I'm saying anything controversial there, Cindy, but please step in there.
(12:04):
But right from the start, for me, it's about,
going to children with things they're really fascinated by already.
You will always get across the line with talking about animals, talking about differenttypes of animals.
And in many ways, I think this is where the younger generation are actually ahead of theelder generations, which their interests may have wandered away from such things.
(12:35):
Thanks Eddie.
Cindy, how would you introduce these topics?
Yeah, I think Eddie's right.
There's just so much natural delight, curiosity, enthusiasm for these topics.
And I think it goes, there's the natural world, which is just an endless source ofinspiration and joy.
And there's also the innovation.
I mean, this, the danger we're in, I love the Chinese symbol for crisis, is wei ji, dangerand opportunity.
(13:04):
So yes, we are in a danger, but this is a massive opportunity for the human family.
to transform and I think children love that.
You know, even our generation, we loved shows that were about the future, everything fromStar Wars, Star Trek, all this.
But you know, these innovations are happening really rapidly and in real time and childrenabsolutely love that.
(13:27):
How do we design the cities of the future?
How do we design the energy of the future?
How do we design the...
food systems of the future, you know, you let them loose on their stuff and they just, youknow, with guidance, with teaching, they just, they, you know, they will take it away and
come up, go visit a lot of schools.
They've come up with better ideas than what's actually happening out there and there'ssuch a boundless imagination that, you know, you can see that these young people will be
(13:55):
the innovators and the entrepreneurs of a brighter world if they're equipped.
you know, with the skills to make what they're able to imagine into reality.
And I think it's a topic that cuts right across all the subjects.
You know, people think sustainability lives in geography or perhaps biology, but it's inscience, it's in technology, it's in maths, it's in the stories that we tell.
(14:21):
So it's in literacy, it's in the dreams that we manifest.
So it's in art.
You can really make this a transdisciplinary.
topic that will engage all areas of the school life.
And of course it's outside and it's all around us, so you can build in that physical sideof education as well.
(14:43):
And really make, I've worked with incredible schools who are turning their schools intomodels of how education can look.
So they have farms, they have school farms, gardens.
growing their own food, all sorts of things that are happening outside the classroom, aswell as what they're learning inside the classroom.
(15:05):
So it's an incredibly powerful, motivating topic for children and for teachers, because inteaching this, you can actually take action.
And instead of having the anxiety or the despair or the overwhelm, you know that you'redoing something and there's nothing more powerful than actually shaping.
the future.
So I think when teachers get that sense that they can do that, then I think there's thatreal positiveness that Eddie talks about that does arise and it can influence the culture
(15:36):
of the whole school.
That sounds brilliant.
Plenty of opportunities for them to start dreaming big.
And talking about the culture in the school, how do you think we can support discussionsand activities around climate change and sustainability, Cindy?
Well again, I think Eddie's made the most important point at the beginning.
(15:59):
It needs to be framed with what we can do with positive.
Yes, we get the news.
Everybody knows that bad news sells.
So we're overwhelmed with everything that's gone wrong and it can feel really hopeless anddisempowering.
But there is, you know, people even ask me that question, oh, how do you deal with thatevery day?
You know, but I can't think of a more joyful job.
(16:19):
You deal with the, yes, you look at the difficult, the problems.
that we've created, but you also work with the human beings that are solving them.
And those stories really need to be told.
And I think that that's such an important any discussion I would frame on sustainabilitywould say this is in the book that I've written, Bright New World.
We start with what we can have.
(16:41):
We can be here.
This is all possible.
And this is the it's we can we can see what can be done.
So let's look at where we are and let's build ourselves a roadmap to get there.
What would need to change?
What would we need to do?
And then people's minds start working in that way rather than how do I avoid this?
(17:02):
How do I block my ears?
How do I hide from this terrible, overwhelming thing?
So the frame of the discussion is action in a very real and pragmatic sense of what we canimagine and the small steps we can take to get there.
Thank you, Cindy.
Can you think of any more pragmatic solutions to support, Eddie?
(17:26):
Well, certainly as publishers, I'm going to be telling you a little bit later on in thepodcast about what we do, which is using source text to provide really interesting
climate-related materials.
I think there are all of the subject disciplines which every single one will have an anglewhich is actually could be supportive of.
(17:53):
of the sort of climate change agenda.
I think a big part of it though is empowering younger people because in essence what we'resaying is you need to know this is your world and it's in your power to actually save the
world.
(18:13):
And it's just, I suppose it's bringing that element into the classroom that there's areally powerful reason for.
for learning and for learning about the climate change, but also for the fact that theyare agents in this and they can do something really good for the planet.
(18:35):
And I think this is where it's sort of teaching them about how to influence and how oracywill play a part and how winning, it might be winning arguments, but advocating.
key changes which might lead to further climate initiatives.
(18:59):
It's interesting you mention Orosee there, Eddie.
We hear a lot about that now in education.
How important do you think Orosee is, Cindy?
Well, I actually think it's hugely important.
I mean, I've, as an activist, has come from a long line of change makers.
Being able to use your voice to clearly articulate, to understand and speak clearly forwhat you want has been one of the most powerful agents of change in every, right across
(19:29):
history.
Just looking at the last century from the suffragettes to the civil rights movement, thesewere people who were able to stand up.
and articulate very clearly what they wanted and what change would look like for them.
And I'm looking at frontline activist movements, but even one of the exercises that we usesometimes in the things is writing a letter to your minister.
(19:51):
You learn about a topic, for example, how the ocean works, and then you say, okay, now weknow what we want or how to keep our river systems clean, which is a huge issue in the UK
at the moment.
So you can write, just writing that letter, well.
crafted letter, you can start writing it when you're six, all the way through to secondaryschool, just putting out the ask for the world you want.
(20:13):
It's the one of the most powerful tools we have is our voice, so children who are wellequipped to use that are the children who are gonna be the change makers and the people
who get, who really help to shape that this world, taking it from the world in ourimaginations, articulating that and making it the world that is real.
(20:35):
Thank you.
And I think, yeah, the key aspect of oracy is any change requires people to persuadepeople who perhaps are reluctant and perhaps are sort of against that particular change.
And you mentioned the likes of Martin Luther King.
You know, there was obviously quite residual opposition.
(20:56):
Now, the best way to overcome that is by persuasion and by, you know...
sometimes compromise, there are all kinds of ways of dealing with that, but oracy is verymuch the key.
And it's actually being able to make the case and win over people who might otherwise sortof be thinking, oh, here's another climate initiative, they're going to stop me driving my
(21:18):
car.
Because there is fear here, and it tends to be fear in the older elements of thepopulation and not in the young part of the population.
And I think where there's fear, it should be.
Having an articulate case can sort of persuade and remove some of those fears and answerthe questions that people may have about sort of having to give up some aspect of their
(21:46):
life or feeling they have to give up some aspect of their life because of the latestclimate initiative.
So I think that's the other key about oracy.
It's about we know what needs to be done.
But it's the case.
clearly has to be made and has to be made and has to be made with good reason because youwant to bring everyone with you and you want everybody to sort of really understand why
(22:10):
they're doing things and agreeing with doing it rather than come sort of in a cumulantrumway or discovering that it's a very, very difficult process for them.
Brilliant, thank you, Eddie.
We mentioned writing letters there.
Are there any other kind of practical activities that can be brought into the classroom toteach climate education?
(22:33):
Cindy.
Yeah, I mean, I think there's, I think, you know, Tamsin, you as a communicator, you know,you do this wonderful job of telling a story.
And as Eddie's just said there, it's the story that we tell.
If the story lands wrong, something that can be a fantastic idea gets buried.
So I think in teaching, in encouraging our young people to be really strong communicators,great storytellers, whether it's visual storytellers, this is where I think the art comes
(23:03):
in,
whether it's storytelling in news, in fact, how you put your facts across, or whether it'smoving people's hearts and minds through fiction, whether it's music, there's all these,
because there's so much of people believing climate change is about understanding thescience, which of course is hugely important, but we often as humans, we respond in much
(23:30):
more emotional ways to things, so if you're trying to persuade and to change.
using that medium is really powerful.
That's why I say it's a topic that can sit right across different subjects.
Songs have been so powerful.
I mentioned the civil rights movement.
That was powered by some utterly incredible music that are now these anthems.
(23:56):
for change, you know, you hear change is going to come or we shall overcome or then theyjust trigger this emotional response.
So yeah, we did that.
That was a victory.
And I think that if we can use our power to imagine and to communicate that way from ourearliest years, we're much better equipped to make real this world that I think most of us
(24:18):
want and know that we can have in our hearts.
Thank you, some lovely ideas there Cindy.
Eddie, do you have any more practical activities to add?
Well, I always think there's something about the...
something about almost about the political process that children need to learn and howthey can make a voice and not feel excluded by it.
(24:42):
And that's something which, you know, as publishers we should be looking at.
But, you know, within the school itself, you know, maybe there's sort of, you know,classroom processes where, you know, class elections and how they, you know, looking at
how they can sort of create advocates and encourage the sort of...
(25:05):
the sort of oracy that will be important.
There are always great...
Climate change is a political issue and actually understanding how to put together acampaign and it might be a campaign based on creating wonderful posters or decorating the
classrooms.
(25:25):
So when parents are coming in, the message is passed on.
There's all these kinds of things that can be done.
And as I say, it harks back to that idea that it's about persuasion and bringing peoplealong and equipping children.
to be able to do that because there's definitely a sense that younger people get this muchmore than older people.
(25:52):
I don't think I'm too controversial in saying that as being relatively old myself.
But yeah, that's what I would say there.
Brilliant, thank you.
