Sumukhi Sreevatsan – IMAPAC – on Climate Education – Cli5 @ Clidemy
Cli5 is an effort to get valuable feedback from a wide range of stakeholders about their perceptions about climate education and their suggestions for improving it. It comprises a maximum of five questions, hence the Cli5.
In this post, Sumukhi Sreevatsan, General Manager at IMAPAC provides her insights to the questions on climate education.
Why do you think most ordinary people know so little about climate change and related domains?
I think it’s a combination of factors such as information overload, complexity, and a lack of accessible information. Climate change is a complex issue, and understanding its causes and effects would require a basic understanding of various subjects like science, economics, and politics. In current times, most people are bombarded with information from various sources, making it quite challenging to pick up credible information.
What types of topics within climate change or sustainability would you like to get educated on, or
learn about?
- Renewable energy transition: understanding the importance of transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources Learning about the challenges and opportunities along with renewable energy deployment including policy frameworks and economic considerations will be great to know about.
- Circular economy principles
- Understanding more about climate resilience and adaptation strategies.
How can we make schools teach more climate education to children – both primary and secondary
school children?
By integrating a subject on climate education in schools for primary and secondary students with online access to a portal for them to learn would help ensure that topics around climate change, sustainability, and environmental stewardship are included.
More importantly, providing resources, training and support to teachers will help a lot so that they can help in delivering engaging age-appropriate climate education.
What role do you think governments should do about climate education?
One important action that governments can take regarding climate education is to establish and implement comprehensive national or state-level curriculum standards that explicitly incorporate climate change and sustainability topics across relevant subjects.
This ensures that climate education becomes a core component of the formal education system, providing consistency and guidance to educators while fostering a generation of environmentally conscious and knowledgeable citizens.
