Teachers and researchers from the Network for Social and Educational Equity and Children’s Neighbourhoods Scotland are working with primary and secondary age children and young people in Chile and Scotland to ensure their voices are heard by decision makers at this year’s COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in November.

In the build-up to COP26, Children’s Neighbourhoods Scotland (CNS) at the University of Glasgow is using the capabilities approach to facilitate workshops between schools in West Dunbartonshire and in Luis Cruz Martinez, Chile.

These workshops form a key part of an ongoing climate conversations between the schools, where pupils have been discussing climate action, local issues such as waste and litter, pollution, and extreme weather.

Young people across the world will bear the brunt of the impacts of climate change, from increasing severe weather events to reduced biodiversity and growing levels of pollution, locally and globally. The workshops have connected schoolchildren and teachers of Luis Cruz Martinez with those in West Dunbartonshire, allowing for shared understandings of climate change issues.

For teachers, workshops have enabled knowledge exchange and reflections about how to embed climate-related content in the classroom. For the students, the workshops provide a forum through which they can explore and voice their own climate concerns and situate local issues amidst a global context. Through interactive and participatory workshops, pupils increase their critical thinking and communication skills whilst building their understanding of climate change, locally and globally.

Read the article in full on the Children’s Neighbourhoods Scotland website.