So lots of ways there of having a powerful voice, being creative, bringing it across allsubjects.
So we know that oracy is important.
(26:12):
Well-being is also being considered more and more in a structured way in a classroomsetting.
At Cambridge, we've developed a wellbeing curriculum and resources, and in fact, you canlisten to our recent podcast on wellbeing, which we'll link to in the show notes.
One of the aspects of wellbeing that came up in that discussion was
climate anxiety.
(26:34):
What is climate anxiety Cindy?
Well, I'm going to reframe that because I think it's when people get a label stuck onthem, it can be quite debilitating.
And I think that climate anxiety is actually part of a natural process of us being awarethat something isn't right.
(26:55):
I think, you know, if you get the sense of that in any other area of your life, that'scalled empathy.
It's called responding appropriately.
And I think.
There is so much that we're aware of that isn't working.
We are in a code red.
You know, the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, has said this isa code red.
(27:16):
I've had a very great, good fortune to, you know, to be involved with some fantasticpsychologists on this.
And they say it'd be much more helpful if we referred to it as climate empathy, so thatthe children don't feel that there's something wrong with them in being over anxious,
nervous, wichity, if you like, but they're just tuning in to something that is happening.
very much around us in our time.
(27:38):
So if you reframe that, look, there's absolutely nothing wrong with you.
You're feeling something that we're all feeling.
So now let's hold that and come together and look at how we can take action, not only tomake that feeling go away, but to make the situation better so that we don't have this, so
we're not tuning into what's going wrong.
(27:59):
We're channeling and being part of what's going right.
And I think so that taking the onus off
the children feeling that there's something wrong with them or the older people into it'shappening to all around us.
Let's move together as a group, as a human family and sort this thing out.
(28:20):
Brilliant.
So you talked about reframing as a way of supporting the wellbeing of children who mighthave been seen as suffering from climate anxiety.
Are there any other ways we could support them?
Well, I think it is really important for young people to see that things are happening.
Eddie, I think the only thing that I'm going to, well maybe you might say some even morecontroversial things later on, is I think that, I think, I think we are, it's a
(28:45):
transgenerational thing.
I think older people, there's many older people who really understand this stuff, who havea lot of experience of working in it and making change, who've got long track records,
histories, stories of...
you know, of being at the forefront of change, or in their field making change.
And I think that young people knowing that rather than this horrifying thing, it's up tous, it's our generation, we've got to save the world.
(29:13):
I think that's a message that's really difficult for young people to feel that they'reisolated and alone in this, you know, this response, these terrible old people have made
don't care and they've made a dreadful mess.
And then these young, that's not what you said Eddie at all, I'm just trying to expand theidea a little bit.
But you know, so it's the children are thinking these, and also that triggers anger, whichisn't helpful.
(29:37):
So it's young people, yes, they have landed on earth at this certain time, but there's alot of us that have walked a very long road to try to bring a different type of world into
being.
And we're here and we're still doing it.
And we're here to support.
these young people and work with them and guide them through.
And I think that's probably, to know that, that they are part of a community where this iswell understood and that people are working together across the generations to build this
(30:10):
better world is much more assuring than we've been left in this terrible mess, it's allsomebody else's fault and we've got to clean it up, which really isn't the case.
Now Eddie, you look like you'd like to speak.
Yes, and I absolutely agree, Cindy.
I certainly don't want to characterize every single old person as being, you know, andanti-climate.
(30:35):
And yes, and I think that there is that danger that it sort of becomes, you know, it'slike we're finding the lesser developed countries, you've got to do this now because
we've, the more developed countries generally have created more climate emissions in thepast, et cetera.
It's...
And I think actually the blame game suddenly starts getting, is very counterproductive inthat.
(30:58):
I do wonder though with climate anxiety, and this perhaps goes across all generations,there's actually, doing practical things is always a good way to improve one's wellbeing.
So if climate is, it's nice to know that you've done something which...
(31:20):
may be making some tiny difference to climate.
So, you know, it might be, as I say, I cycled into work today, you know, I've done thatfor the last three or four years, and it's a tiny bit of, it's certainly, I feel the
wellbeing of it, but it's actually encouraging that kind of sort of feeling that well,actually, doing these things is making a contribution.
(31:42):
I do wonder if within a school setting, it's actually sort of, you know, it might bearound, you know,
showcasing how children are already making a big contribution or going out of their way todo that.
I know it's not climate specific in itself, but sorting out rubbish is interesting now ina way that it wasn't a few years ago.
(32:11):
Children do it.
I think it's those kind of things.
Because they're doing something, it's interesting.
I think that would really, that does really help.
And if they're doing something like that and being applauded for it and encouraged, Ithink that's gotta be good.
Cindy, can you come back on that?
Yeah, I totally agree with that.
And I also think that it goes beyond the child themselves.
(32:33):
It goes into the context that they're in.
And I think schools are really fantastic places.
I know that schools can't entirely generalize, but most people who have the calling to bean educator bring a set of values with them, which is about care, which is about
nurturing, which is about compassion.
And I think these are extremely important.
(32:54):
values to have in the ecosystem of a child's development.
It's quite frightening when you step outside of school environments that these valuesaren't the ones that we see displayed in our world, in some of our business organisations.
There's fantastic businesses, there's also very rapacious corporate empires, there's the,you know, our lead, the governmental leadership.
(33:15):
These values are really lacking and that can be a real shock for children when they leave,young people when they leave school, everything that they were taught is, you know, is
flipped on its head.
But I do think within the school environment there's so much that can be done for youngpeople to see these ethics and values at work all around them.
And I think that's a natural propensity for teachers to do that.
(33:39):
And obviously the teachers need to be well supported themselves because everything'sinterconnected.
It's very hard to concentrate on the well-being of children if the culture isn't one ofwell-being for the teachers,
environment of the school.
I think if you have a culture where those things are in place you're much more likely tohave children who feel that and who have the well-being themselves.
(34:04):
I think that having those values which you do so...
often finding schools really supported will and it's exactly the same, that's the care ofthe child, the care of the person who's caring for the child, the care of the self is the
thing that enables us to care for our planet ultimately.
So I think that having those values at the heart of everything that we do really is whatwill make the difference both to the child in the micro and to the planet in the macro.
(34:34):
Well, we talked about this.
It's interesting you raise that from a student perspective.
But what if the teacher is the individual who is very passionate about climate change, whois having the climate anxiety?
How can they influence their school to bring it into the classroom?
Yeah, I mean, that's a hugely important question, Tamsin, because people talk abouteco-champion teachers.
(34:59):
I was part of a survey government, well, it was conducted for the British government acouple of years ago around attitudes, you know, how do we get this into school?
And it was, you know, there's the beyond the eco-champion teachers, because they're doingit anyway.
But the other teachers.
They need support.
(35:20):
So this is a real, really important point for leaders of schools.
You know, if you're serious about doing something and leaders of publishing companies,leaders of education companies, if you're serious about...
doing this, if you think that solving the climate crisis, the climate breakdown isimportant, then you have to create the culture where it's possible to do so, which means
(35:44):
supporting a culture of wellbeing as we've talked about, but also having the time, becauseso many of the teachers who weren't the eco-champions said, well, we don't have a mandate
for this, we think it's important, we don't have the mandate, it's not in the curriculum,we don't have the bandwidth.
That was changed, that the things that we now say are the most critical
on earth if space was made for them in school.
(36:07):
So the eco teachers don't just have the stress of knowing that this thing is happening andnot enough is happening to equip the children to deal with it, but they're supported.
They've got the culture in the schools to do that.
They've got the resources in the schools to do that.
You know, that does become.
part of a much wider issue, societally, how we respond to this issue and not just to themarket, which says we need qualifications, the exams are set this way, we need to teach
(36:35):
our students to pass these exams, but really you're training the children to go out intothe world and replicate the system that has brought us to this really difficult point and
so...
There has to be a systemic shift in that.
And I'm saying it's me saying that, it's mother nature saying that.
We either shift systemically what we think is important or our chances of thriving aremuch more limited.
(37:03):
So the value system that supports a healthy earth eventually needs to align with the onethat we see.
supporting a healthy economy, which is really why, how we set the curriculums and how weset the things that we think are important to learn about at school.
So those two things have got to come into much greater alignment.
(37:27):
Eddie, what do you think about these individual passionate teachers?
What can they do?
What's going to add, the individual passion of teachers can be facilitated by what we'redoing at Cambridge University in Press and Assessment.
We do have an unusual amount of influence over curriculums in the sense that we arecreators of curriculums and major assessments.
(37:55):
Quite clearly, if we are embracing the change and we are seeing climate education within
the curricula that we're producing and within the publishing that I'm personally involvedin, that really will help support these individual teachers and also that helps engender
(38:15):
that sort of much more greater climate focus within the schools because ultimately theschools, you know, they live and many will live and die by the education that they're
giving the children and it...
will become very important for them to be including climate within that education.
(38:36):
So there's a role in all of the tiers of organization involved in education.
And Cambridge obviously is very much one of those, being a publisher and an assessmentbody.
you.
Now you talked about personal experience there, I think we should take this moment to diginto both of your experiences.
(38:59):
So Cindy let's start with you and your work at Pernitari.
Can you tell us how this began and what you do?
Yeah, sure, I'll try to be succinct because it's quite a long journey.
I've spent most of my career looking at systemic change.
This is going back to the early 90s when I was repeatedly told, I'm ahead of my time.
(39:24):
I hear that phrase so many times in the context of what I do.
And I think now we're at the point that we're out of time.
So what I recognise working with lots of businesses and government.
was that people just aren't aware.
You get to people who are 30 or 40 and they're still now, they're waking up to thesituation that we're really in.
