MAKING A DIFFERENCE

1. MAKING A DIFFERENCE DR. FINOLA CUNNANE

2. WHY ARE WE HERE? • Twin nephews will be 34 in 2050. • They will share the planet with 9 billion others – all of whom seeking food, water, shelter on a planet already suffering the effects from our global dependency on fossil fuels. • Will this be a world fit to live in? • Current Scientific Evidence: depleting the earth’s resources at an ever-accelerating rate will ultimately lead to our own demise. • Climate Change: no longer scientific abstraction but a human-made phenomenon impacting all of us – all over the world.

3. CLIMATE CHANGE • Climate change is fundamentally about human rights and securing justice from those suffering from its impact – vulnerable countries and communities who are least culpable for the problem. • They are disproportionately affected because of their already-vulnerable geographical locations and lack of climate resilience. • Decades of development advances are at risk. • Advocates for the rights to food, safe water, health, education and shelter will have no effect without our paying attention to our world’s changing climate.

4. CLIMATE CHANGE • Began around the middle of the 18th Century with the Industrial Revolution. • Global warming began by magnifying the release of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere. • Since then, many countries have transitioned from rural, agrarian societies to industrial, urbanised ones, becoming rich by using fossil fuels, especially coal and oil, to power their economies. • As wealth and consumption grew from fossil fuel use, so too did the rate of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere, aided by unsustainable land use from poor agricultural practices and deforestation.

5. GLOBAL WARMING • Universal agreement that total global warming should be kept below 2°Celsius or as close as possible to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. • To go above 3°C or 4°C will initiate a ‘tipping point’ in our planetary system from which there will be no turning back. • As of early 2017, earth had warmed by more than 1°C since 1880. • In 2014, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a report warning that should the world remain on its present trajectory, we will hit 4° of warming before the end of this century. • Warming of more than 1.5°C above 1880 levels would lead to the loss of 90% or more of all coral reefs.

6. GLOBAL WARMING • An increase of 2°C would almost double current water shortages around the world and lead to a massive drop in wheat and maize harvests. • A 3.6°C rise above pre-industrial levels would precipitate an ‘extensive’ extinction of species across the globe, rendering much of the globe uninhabitable. • Our continued existence on this shared planet demands that we agree to a fairer way of sharing out the burdens and benefits of life on earth and that in the choices we make, we remember the rights of both today’s poor and tomorrow’s children. • Raising awareness about climate justice requires us to marry the standards of human rights with issues of sustainable development and responsibility for climate justice.

7. NEW ‘NARRATIVE OF HOPE’ • Climate Justice can be a new “narrative of hope”. (Desmond Tutu) • “The one thing we all have to do in every aspect of our lives is simply not to waste: don’t waste food, don’t waste plastic, don’t waste power, don’t waste water – live within our means without inflicting damage on the planet. That is a possibility and that is what we should be aiming at”. (David Attenborough) • Former Irish president Mary Robinson has said sustainable development goals should form part of the school curriculum as a “holistic” approach is needed to combat climate change. • CITIZENSHIFT: Shift from Consumer to Citizen.

8. WORLDWISE GLOBAL SCHOOLS • Established in 2013. • Works with 350 schools nationwide. • Integrating Global Citizenship Education into Curriculum and all aspects of teaching and learning. • Global Citizenship Education (GCE) is an educational process aimed at increasing awareness and understanding of the rapidly changing, interdependent and unequal world in which we live. • By challenging stereotypes and encouraging independent thinking, GCE helps students critically explore the root causes of global justice issues and how they interlink with our everyday lives.

9. GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION • Is about teaching and learning through a global justice lens • Allows students to explore the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values necessary to become global citizens • Cultivates the key skills at Junior and Senior Cycle, GCSE and A-Levels • Facilitates students to take action for a more just and sustainable world

10. GCE: 5 KEY COMPONENTS • Knowledge • Skills • Values and Attitudes • Taking Action • Methodologies

11. DE Themes

12. A Global Learner 1. critical, self aware, globally aware, open-minded, inquisitive, reflective, connected, willing to engage with global challenges, and keen to take action for a better world 2. growing understanding of their connections to other people and places 8. Can communicate with people from other cultures and places 7. ask complex questions, challenge assumptions and value other perspectives 3. growing awareness and understanding of current global challenges 6. reflect upon how sustainable their lifestyle is 5. Are able to take small actions to improve their life and the lives of others 4. growing in ability to recognize, evaluate and question other points of views

13. A Global Teacher 2. Promote creative and critical thinking 1. Prepare students for an increasingly globalized world 10. PLAN! 3. Use up-to-date global learning resources 9. Develop their own understanding of DE through CPD and training 4. Keep up-to-date with current affairs and world news 8. Seek out opportunities for you and your students to take action 5. Use real-life examples/cases-studies in lessons to motivate students 7. Promote participatory and student-led activities 6. Integrate a local and global perspective into lesson planning

14. GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION • Roots in Paulo Freire • Freire’s Pedagogy: Transformational Learning. - Dialogue; - Praxis – action that is informed - Attention to naming the world - Situating Educational activity in the lived experience of participants. • Empathy, Social Values & Civic Behaviour Among Adolescents in Ireland (NUIG) • Young people’s experiences at school influences their empathy, social responsibility and civic behaviour.

15. CONCLUSION MENTAL FIGHT You can’t remake the world Without remaking yourself. Each new era begins within. (Ben Okri, Mental Fight) • “Only transformed people transform others.”

16. DATES FOR YOUR DIARY • WWGS Global Passport Award: February 28th, 2019 • Irish Language Event: Global Citizenship Education. Galmont Hotel, Galway, March 29th, 2019 (Proposed by Minister Ciaran Cannon) • WWGS Annual Conference: Croke Park, Dublin, 4th April, 2019. - 4 Students + Teacher. Display: Examples of Student Actions; Call for Student Performances/Panel; Stands on the day. • Grant Call: April 8 – May 10. (Competitive) • Report Deadline: May 31st, 2019.