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In April 2024, Green School New Zealand partnered with the Centres of Asia-Pacific Excellence to present a symposium aimed at fostering global environmental sustainability.
Titled Beyond COP21, the 2 day symposium was packed with interactive activities and guest speakers. Day one was for Green School staff and students only. On day two, 180 ākonga were welcomed from schools and kura in the region for the Beyond COP21 symposium. The campus was abuzz with hands-on learning and engagement. The kina-shaped learning pods and garden workspaces lent themselves to connecting as responsible global citizens.
Kina-shaped classrooms at the Taranaki Green School.
The Paris Climate Conference is officially known as the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the United Nations body responsible for climate and based in Bonn, Germany. COP21 represented a shift in thinking among nations. It signalled that nations must look beyond their borders and recognise the wider planetary interest. At the conclusion of that conference, French President François Hollande said "What brings us together is the planet itself." See more about this in the useful links section below.
In line with this sentiment the Beyond COP21 symposium brought together key stakeholders, including ākonga, environmental experts, and policy makers, to engage in meaningful dialogues, share innovative practices, and collaboratively work towards actionable solutions for climate change and sustainability challenges.
The CAPEs Education Team presented two workshops at the symposium. In the Aotearoa Explorers workshop, ākonga created their own avatars before exploring the game. The Aotearoa Explorers game is designed to spark interest in the countries, cultures and unique attributes of the Asia-Pacific region.
Photo left: Sharleen Nathan, Libby Giles, Pip Newick and Loren Wilson at the Taranaki Green School 2024.
The Infinite Game workshop engaged players in learning how to live well together and helped them to clarify their priorities for life and how these align with their actions.
Speaking as director of the CAPES Education Team, Libby Giles' keynote connected the symposium and the Green School kaupapa to global citizenship education and the three big ideas that underpin the CAPEs framework for its implementation: tuakiritanga, hononga and kaitiakitanga.
The participants left the forum with renewed enthusiasm and commitment to fostering global environmental sustainability.
Libby Giles presenting her keynote address at the Taranaki Green School 2024.
Provocations
Explore the Paris Agreement with your ākonga. How might you adapt this to suit your learners?
Discuss and brainstorm actions that could support the goal of the Paris Agreement to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
Support ākonga to choose an achievable action related to achieving the Paris Agreement overarching goal, then develop and enact an action plan.
Related resources
Find out more about Green School Taranaki on the school website.
Explore the COP21 - Paris Agreement and its climate change goals.
(c) 2024
Images (c) Centres of Asia-Pacific Excellence
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