(39:50):
You've been educated all the way through to take up a role in society and then yousuddenly realize that it's paradoxical to whether we're actually going to, actually to the
regeneration of Earth.
Often what looks like a very good job can be a job that's actually
part of the problem rather than part of the solution and it is possible to transformeverything.
(40:11):
There's nothing, most industries are neutral, food, transport, energy, it's possible totransform them into something that is part of the solution.
And so it seemed to me that it was critically important that we educate ourselves verydifferently so that in whatever field of endeavour we choose, we know how to do this
stuff.
(40:32):
And so through various iterations, I finally decided to found Planetary, which is aroundpioneering Earth-led education.
So it doesn't mean that everybody learns how to hug a tree.
It really means that everybody learns how to design whatever they...
You know, from the beginning, our frame is the planetary boundaries.
As we teach children in school to do everything in the frame of what's healthy for theirminds and their bodies, it's just extending that.
(40:59):
so that you understand how the planetary boundaries work and everything from exactly fromour literature, economics, history is taught to be within those planets.
So it doesn't hugely change the curriculum, but it changes the emphasis of it.
If something is going to be causing undue damage, then we unlearn that and we relearn howto do it in a way that causes.
(41:24):
that promotes the wellbeing of Earth and our ability to thrive here.
So there's a lot more I can say about that, but I won't.
But essentially it's kind of like the Ptolemy Copernicus thing, where Ptolemy is sayingthe Earth is at the centre of the planetary system and then Copernicus is abiding his time
(41:46):
to say actually, when it's safe to say actually, no, Earth is at the centre of the solarsystem.
So we need to do that mind flip.
and move from this egocentric worldview which is saying that humans, that the earth existsto serve humans rather than humans exist to be stewards of the planet that keeps them
alive and that transforms every the way that we learn almost every subject.
(42:11):
Thank you, Cindy, some very inspiring work there.
And now back to Eddie, who, as you will recall from our podcast intro, I'm gonna retakethat.
And now back to Eddie, who, as you will recall from our podcast intro, was responsible forcommissioning our Cambridge Reading Adventures series.
Eddie, can you tell us a little bit about the series and how the themes tie in withsustainability and climate change?
(42:39):
I'm Count Tamsin.
So, the Chemistry Reading Adventures is a series that we produced several years ago andit's unique in the sense that we started out wanting to cater for students all around the
world or pupils all around the world starting to read.
(43:00):
And what became very clear in terms of choosing themes and topics which of internationalrelevance, relevance to children in India or in United Arab Emirates or in Colombia, all
around the world, actual topics around the environment and climate and conservation are.
(43:27):
really, really a good way of binding an international series together because they areuniversally relevant.
So having created this series a few years ago, it was...
We had a load of books in here which were really, really quite, I would say, very, verysort of topical for climate change.
(43:48):
I mean, we had books on the climate change process.
We had books around pollution.
And we had books about recycling.
All manner of things which were, if not closely related, were tangentially related.
And I think we actually found about 60 or 70 of the books have some really strong link.
(44:12):
to potential climate change work.
So what we did was we chose several of these books working with Cindy and decided tocreate a teaching environment around each of them.
So if you regard a reading book as a stimulus, so there'll be a lovely story.
For example, one of the stories for five, six year old children is called The Seagull.
(44:38):
And it's about two young children who find a seagull on a beach.
But the seagull is an absolute mess.
It's covered in oil, it's covered in litter, it's covered in all manner of stuff.
It's a real sticky mess.
And they end up trying to clean it so it can go away and be happy.
And obviously, it's very clear.
(44:59):
clear opportunities there to study why is the seagull getting so messed up, etc.
It was about drawing the themes out and then developing these themes with variousactivities.
Some teaching as well around the concepts, in this case it was plastic pollution andwhat's going into the ocean and how we can avoid this kind of behaviour.
(45:29):
that came out of that particular title.
As I say, at the moment we've done six.
potentially lots of other opportunities and we are certainly looking at whether we can doa few more of these and ultimately actually produce a few more of these, well a few more
(45:51):
Cambridge reading adventures which actually sort of would tie in with these powerfulthemes.
So from a publisher's point of view this is a start, it's absolutely just a start andobviously with reading it's more discretionary.
a statutory curriculum, but nonetheless it can really sort of help bring climate and theissues around it, the issues around sustainability and other things right into the
(46:21):
classroom in an easy, enjoyable way.
And what we've done then is taken it that step further with the teaching and the projectsand activities which can follow from that reading book.
Brilliant.
Thank you for bringing those up, Eddie.
We'll be linking to all of these resources in the show notes, so you'll be able to accessthem.
(46:44):
Cindy, what was your aim with these teaching sheets?
Well, it was absolutely delightful to be invited to collaborate with Cambridge UniversityPress on an assessment on these fantastic reading adventures because while it's a small
step, everything does start with a story.
So the aim, and I work with children, my memories as a child, I think stories are some ofthe most powerful things, whether it's animated stories or reading stories, these are the
(47:15):
things that really shape your...
formative view on the world, so being awakened to these, it sounds small, but that is akind of awakening, a sensitizing, which I think is really important to happen in those
early years.
So our intention, the stories are beautiful already, the illustrations are beautiful,they're inspiring, they create this whole universe that you can step into, and our
(47:41):
intention was to really respect that and make these adventures as delightful as possiblebecause
You know, you want people, the children, to feel so excited about learning about thesetopics and what they can do and being an active part of it.
That's the real mission that you give a sense of this.
And you are your lovely opening question this morning, Tamsin, what gives you that senseof wonder and awe?
(48:03):
You want these, we want these adventures to enhance these already beautiful readingadventures with the teaching and learning activities that really enhance that sense of.
learning of wonder and awe, not we're learning about really difficult topics, we'relearning about this stuff, but hey look, look at the actions we can take, look at the
adventures that we can have making these, you know, learning how to transform and make ourworld an even more beautiful place.
(48:31):
We're dealing with very small children so we really want to give them that sense ofdelight and possibility with these adventures that we've collaborated with you all on.
That sounds absolutely amazing.
So you were working with your team at Planetary on these sheets and you all broughtdifferent specialisms to them, didn't you?
(48:55):
Yeah, we did.
So I'm a creative, you know, my bread and butter really is storytelling, whether it'sstorytelling in the children's realm, children's story, or this storytelling in the
business and the governmental world.
If we, the stories that we tell, you know, that shapes our imagination.
If you can create something powerful enough for something to people to believe in it, theywill, you know, then it exists.
(49:19):
So that's how I try to use my power as a storyteller.
On the team we also had Eliza who's an incredibly skilled teacher and she's also anartist.
So she looks after making sure that these things not only match the needs of the learningenvironment of the curriculum but also that they're done in an incredibly creative way.
(49:41):
She often gets told to work with children who are unteachable and through art andcreativity she's able to bring them totally in line with the curriculum.
So we infused that.
into these adventures so that they are these engaging, creative, expert, you know,invitations to explore and discover.
(50:01):
And we also had Kelly, who's a trained teacher and she's also a trained mindfulness expertand so that whole thread of bringing a greater awareness of well-being, starting from self
all the way through to planet, is brought into these.
It sounds an awful lot to bring into these.
small adventures, but I think once you start doing it, it becomes almost automatic.
(50:25):
And with the lovely stories that we already had to start with, I hope that we've reallybeen able to support and enrich them by weaving these three storytelling, creativity,
mindfulness through this learning of how to make our world a more beautiful place.
Thank you.
I think, Eddie, you have something to say about that.
(50:47):
Yeah, I just wanted to add the, one of the things I would say we've discovered aboutCambridge Reading Adventures and the great, the really powerful themes around climate is
how international they are.
And there's, you know, we purposefully were designing something that had to sell intomarkets all around the world.
(51:08):
And I think ultimately it's in about 100, Cambridge Reading Adventures can be found inabout 100 countries around the world.
And...
I think that sort of connection that we can help engender between children all over theworld in terms of making it this really powerful sort of force across the world is
(51:33):
something which can be done with climate because it does go...
It does go everywhere.
We don't find it's blocking us into certain countries, by the way, which is interesting aswell.
And I think that for me is a sort of really sort of hopeful thing that the moreinterconnected, the more international looking we are, the more children are able to
(52:01):
embrace climate change.
Thank you, Eddie.
And we have been doing some extra content around sustainability and climate change aswell.
Eddie, can you describe a blog post we've been working on in the aeronautical industry?
Well, we've got another podcast coming up, which is very much around whales and dolphinsand the preservation of the oceans.
(52:32):
But another aspect of climate change is one of those awkward ones where there's anactivity that we all feel is a very positive activity.
Being able to fly and take us to places all over the world is clearly it's...
It's a wonderful thing, a wonderful human invention.
you know, it would be worrying if we just said, oh, well, in order to save the world, wehave to stop flying.
(52:58):
So what we did was we contacted a couple of aviation experts.
So Joe Coles, who runs a very successful aviation blog, and Joe Wilding, who's one of itscontributors, and who's also an aircraft designer, and asked them, oh, well, what should
planes be looking like in the future, which is much more sort of supportive of...
(53:23):
you know, battling climate change.
So we have this aviation blog which will be coming out very soon, which is sort ofdetailing what measures can be taken, which will allow us to do some, you know, to
maintain some part of the flying without the sort of excesses, which are obviously puttingthe excessive amounts, which put an awful lot of carbon and fossil fuels into the
(53:47):
atmosphere.
So that's a fascinating blog, and it's coming up.
Well, we've got the blog, haven't we, Eddie?
And if you put in the teaching points with your curriculum expert.
