Climate change education (CCE) is an essential response to the global threat of an average temperature rise beyond 1.5 °C (IPCC 2018). The most recent Global Education Monitoring Report by UNESCO in 2020 emphasizes the impact education has on climate change mitigation and adaptation, yet many countries neither recognize the importance of CCE nor invest in it significantly. This chapter highlights the role of CCE within the higher education sector and offers solutions to the challenge of scaling up CCE by giving examples of how CCE has been and could be integrated into every discipline at a university. Historically, universities have focused on climate change science education; however, to achieve the required urgent climate action (decarbonization), universities have to focus on integrating climate change mitigation education into all disciplines to enable every student to upscale their own actions and encourage the same of their peers, families, as well as current and future employers. Furthermore, as many countries are already exposed to wide-ranging impact from climate change, universities need to integrate climate change adaptation education into their offerings. This chapter illustrates how CCE could be embedded more widely across university curricula, including the areas of agriculture, biology, business, chemistry, education, environmental science, geography, linguistics, literary studies, physics, and psychology. As successful climate change mitigation depends on holistic, transdisciplinary approaches, insights and approaches from the chosen disciplines have been highlighted throughout the chapter. The development of a wider range of student competencies is also recognized. These are important to support action and change. The chapter concludes with strategies on how to integrate CCE on an institutional, national, and international level.

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Climate Change Education at Universities: Relevance and Strategies for Every Discipline

  • Petra Molthan-Hill,
  • Tamara Shapiro Ledley,
  • Lia Blaj-Ward,
  • Marcellus Forh Mbah

摘要

Climate change education (CCE) is an essential response to the global threat of an average temperature rise beyond 1.5 °C (IPCC 2018). The most recent Global Education Monitoring Report by UNESCO in 2020 emphasizes the impact education has on climate change mitigation and adaptation, yet many countries neither recognize the importance of CCE nor invest in it significantly. This chapter highlights the role of CCE within the higher education sector and offers solutions to the challenge of scaling up CCE by giving examples of how CCE has been and could be integrated into every discipline at a university. Historically, universities have focused on climate change science education; however, to achieve the required urgent climate action (decarbonization), universities have to focus on integrating climate change mitigation education into all disciplines to enable every student to upscale their own actions and encourage the same of their peers, families, as well as current and future employers. Furthermore, as many countries are already exposed to wide-ranging impact from climate change, universities need to integrate climate change adaptation education into their offerings. This chapter illustrates how CCE could be embedded more widely across university curricula, including the areas of agriculture, biology, business, chemistry, education, environmental science, geography, linguistics, literary studies, physics, and psychology. As successful climate change mitigation depends on holistic, transdisciplinary approaches, insights and approaches from the chosen disciplines have been highlighted throughout the chapter. The development of a wider range of student competencies is also recognized. These are important to support action and change. The chapter concludes with strategies on how to integrate CCE on an institutional, national, and international level.