RIYADH: School children should be educated about climate change and the action required to preserve the planet for future generations, a panel of experts said on Wednesday.
The panel of experts discussed measures that could be taken by schools, government and nongovernment organizations to promote action for the ecosystem at the Future of Education, Science and Culture International Organizations Forum (FESCIOF).
But they said there was also a need to take better advantage of existing environmental research by universities – with one panelist describing the lack of action taken by institutions as “mind blowing”.
Asha Kanwar, president and CEO at Commonwealth of Learning, said there was a need for a ‘green learning agenda’ at schools and colleges.
Kanwa was speaking at during a panel discussion, titled “Greening the Agenda: Future of Education”.
She said a green agenda should have three dimensions: skills for green jobs, green life skills, and skills for a green transformation.
And she said young people should be taught about climate literacy and that institutions should transition to green jobs to support the move to a low-carbon economy.
“I think we can galvanize the youth if we really want to make a difference, because every day, over a billion children go to primary and secondary schools,” she explained.
“If these children were to become champions of climate action and climate change and environmental conservation, we would really have a major impact globally,”
She cited to the ‘Green Teacher’ program run by the National Teachers Institution in Nigeria.
The program boasts 100,000 teachers that have enrolled and instilling environmental concerns into students from an early age.
Kanwar added that skills for a green transformation relied heavily on what she described as “climate justice”.
“We do need to address the issue of how marginalized people deal with a climate crisis. It’s always the poor who get it,” she said.
Environmental education required leadership and effective research, delegates were told – with one panelist pointing to the ineffective use of existing research findings by universities around the world.
Mathieu Denis, head of the Center for Science Futures at the International Science Council, said leadership and research played an essential role in fulfilling the goals of green transformation.
“We need to inject those dimensions in our departments, in our teaching, and also in the research,” Denis said.
Denis said universities globally should take advantage of implementing research on the environment.
“It is mind blowing to see how little our own universities are taking advantage of the research they’re producing within their walls to change their own practices,” he said.
But Rami Eskander, director of the Education Department at the Arab League Educational Cultural and Scientific Organization, praised Saudi Arabia’s environmental work.
“Saudi Arabia now is taking the lead and it has expertise,” Eskander said.
“It has also many entities and institutions. So if they start to implement the Clean Green Initiative plans, they will assure us a sustainable development”.
The panel was moderated by Rawan Radwan, deputy section editor of Spotlight and the special projects department at Arab News.
