Category: Plants, Environment & Nature

Campaign for School Gardening

Campaign for School Gardening

Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general, declared this week that humanity had become “a weapon of mass extinction”, putting a million species at risk. The web of life that sustains our planet – everything from plants and animals to fungi and micro-organisms – faces an… Continue Reading “Campaign for School Gardening”

National Education Nature Park

National Education Nature Park

The opening line from a recent government blog on its Education Hub site was certainly encouraging: “Education is one of the key tools we have in the fight against climate change,” it said. We now have a bit more information about two initiatives –… Continue Reading “National Education Nature Park”

Opening up the countryside

countryside right to roam

What better way to shake off the after-effects of a late night or pick yourself up if you’re feeling a bit down than by going for a walk – especially if you are lucky enough to have easy access to green space. The evidence… Continue Reading “Opening up the countryside”

Interacting with nature

Interacting with Nature

A report on a six-year programme designed to bring together the youth and environmental sectors by involving young people across the UK in nature projects suggests that participation boosted mental health, self-confidence and employability. It says that participants were consistently found to be more… Continue Reading “Interacting with nature”

Safeguarding nature and the environment

Safeguarding nature

The evidence is clear: the general public care deeply about nature and the environment. According to new polling, four in five UK adults believe that nature is under threat and that more needs to be done urgently to safeguard it. And we already know… Continue Reading “Safeguarding nature and the environment”

A people’s plan for nature

People's Plan for Nature

An important conversation about the future of nature has just started – one that will be “too big for anyone to ignore” – and the entire UK population is invited to join in. The People’s Plan for Nature is an initiative from WWF, the… Continue Reading “A people’s plan for nature”

Cutting down on plastic

cutting down on plastic

The results of a recent survey suggest that recycling is not the magic solution to our problem with plastic. It appears that only about 12% of plastic is actually recycled in the UK – the rest is either recycled elsewhere or disposed of in… Continue Reading “Cutting down on plastic”

Embed sustainability across the curriculum

Embed sustainability across the curriculum

In the same week that, after a month of devastating floods, the president of South Africa declared that climate change is here and we “can no longer postpone what we need to do”, the UK Department for Education unveiled its Sustainability and Climate Change… Continue Reading “Embed sustainability across the curriculum”

A new natural history GCSE

new natural history GCSE

The UK government plans to introduce an “exciting” new GCSE in natural history by September 2025. Details of the qualification are included in the Department for Education’s Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy, which was launched this week. The education secretary claims that the UK… Continue Reading “A new natural history GCSE”

A green education for children

A green education

‘Now or never’ is the blunt message of UN scientists, referring to the need to take decisive action on greenhouse gas emissions to stave off the worst impacts of climate change in the future. The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says that global… Continue Reading “A green education for children”