(54:09):
Not quite yet, but that's the next step.
And the images.
Yes.
Brilliant, so yes.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, I'm literally just going to do that.
That's wonderful.
Thank you, Eddie.
So we've got a lot of exciting content coming up we've been mentioning.
(54:29):
So you'll be able to find links to that blog post and to our Orca podcast as well thatEddie mentioned there, where we're talking about the wonders of the underwater world.
So we're working with an Orca charity on that one.
So please check those out in the show notes.
And Cindy, so we're talking about some big ideas in this content.
How would you take those ideas into the classroom?
(54:52):
Well, I think that, are you talking about the content of the Cambridge Reading Adventures?
Well, I think it's, you know, or climate breakdown generally.
Which one are you?
About the Cambridge Reading Adventures.
breakdown, climate breakdown generally, how would you take, so for instance we've had thisaeronautical blog that we're working on, obviously these are really big ideas about green
(55:16):
technology, but we're working with primary school students here, how would you translatethose ideas for children in the classroom?
Well, I think that the Cambridge Reading Adventure Series is a really great way of doingit.
I really enjoyed working on that series because some of the books we chose were actuallyfiction.
So you're inviting children in to have, through these stories, which are really exciting,and then through a small story, you can introduce a big idea.
(55:44):
And it can, you know, I, well, Eddie talked, let's talk about the seagull.
It's a little story about her...
the little seagull on the beach that gets dirty, but from there you can get all out intoplastic pollution.
I mean, depending on the age of your children, you can just keep expanding, because wheredoes plastic end up?
(56:05):
In the ocean.
Why is it a problem for the ocean?
Then you can get into the things that happen, you know, that we need to do to help toregenerate our oceans.
Then you can look at actual materials manufacturer.
Okay, so if we can stop it getting in, how do we get it out?
There's the things that you can do.
to transform.
You can get plastic out of the ocean and turn it into all sorts of other things that'salready happening, boats, swimming suits, but you could also look at materials design, how
(56:30):
do we design something that degrades, which is also happening.
So it just spirals out.
I mean, I would love to see a much more integrated approach to teaching, you know,earth-led education so that it's connected across the curriculum and this is structured.
But as a teacher, there's so many ways that you can link.
(56:51):
start from these small stories and link them right across, you know, the differentsubjects in the curriculum.
And again, as I said, depending on the age of the children into, you know, much more, muchmore wide and if it's age appropriate complex subjects.
(57:11):
So I think that little drop is really good.
Yeah.
Sorry, Eddie.
you.
Eddie, what do you think?
Well, over the weekend we bought a bed for my son and it was really gratifying and reallysort of, you know, I found it very positive because...
pretty much all the mattresses are filled with recycled plastic bottles.
(57:35):
Now I'm not going to mention the retailer, but you know, we went to quite a high end oneand for me that that's, you know, it fascinated my son as well.
And, and, but it's sort of one of those things where you're thinking stuff is reallyhappening.
There's a really positive, you know, positive stuff is happening.
(57:56):
Nobody can possibly complain because the mattress is perfectly comfortable and we'vebought it.
And you know, it just for me, it sort of encapsulated the fact that we are learning.
We might not be learning quickly enough, but let's keep doing what we're doing, doingmore, because it is making a change and we're going to be, you know, we will battle
(58:22):
climate change.
Wonderful.
So you've both saved some brilliant inspirational ideas for us there.
I'm going to retake that because I rather mangled it.
Wonderful.
Thank you for sharing those brilliant inspirational ideas with us that we can take intothe classroom.
That's all we have time for today on our climate change episode.
(58:44):
Thank you to Cindy and Eddie for being such fantastic guests and sharing some reallyuseful and as I say, inspirational insights.
Don't forget to tell your friends and colleagues about us and rate our show on whateverplatform you're listening on.
Our show notes have lots of useful links that we've discussed throughout this episode, sobe sure to take a look at them.
(59:05):
You can also follow and contact us on X or Instagram at CambridgeINT.
Thank you for listening.
We hope you join us again soon.
And Adam, I would just like to retake the beginning intro, which I felt was a bit weak.
There was just a joining bit that I wanted to do after we did the icebreaker question tojust take us into that first question.
(59:29):
Okay, so let's just rephrase that.
So we've got, yep, so we've got all these glorious things in nature about us.
So how do we look after them?
So let's get into the main theme of our discussion today.
Cindy, can I ask you please, what is the challenge facing us with climate change?
(59:51):
And why do you think urgent action is needed?
And then we can loop into what we've done before.
slightly better than my so main theme.
That was amazing.
Thank you so much, everyone.
Is there anything else you want to add or are we all good?
Because from my perspective, that was brilliant.
(01:00:13):
I think so.
I just wanted to check, did I go off on a bit of a tangent with that last remark?
Because it was, I was thinking of something to sort of bring it home and wrap it up, butit wasn't really adding to this sort of, you know, I think I sort of said what I was going
to say on CRA.
It just, it did strike me as being a...
(01:00:36):
a real life example of something happening.
I'm talking about hauling the plastic out of the ocean.
You know, there it goes.
It turns up in your son's bed.
There it is.
Exactly.
Yeah.
I mean, this is John Lewis, Lewis is absolutely the lot.
And there might have been.
normal day to day reality, which is what, you know, the way most of us are going toencounter this.
(01:01:00):
Yeah.
I thought it was great.
Yeah, and I think that
Yeah.
Stop recording yet.
Hello and welcome to our latest episode of the Brighter Thinking Pod from theInternational Education Group of Cambridge University Press and Assessment.
I'm Tamsen Hart, a Product Marketing Manager, and I'll be your host today.
We created our Brighter Thinking Pod to support teachers around the world.
Each episode brings you helpful advice and interesting conversation from some of ourauthors, teachers and academics.
(00:26):
Today we're going to be taking a closer look at teaching the climate emergency.
What the impact is for the planet and our classrooms.
For this episode, we're joined by two special guests, Cindy Ford and Eddie Rivath.
Retaking that.
For this episode, we're joined by two special guests, Cindy Ford and Eddie Rivath.
(00:50):
Cindy is an author, activist, founder of Planetary.
Sorry, gonna retake that as well.
Cindy is an author, activist.
founder of Planetary, pioneering Earth-led education, earning a Climate Positive Award atUN COP 28.
Her groundbreaking children's book, Bright New World, Building a Better Planet, hasgarnered critical acclaim, selected among the best new children's books by The Guardian
(01:19):
and held as outstanding by new scientists in 2022.
It has been adopted by the Australian National Curriculum.
Eddie Ripoth is Head of Primary Publishing, Products and Services at Cambridge UniversityPress and Assessment.
Eddie Ripoth is the Head of Primary Publishing, Products and Services at Cambridge,including commissioning our guided reading scheme, Cambridge Reading Adventures.
(01:47):
Cindy and Eddie, welcome to the show.
Hi Tamsin.
Hi, it's lovely to be here.
Great to have you both here.
Now remember, all the links and info that we discussed are available in the show notes foryour ease.
And if you want to get your voice heard on the show, you can get in touch on X orInstagram at CambridgeINT.
(02:13):
Now let's start with a question that celebrates the wonder of the natural world.
What is one of your favourite experiences you've had in the natural world that has justfilled you with wonder?
Eddie, let's start with you.
All right, thank you, Tamsin.
It's a very, very difficult question because the natural world surprises me every day.
(02:37):
Even just cycling down the river to come into the office today, I saw a kingfisher.
And I think when I consider this question, it actually comes down to the beauty of birds.
If I could single one aspect out of it.
And it's...
When something crops up during the day that you don't usually see, let's say like akingfisher, perhaps it's a goldfinch or a woodpecker, it's always a wonderful reminder of
(03:07):
the natural world and the beauty it brings us.
Now, a lot of, you know, this can happen anytime, any, you know, really locally.
I'm very privileged in terms of actually, you know, for work trips, travelling furtherafield and obviously there's more opportunity to see, you know, a greater variety of
birds.
just thought I'd relate to a favorite moment, which was on a work trip in Pakistan.
(03:33):
Now, we turned over to a hotel.
It was in Pakistan during quite a serious security lockdown.
It's all these very heavily guarded guys, guns, metal detectors.
I'm getting, I mean, at the moment, if you can imagine being padded down for hiddenweaponry in the grounds of this hotel, and I spotted a greater flame back.
(03:56):
in a little pine tree by the hotel entrance.
Now this is a gorgeous South Asian species of woodpecker.
It's this combination of black, red, and obviously the gold in its name.
And so you can imagine I was suddenly getting really, really excited with these gun-totingguys wondering what on earth is going on.
And I thought that just sort of really captured the power of nature, that in the mostunlikely moments it can provide you with something beautiful and exciting like that.
(04:25):
And it...
always underscores just how beautiful and valuable nature is and we really do need to takecare of it properly.
That sounds an absolutely gorgeous bird, Eddie.
I frequently walk down my garden just to hang out with some very friendly robins we've gotdown there.
And now Cindy, what about you?
Wow, that's such a fantastic story, Eddie.
(04:48):
Very much like Eddie, I'm really lucky.
I live in the middle of a field and I do yoga every morning and I'm in a room that faceseast.
So every morning I see the sunrise and it's just so stunning.
Depending on the time of year, you get different colors.
Sometimes the glorious orange and red and pink.
(05:09):
Sometimes it's almost diamond white.
But every single morning I can't help but just be awed by this incredible force, this lifeforce that powers a whole planet.
So there's numerous other examples, but that is my daily burst of awe and joy.
(05:30):
Yeah.
That sounds a beautiful start to the day.
So let's get onto the main theme of our discussion today.
