CANWM and Youth Strike for Climate are launching their lottery-funded project to build a network of climate champions in secondary schools. We are currently searching for the first cohort of students to attend a short course for climate champions in Jan 2020. The course is designed by and for young people. Participants will meet other young climate activists, learn new skills to encourage action at their school, share ideas and concerns with like-minded people and feel more empowered to respond to the climate crisis and make a difference.
Our 2019 Further, Faster Together project, supported by The National Lottery, aims to develop a West Midlands network of informed and empowered young people, schools and families. Each school by itself has limited capacity to act on climate. Working together, we can achieve far more.
Passionate and committed young people have generated huge support for action on the Climate Emergency in 2019. They have helped drive several City Councils and the West Midlands Combined Authority to declare a Climate Emergency.
However not every student, school or parent can support direct action such as “Fridays for the Future”. To engage many more schools, students and families, we will help grow and support a network of local “climate champions”. We are working with climate campaigners, teachers and other partners to co-design a network and supporting materials which will help many more students and schools to take action.
We aim to support secondary school students in years 8 to 10, before GCSEs become their main educational focus. Our purpose is to encourage thinking and practical action about the transition to a sustainable future. So the main curriculum links are to sciences, arts, geography, citizenship, critical thinking, and PSHE.
We want to make it as easy as possible for students and staff in each school to join the network and use co-developed materials to engage each school community in climate action. Our growing list of resources and helpful organisations is here. If you know of any other useful ideas and resources, please let us know. If you want to join or help develop the network please email us at canwestm@gmail.com
