Periodic Reporting for period 1 - LEVERS (LEarning VEntuReS for Climate Justice)
Reporting period: 2023-03-01 to 2024-02-29
Too many people feel powerless to take climate action in their homes, schools, communities and workplaces. LEVERS offers opportunities to learners of all ages to collaboratively take action on climate issues affecting their own lives and localities. Our climate action projects support participants to become critical thinkers, individuals who embody sustainability values and have the agency to drive positive change in their communities.
Across nine distinct case studies in Europe, we are investigating the collaboration among a cross-sectoral range of stakeholders as they develop place-based, justice-oriented climate action opportunities for learners and communities using a systemic design approach.
Drawing on critical research and pedagogical approaches, we are also co-researching with learners of all ages, to examine the effect of participating in LEVERS climate action projects on the development of their agency to tackle personally relevant issues of climate justice.
LEVERS adopts an approach to learning for sustainability that is holistic, lifelong, and oriented towards social justice. We have developed a model for cross-sectoral regional partnerships for sustainability education and climate action, entitled "Learning Ventures". They foster the networking, sharing and application of science and technology research, and the design of innovative learning for sustainability in diverse learning settings. Our Learning Ventures are working with schools and communities to co-design localised interventions to activate and engage citizens and communities across Europe in personally-meaningful climate action. Our approach facilitates mentoring, exchange and collaboration between educators, communities of learners, NGOs, academia and industry stakeholders, generating impact at personal, local and global scales.
Stakeholders from formal, non-formal and informal education across education levels, community organisations, research and innovation, industry, and government, will be supported to adopt a systemic design approach to create climate justice projects offering meaningful real-world learning experiences through these Learning Ventures
LEVERS has developed a Learning Framework that contains the pedagogical underpinning for the project, and which compiles a wide array of inspirational practices in relation to science education, open schooling, and learning for sustainability and climate action.
The project produced the first version of the LEVERS Field Guide (D1.2) a resource intended to share practical insights and guidance based on our real experiences of building learning communities in nine locations across Europe.
Work has commenced on training Learning Venture participants in leadership and entrepreneurial skills, to develop context-specific business models. Work has also commenced on designing further capacity training for Learning Ventures stakeholders.
Guides for industry engagement, business models and policy recommendations will ensure transformative impact on science education in Europe into the future.