Cindy, can I ask you please, what is the challenge facing us with climate change and whydo you think urgent action is needed?
(05:54):
Well, the challenge facing us with climate change is, you know, it's actually a complexone, but to speak to it in its simplest form, basically all of the systems that we
currently operate by, our economic system, our food system, our transport systems, how wetreat our carbon sinks, our oceans, our rainforests, are systems that are not compatible
(06:17):
with keeping Earth a safe space for human life.
So we really need to.
rethink how we design our ways of living here.
And I think that's where the education system comes in because the education system is oneof the most powerful tools for change.
If we raise a generation of humans, the next generation of humans that understand how todesign whatever they want to be, whether it's astrophysicists or hairdressers, adventurers
(06:49):
or wallpaper designers, if they decide.
If they learn how to do that within the planetary boundaries, then we're all set for asustainable, for a thriving future.
So that's a really important part of this challenge, recognising that the way that wecurrently live is not compatible with keeping Earth a safe space for human life.
(07:11):
We can change how we think, so that's very positive.
And the difficulty is we have to do this fast.
We've put such pressure.
on our life support system that we really are looking at six to eight years to rapidlyreduce emissions and rapidly increase the amount of oceans, of land space, of biodiversity
(07:34):
that's put under protection so that nature can get back on with doing this incredible jobthat she does of keeping, I know, of keeping earth regulated and balanced and safe for us
to live here.
So there's systems change in how we think and then there's this clock
ticking so we don't have, we know what we need to do but we need to act fast.
(07:55):
I think that's, those are the biggest challenges.
Thank you, Cindy.
And what do you think of the biggest successes so far in responding to climate change?
Well, I think human beings are an incredible species.
We can, it seems like we've done something incredibly stupid that we've brought our lifesupport system to the brink of not functioning for us anymore.
(08:21):
Earth is 4.6 billion years old.
She may be damaged, but she will recover.
But what the difficulty is, people talk about saving the planet, it's actually aboutkeeping Earth.
in a state that will support human life so that we can thrive.
So it's about saving ours.
And as an incredibly intelligent species, we know how to do it.
(08:42):
We already know what we need to do.
The solutions are very clear, and they're out there.
So I think that's a huge success.
In the time that we've understood this problem, renewable energy has been innovated,developed to this point that it's now cheaper.
than fossil fuels.
You know, that's a massive success.
We know what we need to do with our food systems, our land systems.
(09:05):
There's incredible innovators.
I'm really lucky because I work with many of them across the globe who are working out howto get the biodiversity under protection, how to get our oceans under protections, how to
produce food in a way that means we can feed eight billion of us on the planet withoutstress on the land.
We're doing an incredible job of working out.
(09:28):
what needs to be done, not just theoretically, but in practice.
So what we need to get better at to make this happen is to have the leadership that givesus the mandate to get on and accelerate these innovations rather than the constant blocks
that we live with at the moment because of politics.
(09:48):
Thank you.
Eddie, do you have anything further to add?
Yeah, I think in terms of the biggest successes, I think it's really important withclimate change to be very positive about what we are doing and celebrate the successes and
point out that the stuff we're doing does not mean the end of life as we know it, or theend of driving a car, or the end of visiting places.
(10:16):
I think for me, there's a need to sort of
to engage and make people optimistic and to offer sort of a really powerful vision of thefuture.
Because, you know, we just talked about the successes, we can do this, I think, is themessage that, you know, Cindy's telling us.
(10:39):
And actually, change is exciting and, you know, it's often a very positive thing.
So I think...
It's about encouraging people to embrace change and actually not sort of be sort of stuckin a sort of very siloed view of how the world should be.
(10:59):
Brilliant.
Thank you, Eddie.
Now let's take this back to the classroom.
To come back to you, Eddie, how do you think we can introduce climate change andsustainability topics into our lessons?
Well, coming from the primary end, it's actually very easy because children are fascinatedin the topics which are related to climate change.
(11:21):
They are fascinated in animals and rainforests and dolphins and whales.
So it's about sort of picking the topics which we know will really engage them andactually sort of showing how that topic is relevant, relevant to sort of the climate
issue, but also they're very important.
(11:42):
before you get to the climate issue, it's around the conservation.
It's about the importance of the nature around us.
And if we're protecting nature for the sake of its beauty, you're actually always, that isgonna always benefit, I would imagine, climate change.
I don't think I'm saying anything controversial there, Cindy, but please step in there.
(12:04):
But right from the start, for me, it's about,
going to children with things they're really fascinated by already.
You will always get across the line with talking about animals, talking about differenttypes of animals.
And in many ways, I think this is where the younger generation are actually ahead of theelder generations, which their interests may have wandered away from such things.
(12:35):
Thanks Eddie.
Cindy, how would you introduce these topics?
Yeah, I think Eddie's right.
There's just so much natural delight, curiosity, enthusiasm for these topics.
And I think it goes, there's the natural world, which is just an endless source ofinspiration and joy.
And there's also the innovation.
I mean, this, the danger we're in, I love the Chinese symbol for crisis, is wei ji, dangerand opportunity.
(13:04):
So yes, we are in a danger, but this is a massive opportunity for the human family.
to transform and I think children love that.
You know, even our generation, we loved shows that were about the future, everything fromStar Wars, Star Trek, all this.
But you know, these innovations are happening really rapidly and in real time and childrenabsolutely love that.
(13:27):
How do we design the cities of the future?
How do we design the energy of the future?
How do we design the...
food systems of the future, you know, you let them loose on their stuff and they just, youknow, with guidance, with teaching, they just, they, you know, they will take it away and
come up, go visit a lot of schools.
They've come up with better ideas than what's actually happening out there and there'ssuch a boundless imagination that, you know, you can see that these young people will be
(13:55):
the innovators and the entrepreneurs of a brighter world if they're equipped.
you know, with the skills to make what they're able to imagine into reality.
And I think it's a topic that cuts right across all the subjects.
You know, people think sustainability lives in geography or perhaps biology, but it's inscience, it's in technology, it's in maths, it's in the stories that we tell.
(14:21):
So it's in literacy, it's in the dreams that we manifest.
So it's in art.
You can really make this a transdisciplinary.
topic that will engage all areas of the school life.
And of course it's outside and it's all around us, so you can build in that physical sideof education as well.
(14:43):
And really make, I've worked with incredible schools who are turning their schools intomodels of how education can look.
So they have farms, they have school farms, gardens.
growing their own food, all sorts of things that are happening outside the classroom, aswell as what they're learning inside the classroom.
(15:05):
So it's an incredibly powerful, motivating topic for children and for teachers, because inteaching this, you can actually take action.
And instead of having the anxiety or the despair or the overwhelm, you know that you'redoing something and there's nothing more powerful than actually shaping.
the future.
So I think when teachers get that sense that they can do that, then I think there's thatreal positiveness that Eddie talks about that does arise and it can influence the culture
(15:36):
of the whole school.
That sounds brilliant.
Plenty of opportunities for them to start dreaming big.
And talking about the culture in the school, how do you think we can support discussionsand activities around climate change and sustainability, Cindy?
Well again, I think Eddie's made the most important point at the beginning.
(15:59):
It needs to be framed with what we can do with positive.
Yes, we get the news.
Everybody knows that bad news sells.
So we're overwhelmed with everything that's gone wrong and it can feel really hopeless anddisempowering.
But there is, you know, people even ask me that question, oh, how do you deal with thatevery day?
You know, but I can't think of a more joyful job.
(16:19):
You deal with the, yes, you look at the difficult, the problems.
that we've created, but you also work with the human beings that are solving them.
And those stories really need to be told.
And I think that that's such an important any discussion I would frame on sustainabilitywould say this is in the book that I've written, Bright New World.
We start with what we can have.
(16:41):
We can be here.
This is all possible.
And this is the it's we can we can see what can be done.
So let's look at where we are and let's build ourselves a roadmap to get there.
What would need to change?
What would we need to do?
And then people's minds start working in that way rather than how do I avoid this?
(17:02):
How do I block my ears?
How do I hide from this terrible, overwhelming thing?
So the frame of the discussion is action in a very real and pragmatic sense of what we canimagine and the small steps we can take to get there.
Thank you, Cindy.
Can you think of any more pragmatic solutions to support, Eddie?
(17:26):
Well, certainly as publishers, I'm going to be telling you a little bit later on in thepodcast about what we do, which is using source text to provide really interesting
climate-related materials.
I think there are all of the subject disciplines which every single one will have an anglewhich is actually could be supportive of.
(17:53):
of the sort of climate change agenda.
I think a big part of it though is empowering younger people because in essence what we'resaying is you need to know this is your world and it's in your power to actually save the
world.
(18:13):
And it's just, I suppose it's bringing that element into the classroom that there's areally powerful reason for.
for learning and for learning about the climate change, but also for the fact that theyare agents in this and they can do something really good for the planet.
(18:35):
And I think this is where it's sort of teaching them about how to influence and how oracywill play a part and how winning, it might be winning arguments, but advocating.
key changes which might lead to further climate initiatives.
(18:59):
It's interesting you mention Orosee there, Eddie.
We hear a lot about that now in education.
How important do you think Orosee is, Cindy?
Well, I actually think it's hugely important.
I mean, I've, as an activist, has come from a long line of change makers.
Being able to use your voice to clearly articulate, to understand and speak clearly forwhat you want has been one of the most powerful agents of change in every, right across
(19:29):
history.
Just looking at the last century from the suffragettes to the civil rights movement, thesewere people who were able to stand up.
and articulate very clearly what they wanted and what change would look like for them.
And I'm looking at frontline activist movements, but even one of the exercises that we usesometimes in the things is writing a letter to your minister.
