Teach the Future is a youth-led campaign pushing for broad

climate education Climate change education (CCE) is education that aims to address and develop effective responses to climate change. It helps learners understand the causes and consequences of climate change, prepares them to live with the impacts of climate change ...

in the UK, with specific branches in Scotland, England and Wales. It is formed by a volunteer base of students studying across England, Scotland and Wales at all levels of education - from secondary to tertiary - who believe that sustainability and climate change need to be taught across the curriculum, equipping generations to come with the skills and knowledge needed for the green jobs of the futures.

History

The Teach the Future campaign began as a demand of the

UK Student Climate Network UK Student Climate Network (UKSCN) is a student-led climate justice organisation operating in England and Wales founded by Anna Taylor, then aged 17, on 1 December 2018, along with Ivi Hohmann and Daniela Torres Perez. UKSCN are a group of mai ...

and has been so since its formation in December 2018. From this, as it was a specialist area, the demand evolved into an individual campaign with the support of its parent organisations, Student Organising for Sustainability UK and UKSCN. The campaign was unveiled on 12 October 2019 at National Education Union's Climate Emergency Conference, in front of a room full of educational specialists and campaigners. Two days after the campaign unveiling, Teach the Future began a petition and gathered 7413 signatories In the lead up to the General Election of December 2019, Teach the Future launched a campaign to improve climate crisis education policy in political party manifestos. The outcome of this was the Labour Party including a curriculum review and the

Green Party of England and Wales The Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW; cy, Plaid Werdd Cymru a Lloegr, kw, Party Gwer Pow an Sowson ha Kembra, often simply the Green Party or Greens) is a green, left-wing political party in England and Wales. Since October 2021, Carla ...

specifically mentioning Teach the Future's English Climate Emergency Education Act in both of their respective manifestos. In accordance to their third ask, the student volunteers and a professional legislative draftsperson drafted the first ever student written education bill in history which has been supported by many Parliamentarians.

Nadia Whittome Nadia Edith Whittome (born 29 August 1996) is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Nottingham East since the 2019 general election. A member of the Labour Party, she was elected at the age of 23, and became the ...

supported the students in hosting a parliamentary reception to unveil this legislation to the Government by being their Parliamentary Sponsor; this reception was held in the

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north bank ...

's Terrace Pavilion on 26 February 2020 and had an attendance of over 150 politicians, educators, student campaigners, union representatives and supporters.

Asks

Teach the Future calls for 3 main asks from the government, in addition to a fourth which is only relevant to the Scottish campaign # A government-commissioned review into how the English/Scottish formal education system is preparing students for the climate emergency and ecological crisis #The inclusion of the climate emergency and ecological crisis in English/Scottish teaching standards and training #The enactment of an English Climate Emergency Education Bill - the first student written (draft) bill in history - and a Scottish Climate and Biodiversity Emergency Education Act ## All education providers to teach the truth about the climate and ecological emergency; ## Teachers and lecturers to be retrained to do so; ## Help for educators in supporting pupils suffering from eco-anxiety; ## Increased outdoor education for students; ## Funding for youth-led climate and environmental social action and youth voice; ## Creation of more green vocational training; ## Retrofitting of all educational buildings to net-zero emissions by 2030. # For there to be an increased priority for sustainability in school inspections and publicly influencing educational rankings (Scotland only)

Structure

Teach the Future is currently run by a team of 51 volunteers - spread across the nations of England and Scotland; in addition, the campaign employs 5 part-time student campaign coordinators, 1 seconded campaign manager from SOS-UK and 2 other SOS-UK staff members on small contract hours. These volunteers organise through an online Slack workspace and aim to onboard new influxes of volunteers regularly.

Nations

Despite Teach the Future being an umbrella organisation, encompassing volunteers from across the United Kingdom, it is composed of three separate branches. These operate in England, Scotland and Wales respectively. The Welsh branch, while being set up, has not officially launched yet, it is planned to be launched ahead of the 2021 Senedd election. All three campaigns are heavily intertwined as they run similar devolved projects (or projects that are relevant in every nation), as well as having a fluid methodology whereby volunteers are able to assist in any working group that interests them.

International influence

The Teach the Future campaign aims to form an international network of climate education campaigns and has formed close ties with some, in the founding stages. Globally, it has made communication with multiple youth climate action groups, which has been facilitated through a staff member with the specific mandate of international outreach and support. The UK-based campaign shares its name, however is not directly associated, with the Teach the Future Poland campaign – a branch of Strajk Klimatyczny (MSK).

Supporting organisations

The Teach the Future campaign is supported and endorsed by multiple national organisations focussing on areas such as youth representation, conservation and education system reform. They are:

Key media

* Joe Brindle in

the Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

* Joe Brindle on

BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcast ...

* Joe Brindle in the Wilshire Herald & Gazette * Mary Skuodas in an interview with the Word Forest Organisation * Joe Brindle on

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* Article on the TES website * Anya Nanning Ramamurthy in Quaker News * Featured in an article by

The Conversation ''The Conversation'' is a 1974 American mystery thriller film written, produced, and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Cindy Williams, Frederic Forrest, Harrison Ford, Teri Garr, and Rober ...

* An article announcing support on the

British Youth Council The British Youth Council, known informally as BYC, is a UK charity that works to empower young people and promote their interests. The national charity, run by young people, exists to represent the views of young people to government and decisi ...

website * Featured in an article by Caroline Lucas MP * Joe Brindle on

BBC Radio Wiltshire BBC Radio Wiltshire is the BBC's local radio station serving the English county of Wiltshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at Prospect Place in Swindon. According to RAJAR, the station had a weekly a ...

* Nathan Widdowson in a blog by Stephen Morgan MP * Featured in an article by The Student Room * Mary Skuodas in an article by DeSmog * Joe Brindle on

* Joe Brindle in an interview with

BBC Points West ''BBC Points West'' (known as ''News West'' from June 1991 until May 2000) is the BBC's regional TV news programme for the West of England, covering Bristol, the majority of Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, northern, eastern and parts of western ...

* Featured in an article by

Prospect Magazine ''Prospect'' is a monthly British general-interest magazine, specialising in politics, economics and current affairs. Topics covered include British and other European, and US politics, social issues, art, literature, cinema, science, the medi ...

* Charlie Sweetman and Jess Nicholls in an interview with

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...

* Charlie Sweetman and Karis McIntyre on

* Zamzam Ibrahim in an article by

Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched by ...

* Charlie Sweetman and Aurora McLaughlin-Gouldhacker in an article with the Thomas Reuters Foundation * Scarlett Westbrook and Joe Brindle interviewing live on BBC Breakfast{{Cite web, url=https://vimeo.com/394656620, title=Teenage climate activists Scarlett Westbrook and Joe Brindle go live on BBC Breakfast to talk about the Teach the Future campain, website=Vimeo, language=en, access-date=2020-04-14 * Olivia Marshall on BBC Radio Nottingham

References

Climate change organisations based in the United Kingdom Education reform Environmental education in the United Kingdom Environmental organisations based in the United Kingdom Student organisations in the United Kingdom Youth organisations based in the United Kingdom Climate communication Educational organisations based in the United Kingdom