Case study: Education for Sustainability Susan Adams

Overview

Problem

Ireland’s schools lack adequate climate education, contributing to a rise in climate anxiety among children. Climate anxiety is characterised by intense emotions related to environmental issues, with long-term physical and mental health consequences. A 2021 study by Eco-Unesco found that 60% of surveyed Irish individuals experienced climate anxiety.

Current climate education in Irish schools faces challenges. It’s a small part of teachers’ subject criteria, taught linearly with a focus on exams and constrained by time. Teachers lack the expertise to connect scientific knowledge with practical behavior change, hindering our education system’s effectiveness in addressing the climate crisis.

Solution

Education for Sustainability is a non-profit social enterprise aimed at increasing climate literacy and fostering behaviour change in Ireland, and to address climate anxiety. They work to ensure that the young people of today are educated about the climate crisis and that they have the knowledge, skills and tools to take action so they can be informed and empowered stakeholders for the future. They do this through a 10-week Climate Literacy modules in schools, standalone lectures on sustainability, plastic free school workshops and teacher training workshops.

Impact

Education for Sustainability has made a significant impact since 2017:

8-week programme implemented in 81 schools across 11 counties in Ireland, with 20% of them being DEIS schools.
Received support from 7 Local Authorities.
Engaged a total of 18,605 students, fostering peer education.
Trained 122 teachers in the classroom and an additional 155 through tailored teacher training.
Enabled schools to complete 250 impactful school and community action projects, including beach cleans, litter campaigns, fast fashion events, and climate justice initiatives.
Guided 44 schools in becoming single-use plastic-free.
Constructed 2 outdoor classrooms and 2 biodiversity gardens.
Planted a remarkable 3,000 trees.
Secured 7 Young Environmentalist Awards for our outstanding action projects.

SEI Journey