(19:51):
You learn about a topic, for example, how the ocean works, and then you say, okay, now weknow what we want or how to keep our river systems clean, which is a huge issue in the UK
at the moment.
So you can write, just writing that letter, well.
crafted letter, you can start writing it when you're six, all the way through to secondaryschool, just putting out the ask for the world you want.
(20:13):
It's the one of the most powerful tools we have is our voice, so children who are wellequipped to use that are the children who are gonna be the change makers and the people
who get, who really help to shape that this world, taking it from the world in ourimaginations, articulating that and making it the world that is real.
(20:35):
Thank you.
And I think, yeah, the key aspect of oracy is any change requires people to persuadepeople who perhaps are reluctant and perhaps are sort of against that particular change.
And you mentioned the likes of Martin Luther King.
You know, there was obviously quite residual opposition.
(20:56):
Now, the best way to overcome that is by persuasion and by, you know...
sometimes compromise, there are all kinds of ways of dealing with that, but oracy is verymuch the key.
And it's actually being able to make the case and win over people who might otherwise sortof be thinking, oh, here's another climate initiative, they're going to stop me driving my
(21:18):
car.
Because there is fear here, and it tends to be fear in the older elements of thepopulation and not in the young part of the population.
And I think where there's fear, it should be.
Having an articulate case can sort of persuade and remove some of those fears and answerthe questions that people may have about sort of having to give up some aspect of their
(21:46):
life or feeling they have to give up some aspect of their life because of the latestclimate initiative.
So I think that's the other key about oracy.
It's about we know what needs to be done.
But it's the case.
clearly has to be made and has to be made and has to be made with good reason because youwant to bring everyone with you and you want everybody to sort of really understand why
(22:10):
they're doing things and agreeing with doing it rather than come sort of in a cumulantrumway or discovering that it's a very, very difficult process for them.
Brilliant, thank you, Eddie.
We mentioned writing letters there.
Are there any other kind of practical activities that can be brought into the classroom toteach climate education?
(22:33):
Cindy.
Yeah, I mean, I think there's, I think, you know, Tamsin, you as a communicator, you know,you do this wonderful job of telling a story.
And as Eddie's just said there, it's the story that we tell.
If the story lands wrong, something that can be a fantastic idea gets buried.
So I think in teaching, in encouraging our young people to be really strong communicators,great storytellers, whether it's visual storytellers, this is where I think the art comes
(23:03):
in,
whether it's storytelling in news, in fact, how you put your facts across, or whether it'smoving people's hearts and minds through fiction, whether it's music, there's all these,
because there's so much of people believing climate change is about understanding thescience, which of course is hugely important, but we often as humans, we respond in much
(23:30):
more emotional ways to things, so if you're trying to persuade and to change.
using that medium is really powerful.
That's why I say it's a topic that can sit right across different subjects.
Songs have been so powerful.
I mentioned the civil rights movement.
That was powered by some utterly incredible music that are now these anthems.
(23:56):
for change, you know, you hear change is going to come or we shall overcome or then theyjust trigger this emotional response.
So yeah, we did that.
That was a victory.
And I think that if we can use our power to imagine and to communicate that way from ourearliest years, we're much better equipped to make real this world that I think most of us
(24:18):
want and know that we can have in our hearts.
Thank you, some lovely ideas there Cindy.
Eddie, do you have any more practical activities to add?
Well, I always think there's something about the...
something about almost about the political process that children need to learn and howthey can make a voice and not feel excluded by it.
(24:42):
And that's something which, you know, as publishers we should be looking at.
But, you know, within the school itself, you know, maybe there's sort of, you know,classroom processes where, you know, class elections and how they, you know, looking at
how they can sort of create advocates and encourage the sort of...
(25:05):
the sort of oracy that will be important.
There are always great...
Climate change is a political issue and actually understanding how to put together acampaign and it might be a campaign based on creating wonderful posters or decorating the
classrooms.
(25:25):
So when parents are coming in, the message is passed on.
There's all these kinds of things that can be done.
And as I say, it harks back to that idea that it's about persuasion and bringing peoplealong and equipping children.
to be able to do that because there's definitely a sense that younger people get this muchmore than older people.
(25:52):
I don't think I'm too controversial in saying that as being relatively old myself.
But yeah, that's what I would say there.
Brilliant, thank you.
So lots of ways there of having a powerful voice, being creative, bringing it across allsubjects.
So we know that oracy is important.
(26:12):
Well-being is also being considered more and more in a structured way in a classroomsetting.
At Cambridge, we've developed a wellbeing curriculum and resources, and in fact, you canlisten to our recent podcast on wellbeing, which we'll link to in the show notes.
One of the aspects of wellbeing that came up in that discussion was
climate anxiety.
(26:34):
What is climate anxiety Cindy?
Well, I'm going to reframe that because I think it's when people get a label stuck onthem, it can be quite debilitating.
And I think that climate anxiety is actually part of a natural process of us being awarethat something isn't right.
(26:55):
I think, you know, if you get the sense of that in any other area of your life, that'scalled empathy.
It's called responding appropriately.
And I think.
There is so much that we're aware of that isn't working.
We are in a code red.
You know, the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, has said this isa code red.
(27:16):
I've had a very great, good fortune to, you know, to be involved with some fantasticpsychologists on this.
And they say it'd be much more helpful if we referred to it as climate empathy, so thatthe children don't feel that there's something wrong with them in being over anxious,
nervous, wichity, if you like, but they're just tuning in to something that is happening.
very much around us in our time.
(27:38):
So if you reframe that, look, there's absolutely nothing wrong with you.
You're feeling something that we're all feeling.
So now let's hold that and come together and look at how we can take action, not only tomake that feeling go away, but to make the situation better so that we don't have this, so
we're not tuning into what's going wrong.
(27:59):
We're channeling and being part of what's going right.
And I think so that taking the onus off
the children feeling that there's something wrong with them or the older people into it'shappening to all around us.
Let's move together as a group, as a human family and sort this thing out.
(28:20):
Brilliant.
So you talked about reframing as a way of supporting the wellbeing of children who mighthave been seen as suffering from climate anxiety.
Are there any other ways we could support them?
Well, I think it is really important for young people to see that things are happening.
Eddie, I think the only thing that I'm going to, well maybe you might say some even morecontroversial things later on, is I think that, I think, I think we are, it's a
(28:45):
transgenerational thing.
I think older people, there's many older people who really understand this stuff, who havea lot of experience of working in it and making change, who've got long track records,
histories, stories of...
you know, of being at the forefront of change, or in their field making change.
And I think that young people knowing that rather than this horrifying thing, it's up tous, it's our generation, we've got to save the world.
(29:13):
I think that's a message that's really difficult for young people to feel that they'reisolated and alone in this, you know, this response, these terrible old people have made
don't care and they've made a dreadful mess.
And then these young, that's not what you said Eddie at all, I'm just trying to expand theidea a little bit.
But you know, so it's the children are thinking these, and also that triggers anger, whichisn't helpful.
(29:37):
So it's young people, yes, they have landed on earth at this certain time, but there's alot of us that have walked a very long road to try to bring a different type of world into
being.
And we're here and we're still doing it.
And we're here to support.
these young people and work with them and guide them through.
And I think that's probably, to know that, that they are part of a community where this iswell understood and that people are working together across the generations to build this
(30:10):
better world is much more assuring than we've been left in this terrible mess, it's allsomebody else's fault and we've got to clean it up, which really isn't the case.
Now Eddie, you look like you'd like to speak.
Yes, and I absolutely agree, Cindy.
I certainly don't want to characterize every single old person as being, you know, andanti-climate.
(30:35):
And yes, and I think that there is that danger that it sort of becomes, you know, it'slike we're finding the lesser developed countries, you've got to do this now because
we've, the more developed countries generally have created more climate emissions in thepast, et cetera.
It's...
And I think actually the blame game suddenly starts getting, is very counterproductive inthat.
(30:58):
I do wonder though with climate anxiety, and this perhaps goes across all generations,there's actually, doing practical things is always a good way to improve one's wellbeing.
So if climate is, it's nice to know that you've done something which...
(31:20):
may be making some tiny difference to climate.
So, you know, it might be, as I say, I cycled into work today, you know, I've done thatfor the last three or four years, and it's a tiny bit of, it's certainly, I feel the
wellbeing of it, but it's actually encouraging that kind of sort of feeling that well,actually, doing these things is making a contribution.
(31:42):
I do wonder if within a school setting, it's actually sort of, you know, it might bearound, you know,
showcasing how children are already making a big contribution or going out of their way todo that.
I know it's not climate specific in itself, but sorting out rubbish is interesting now ina way that it wasn't a few years ago.
(32:11):
Children do it.
I think it's those kind of things.
Because they're doing something, it's interesting.
I think that would really, that does really help.
And if they're doing something like that and being applauded for it and encouraged, Ithink that's gotta be good.
Cindy, can you come back on that?
Yeah, I totally agree with that.
And I also think that it goes beyond the child themselves.
(32:33):
It goes into the context that they're in.
And I think schools are really fantastic places.
I know that schools can't entirely generalize, but most people who have the calling to bean educator bring a set of values with them, which is about care, which is about
nurturing, which is about compassion.
And I think these are extremely important.
(32:54):
values to have in the ecosystem of a child's development.
It's quite frightening when you step outside of school environments that these valuesaren't the ones that we see displayed in our world, in some of our business organisations.
There's fantastic businesses, there's also very rapacious corporate empires, there's the,you know, our lead, the governmental leadership.
(33:15):
These values are really lacking and that can be a real shock for children when they leave,young people when they leave school, everything that they were taught is, you know, is
flipped on its head.
