Climate change, biodiversity loss, and loss of connection from nature are now demanding our attention. In educational contexts, these linked issues call for more immediate responses on multiple levels and scales in educational practice and policy – from the individual learner, educators, leaders of educational organisations, and from educational systems more widely.

Educational response making is seen as critical to creating more sustainable forms of co-existence for people, animals and plants. As we move closer in on defining and practising environmental education, climate change education and learning for sustainability in our education systems, researchers are uncovering the need to work with communities, young people themselves, and the agencies found in nature. There is also the need to understand young people’s experiences of connection and disconnection between the school and post-school curriculum and their everyday lives. We need to clarify the following. When and how do curricula harness opportunities for eco-activism as part the wider curriculum? How might eco-anxiety and biodiversity loss be discussed and handled in formal and non-formal learning? How can schools partner with the community other agencies to learn how their campus and ethos can allow learning for sustainability to be enacted.

In collaboration with our research partners, this event draws on research from University of Stirling to provide a series inquiry-based, provocative starting points to catalyse discussion and response-making to address these issues.

This in-person event, chaired by Prof Greg Mannion (University of Stirling), will provide opportunities to reflect on priorities and challenges in the context of Nature and Climate Emergencies. The event will include insights from policy and practice in Scotland and beyond, including schools and higher education contexts. The format of the event will include opportunities for discussion and Q&A. A key aim of the event is to identify shared priorities and explore future collaborations which draw on expertise from across policy and practice.

Speakers will include:

• Greg Mannion, Heena Dave, Sophia Georgescu, Lizzie Rushton, University of Stirling
• Jennifer Hutton, Dunblane Primary School