Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust
PhD Opportunity: How does engaging with nature impact on the health and wellbeing of children from disadvantaged communities?
Numerous studies have demonstrated positive associations between experiences of nature and human health and wellbeing. Generation Wild is a programme developed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust to engage children from disadvantaged communities and their families and teachers with nature. Generation Wild provides children with opportunities to visit WWT wetland centres and to take part in home and school-based activities.
This PhD opportunity forms part of a collaboration between Cardiff University and WWT to evaluate Generation Wild; join an interdisciplinary team, including psychology, geography, anthropology, and conservation researchers. You’ll have the opportunity to plan and conduct research investigating the contexts and consequences of the Generation Wild programme, including, for example, barriers to engagement with nature-based interventions, how interventions impact on the health and wellbeing of children from disadvantaged communities, and how interventions impact children’s identities as environmental citizens, such as their place in nature and the natural resources used in their everyday lives.
Apply online before Friday 4th February 2022. Read More.
LEEF
Leadership for Sustainability
David Dixon’s new book, Leadership for Sustainability: Saving the planet one School at a Time, shares informed insights and a range of practical approaches to help school leaders play their part in making their schools more environmentally friendly and thus better places to learn for all.
In Leadership for Sustainability, David Dixon draws on his doctoral research and experience as a cross-phase head teacher to set out how school leaders can embed tried and tested eco-friendly practices within the school setting that can also be central to overall school improvement, including that recognised by inspectors. David weaves his guidance around the ‘Five Cs of Sustainability’ – captaincy, curriculum, campus, community, and connections – to position sustainability as a natural vehicle for developing a type of fully integrated learning ecology and culture for the benefit of all.
Read a sample chapter here.
Marine Conservation Society
Ocean teaching resources
This year we developed a series of brand-new teaching resources for ages 7-11 on the following key ocean themes: Amazing Ocean, Sustainable Seafood, Marine Litter, Protect the Ocean and Wellbeing.
Each lesson is free to download from our website and includes a full lesson plan, fact file to support teaching, activities, images, worksheets and more. We’ll be creating new resources for other ages over the coming months, so do keep an eye on our website for these soon.
Ocean Superheroes live lesson
Created during the first lockdown, our Ocean Superheroes session has been designed to bring the coast to your classroom.
This session is aimed at ages 7-11 and explores some of the fascinating underwater habitats found here in the UK like seagrass, maerl and kelp. We’ll look at where they can be found around the coast, common species, and how they help fight ocean threats like land erosion and climate change.
Our team will deliver the session remotely via Teams or Zoom, and it will last for around 40 minutes with time for questions at the end. We’d love to be able to see and hear your students during the session, so we’d ask that you have the use of a webcam and microphone.
Plastic-free Christmas competition
Planning on a plastic-free Christmas this year? Centre for Big Synergy (CBS) is inviting young people, adults and organisations to take part in their Plastic-free Christmas competition, as part of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals Initiative.
It’s free to enter, and the individual winners and runners-up of the competition will receive certificates and vouchers worth up to £500 while they celebrate a greener Christmas. Winning letters, photos and initiatives will also be taken to the UN Climate Change Conference 2022 in Egypt.
To learn more about the marine litter problem, we have a range of full lesson plans for ages 7-11 linked to the curriculum and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. They’re freely available to download and cover topics like how litter reaches the coast, how it impacts marine wildlife, and how we can help stop it at source.
Register now for Dive Project Cornwall
Registration has now opened for a unique and exciting new competition run by Dive Project Cornwall for secondary students to win a once in a lifetime experience.
Dive Project Cornwall is giving 20 students from 20 secondary schools across the UK the chance to visit the Cornish coastline and learn to dive; discovering the ocean on our doorstep like never before.
These 400 lucky teenagers will receive their PADI Open Water Diver certification, as well as taking part in an exciting educational programme, led by the Marine Conservation Society, starting in the classroom and finishing on the beach.
Registration to enter the competition closes 31st March 2022 when our panel of judges will select qualifying schools able to go through to the next round, where there’ll be a competition to design a marine creature using recyclable plastics, and document the process.
Register your school today and keep up-to-date with all competition details over the coming weeks on the Dive Project Cornwall website.