But I do think within the school environment there's so much that can be done for youngpeople to see these ethics and values at work all around them.
And I think that's a natural propensity for teachers to do that.
(33:39):
And obviously the teachers need to be well supported themselves because everything'sinterconnected.
It's very hard to concentrate on the well-being of children if the culture isn't one ofwell-being for the teachers,
environment of the school.
I think if you have a culture where those things are in place you're much more likely tohave children who feel that and who have the well-being themselves.
(34:04):
I think that having those values which you do so...
often finding schools really supported will and it's exactly the same, that's the care ofthe child, the care of the person who's caring for the child, the care of the self is the
thing that enables us to care for our planet ultimately.
So I think that having those values at the heart of everything that we do really is whatwill make the difference both to the child in the micro and to the planet in the macro.
(34:34):
Well, we talked about this.
It's interesting you raise that from a student perspective.
But what if the teacher is the individual who is very passionate about climate change, whois having the climate anxiety?
How can they influence their school to bring it into the classroom?
Yeah, I mean, that's a hugely important question, Tamsin, because people talk abouteco-champion teachers.
(34:59):
I was part of a survey government, well, it was conducted for the British government acouple of years ago around attitudes, you know, how do we get this into school?
And it was, you know, there's the beyond the eco-champion teachers, because they're doingit anyway.
But the other teachers.
They need support.
(35:20):
So this is a real, really important point for leaders of schools.
You know, if you're serious about doing something and leaders of publishing companies,leaders of education companies, if you're serious about...
doing this, if you think that solving the climate crisis, the climate breakdown isimportant, then you have to create the culture where it's possible to do so, which means
(35:44):
supporting a culture of wellbeing as we've talked about, but also having the time, becauseso many of the teachers who weren't the eco-champions said, well, we don't have a mandate
for this, we think it's important, we don't have the mandate, it's not in the curriculum,we don't have the bandwidth.
That was changed, that the things that we now say are the most critical
on earth if space was made for them in school.
(36:07):
So the eco teachers don't just have the stress of knowing that this thing is happening andnot enough is happening to equip the children to deal with it, but they're supported.
They've got the culture in the schools to do that.
They've got the resources in the schools to do that.
You know, that does become.
part of a much wider issue, societally, how we respond to this issue and not just to themarket, which says we need qualifications, the exams are set this way, we need to teach
(36:35):
our students to pass these exams, but really you're training the children to go out intothe world and replicate the system that has brought us to this really difficult point and
so...
There has to be a systemic shift in that.
And I'm saying it's me saying that, it's mother nature saying that.
We either shift systemically what we think is important or our chances of thriving aremuch more limited.
(37:03):
So the value system that supports a healthy earth eventually needs to align with the onethat we see.
supporting a healthy economy, which is really why, how we set the curriculums and how weset the things that we think are important to learn about at school.
So those two things have got to come into much greater alignment.
(37:27):
Eddie, what do you think about these individual passionate teachers?
What can they do?
What's going to add, the individual passion of teachers can be facilitated by what we'redoing at Cambridge University in Press and Assessment.
We do have an unusual amount of influence over curriculums in the sense that we arecreators of curriculums and major assessments.
(37:55):
Quite clearly, if we are embracing the change and we are seeing climate education within
the curricula that we're producing and within the publishing that I'm personally involvedin, that really will help support these individual teachers and also that helps engender
(38:15):
that sort of much more greater climate focus within the schools because ultimately theschools, you know, they live and many will live and die by the education that they're
giving the children and it...
will become very important for them to be including climate within that education.
(38:36):
So there's a role in all of the tiers of organization involved in education.
And Cambridge obviously is very much one of those, being a publisher and an assessmentbody.
you.
Now you talked about personal experience there, I think we should take this moment to diginto both of your experiences.
(38:59):
So Cindy let's start with you and your work at Pernitari.
Can you tell us how this began and what you do?
Yeah, sure, I'll try to be succinct because it's quite a long journey.
I've spent most of my career looking at systemic change.
This is going back to the early 90s when I was repeatedly told, I'm ahead of my time.
(39:24):
I hear that phrase so many times in the context of what I do.
And I think now we're at the point that we're out of time.
So what I recognise working with lots of businesses and government.
was that people just aren't aware.
You get to people who are 30 or 40 and they're still now, they're waking up to thesituation that we're really in.
(39:50):
You've been educated all the way through to take up a role in society and then yousuddenly realize that it's paradoxical to whether we're actually going to, actually to the
regeneration of Earth.
Often what looks like a very good job can be a job that's actually
part of the problem rather than part of the solution and it is possible to transformeverything.
(40:11):
There's nothing, most industries are neutral, food, transport, energy, it's possible totransform them into something that is part of the solution.
And so it seemed to me that it was critically important that we educate ourselves verydifferently so that in whatever field of endeavour we choose, we know how to do this
stuff.
(40:32):
And so through various iterations, I finally decided to found Planetary, which is aroundpioneering Earth-led education.
So it doesn't mean that everybody learns how to hug a tree.
It really means that everybody learns how to design whatever they...
You know, from the beginning, our frame is the planetary boundaries.
As we teach children in school to do everything in the frame of what's healthy for theirminds and their bodies, it's just extending that.
(40:59):
so that you understand how the planetary boundaries work and everything from exactly fromour literature, economics, history is taught to be within those planets.
So it doesn't hugely change the curriculum, but it changes the emphasis of it.
If something is going to be causing undue damage, then we unlearn that and we relearn howto do it in a way that causes.
(41:24):
that promotes the wellbeing of Earth and our ability to thrive here.
So there's a lot more I can say about that, but I won't.
But essentially it's kind of like the Ptolemy Copernicus thing, where Ptolemy is sayingthe Earth is at the centre of the planetary system and then Copernicus is abiding his time
(41:46):
to say actually, when it's safe to say actually, no, Earth is at the centre of the solarsystem.
So we need to do that mind flip.
and move from this egocentric worldview which is saying that humans, that the earth existsto serve humans rather than humans exist to be stewards of the planet that keeps them
alive and that transforms every the way that we learn almost every subject.
(42:11):
Thank you, Cindy, some very inspiring work there.
And now back to Eddie, who, as you will recall from our podcast intro, I'm gonna retakethat.
And now back to Eddie, who, as you will recall from our podcast intro, was responsible forcommissioning our Cambridge Reading Adventures series.
Eddie, can you tell us a little bit about the series and how the themes tie in withsustainability and climate change?
(42:39):
I'm Count Tamsin.
So, the Chemistry Reading Adventures is a series that we produced several years ago andit's unique in the sense that we started out wanting to cater for students all around the
world or pupils all around the world starting to read.
(43:00):
And what became very clear in terms of choosing themes and topics which of internationalrelevance, relevance to children in India or in United Arab Emirates or in Colombia, all
around the world, actual topics around the environment and climate and conservation are.
(43:27):
really, really a good way of binding an international series together because they areuniversally relevant.
So having created this series a few years ago, it was...
We had a load of books in here which were really, really quite, I would say, very, verysort of topical for climate change.
(43:48):
I mean, we had books on the climate change process.
We had books around pollution.
And we had books about recycling.
All manner of things which were, if not closely related, were tangentially related.
And I think we actually found about 60 or 70 of the books have some really strong link.
(44:12):
to potential climate change work.
So what we did was we chose several of these books working with Cindy and decided tocreate a teaching environment around each of them.
So if you regard a reading book as a stimulus, so there'll be a lovely story.
For example, one of the stories for five, six year old children is called The Seagull.
(44:38):
And it's about two young children who find a seagull on a beach.
But the seagull is an absolute mess.
It's covered in oil, it's covered in litter, it's covered in all manner of stuff.
It's a real sticky mess.
And they end up trying to clean it so it can go away and be happy.
And obviously, it's very clear.
(44:59):
clear opportunities there to study why is the seagull getting so messed up, etc.
It was about drawing the themes out and then developing these themes with variousactivities.
Some teaching as well around the concepts, in this case it was plastic pollution andwhat's going into the ocean and how we can avoid this kind of behaviour.
(45:29):
that came out of that particular title.
As I say, at the moment we've done six.
potentially lots of other opportunities and we are certainly looking at whether we can doa few more of these and ultimately actually produce a few more of these, well a few more
(45:51):
Cambridge reading adventures which actually sort of would tie in with these powerfulthemes.
So from a publisher's point of view this is a start, it's absolutely just a start andobviously with reading it's more discretionary.
a statutory curriculum, but nonetheless it can really sort of help bring climate and theissues around it, the issues around sustainability and other things right into the
(46:21):
classroom in an easy, enjoyable way.
And what we've done then is taken it that step further with the teaching and the projectsand activities which can follow from that reading book.
Brilliant.
Thank you for bringing those up, Eddie.
We'll be linking to all of these resources in the show notes, so you'll be able to accessthem.
(46:44):
Cindy, what was your aim with these teaching sheets?
Well, it was absolutely delightful to be invited to collaborate with Cambridge UniversityPress on an assessment on these fantastic reading adventures because while it's a small
step, everything does start with a story.
So the aim, and I work with children, my memories as a child, I think stories are some ofthe most powerful things, whether it's animated stories or reading stories, these are the
(47:15):
things that really shape your...
formative view on the world, so being awakened to these, it sounds small, but that is akind of awakening, a sensitizing, which I think is really important to happen in those
early years.
So our intention, the stories are beautiful already, the illustrations are beautiful,they're inspiring, they create this whole universe that you can step into, and our
(47:41):
intention was to really respect that and make these adventures as delightful as possiblebecause
You know, you want people, the children, to feel so excited about learning about thesetopics and what they can do and being an active part of it.
That's the real mission that you give a sense of this.
And you are your lovely opening question this morning, Tamsin, what gives you that senseof wonder and awe?
(48:03):
You want these, we want these adventures to enhance these already beautiful readingadventures with the teaching and learning activities that really enhance that sense of.
learning of wonder and awe, not we're learning about really difficult topics, we'relearning about this stuff, but hey look, look at the actions we can take, look at the
adventures that we can have making these, you know, learning how to transform and make ourworld an even more beautiful place.
(48:31):
We're dealing with very small children so we really want to give them that sense ofdelight and possibility with these adventures that we've collaborated with you all on.
That sounds absolutely amazing.
So you were working with your team at Planetary on these sheets and you all broughtdifferent specialisms to them, didn't you?
(48:55):
Yeah, we did.
So I'm a creative, you know, my bread and butter really is storytelling, whether it'sstorytelling in the children's realm, children's story, or this storytelling in the
business and the governmental world.
If we, the stories that we tell, you know, that shapes our imagination.
If you can create something powerful enough for something to people to believe in it, theywill, you know, then it exists.
(49:19):
So that's how I try to use my power as a storyteller.
On the team we also had Eliza who's an incredibly skilled teacher and she's also anartist.
So she looks after making sure that these things not only match the needs of the learningenvironment of the curriculum but also that they're done in an incredibly creative way.
(49:41):
She often gets told to work with children who are unteachable and through art andcreativity she's able to bring them totally in line with the curriculum.
So we infused that.
into these adventures so that they are these engaging, creative, expert, you know,invitations to explore and discover.
(50:01):
And we also had Kelly, who's a trained teacher and she's also a trained mindfulness expertand so that whole thread of bringing a greater awareness of well-being, starting from self
all the way through to planet, is brought into these.
It sounds an awful lot to bring into these.
small adventures, but I think once you start doing it, it becomes almost automatic.
(50:25):
And with the lovely stories that we already had to start with, I hope that we've reallybeen able to support and enrich them by weaving these three storytelling, creativity,
mindfulness through this learning of how to make our world a more beautiful place.
Thank you.
I think, Eddie, you have something to say about that.
(50:47):
Yeah, I just wanted to add the, one of the things I would say we've discovered aboutCambridge Reading Adventures and the great, the really powerful themes around climate is
how international they are.
And there's, you know, we purposefully were designing something that had to sell intomarkets all around the world.
(51:08):
And I think ultimately it's in about 100, Cambridge Reading Adventures can be found inabout 100 countries around the world.
And...
I think that sort of connection that we can help engender between children all over theworld in terms of making it this really powerful sort of force across the world is
(51:33):
something which can be done with climate because it does go...
It does go everywhere.
We don't find it's blocking us into certain countries, by the way, which is interesting aswell.
And I think that for me is a sort of really sort of hopeful thing that the moreinterconnected, the more international looking we are, the more children are able to
(52:01):
embrace climate change.
Thank you, Eddie.
And we have been doing some extra content around sustainability and climate change aswell.
Eddie, can you describe a blog post we've been working on in the aeronautical industry?
Well, we've got another podcast coming up, which is very much around whales and dolphinsand the preservation of the oceans.
(52:32):
But another aspect of climate change is one of those awkward ones where there's anactivity that we all feel is a very positive activity.
Being able to fly and take us to places all over the world is clearly it's...
It's a wonderful thing, a wonderful human invention.
you know, it would be worrying if we just said, oh, well, in order to save the world, wehave to stop flying.
(52:58):
So what we did was we contacted a couple of aviation experts.
So Joe Coles, who runs a very successful aviation blog, and Joe Wilding, who's one of itscontributors, and who's also an aircraft designer, and asked them, oh, well, what should
planes be looking like in the future, which is much more sort of supportive of...
(53:23):
you know, battling climate change.
So we have this aviation blog which will be coming out very soon, which is sort ofdetailing what measures can be taken, which will allow us to do some, you know, to
maintain some part of the flying without the sort of excesses, which are obviously puttingthe excessive amounts, which put an awful lot of carbon and fossil fuels into the
(53:47):
atmosphere.
So that's a fascinating blog, and it's coming up.
Well, we've got the blog, haven't we, Eddie?
And if you put in the teaching points with your curriculum expert.
(54:09):
Not quite yet, but that's the next step.
And the images.
Yes.
Brilliant, so yes.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, I'm literally just going to do that.
That's wonderful.
Thank you, Eddie.
So we've got a lot of exciting content coming up we've been mentioning.
(54:29):
So you'll be able to find links to that blog post and to our Orca podcast as well thatEddie mentioned there, where we're talking about the wonders of the underwater world.
So we're working with an Orca charity on that one.
So please check those out in the show notes.
And Cindy, so we're talking about some big ideas in this content.
How would you take those ideas into the classroom?
(54:52):
Well, I think that, are you talking about the content of the Cambridge Reading Adventures?
Well, I think it's, you know, or climate breakdown generally.
Which one are you?
About the Cambridge Reading Adventures.
breakdown, climate breakdown generally, how would you take, so for instance we've had thisaeronautical blog that we're working on, obviously these are really big ideas about green
(55:16):
technology, but we're working with primary school students here, how would you translatethose ideas for children in the classroom?
Well, I think that the Cambridge Reading Adventure Series is a really great way of doingit.
I really enjoyed working on that series because some of the books we chose were actuallyfiction.
So you're inviting children in to have, through these stories, which are really exciting,and then through a small story, you can introduce a big idea.
(55:44):
And it can, you know, I, well, Eddie talked, let's talk about the seagull.
It's a little story about her...
the little seagull on the beach that gets dirty, but from there you can get all out intoplastic pollution.
I mean, depending on the age of your children, you can just keep expanding, because wheredoes plastic end up?
(56:05):
In the ocean.
Why is it a problem for the ocean?
Then you can get into the things that happen, you know, that we need to do to help toregenerate our oceans.
Then you can look at actual materials manufacturer.
Okay, so if we can stop it getting in, how do we get it out?
There's the things that you can do.
to transform.
You can get plastic out of the ocean and turn it into all sorts of other things that'salready happening, boats, swimming suits, but you could also look at materials design, how
(56:30):
do we design something that degrades, which is also happening.
So it just spirals out.
I mean, I would love to see a much more integrated approach to teaching, you know,earth-led education so that it's connected across the curriculum and this is structured.
But as a teacher, there's so many ways that you can link.
(56:51):
start from these small stories and link them right across, you know, the differentsubjects in the curriculum.
And again, as I said, depending on the age of the children into, you know, much more, muchmore wide and if it's age appropriate complex subjects.
(57:11):
So I think that little drop is really good.
Yeah.
Sorry, Eddie.
you.
Eddie, what do you think?
Well, over the weekend we bought a bed for my son and it was really gratifying and reallysort of, you know, I found it very positive because...
pretty much all the mattresses are filled with recycled plastic bottles.
(57:35):
Now I'm not going to mention the retailer, but you know, we went to quite a high end oneand for me that that's, you know, it fascinated my son as well.
And, and, but it's sort of one of those things where you're thinking stuff is reallyhappening.
There's a really positive, you know, positive stuff is happening.
(57:56):
Nobody can possibly complain because the mattress is perfectly comfortable and we'vebought it.
And you know, it just for me, it sort of encapsulated the fact that we are learning.
We might not be learning quickly enough, but let's keep doing what we're doing, doingmore, because it is making a change and we're going to be, you know, we will battle
(58:22):
climate change.
Wonderful.
So you've both saved some brilliant inspirational ideas for us there.
I'm going to retake that because I rather mangled it.
Wonderful.
Thank you for sharing those brilliant inspirational ideas with us that we can take intothe classroom.
That's all we have time for today on our climate change episode.
(58:44):
Thank you to Cindy and Eddie for being such fantastic guests and sharing some reallyuseful and as I say, inspirational insights.
Don't forget to tell your friends and colleagues about us and rate our show on whateverplatform you're listening on.
Our show notes have lots of useful links that we've discussed throughout this episode, sobe sure to take a look at them.
(59:05):
You can also follow and contact us on X or Instagram at CambridgeINT.
Thank you for listening.
We hope you join us again soon.
And Adam, I would just like to retake the beginning intro, which I felt was a bit weak.
There was just a joining bit that I wanted to do after we did the icebreaker question tojust take us into that first question.
(59:29):
Okay, so let's just rephrase that.
So we've got, yep, so we've got all these glorious things in nature about us.
So how do we look after them?
So let's get into the main theme of our discussion today.
Cindy, can I ask you please, what is the challenge facing us with climate change?
(59:51):
And why do you think urgent action is needed?
And then we can loop into what we've done before.
slightly better than my so main theme.
That was amazing.
Thank you so much, everyone.
Is there anything else you want to add or are we all good?
Because from my perspective, that was brilliant.
(01:00:13):
I think so.
I just wanted to check, did I go off on a bit of a tangent with that last remark?
Because it was, I was thinking of something to sort of bring it home and wrap it up, butit wasn't really adding to this sort of, you know, I think I sort of said what I was going
to say on CRA.
It just, it did strike me as being a...
(01:00:36):
a real life example of something happening.
I'm talking about hauling the plastic out of the ocean.
You know, there it goes.
It turns up in your son's bed.
There it is.
Exactly.
Yeah.
I mean, this is John Lewis, Lewis is absolutely the lot.
And there might have been.
normal day to day reality, which is what, you know, the way most of us are going toencounter this.
(01:01:00):
Yeah.
I thought it was great.
Yeah, and I think that
Yeah.
Stop recording yet.
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