Showing posts with label universities. Show all posts
Showing posts with label universities. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 4, 2020

Education : Global Campaign #SaveOurFuture in the Age of COVID-19





An outdoor class at a school in Copenhagen in Denmark
 Thibault Savary/AFP via Getty Images

“Education is the key to personal development and the future of societies. We are at a defining moment for the world’s children and young people”

António Guterres, UN Secretary-General

Some 1 billion students and youth across the planet were affected by school and university closures due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The United Nations and a Global Education Coalition launched a new campaign on Education #SafeOurFuture. This is the first words by UN Secretary General, António Guterres, on a video message about the prolonged closure of schools around the world due to the pandemic.




Damien Meyer/AFP via Getty Images

The United Nations called all countries today, 4th August, to give priority to the reopening schools as soon as countries have controlled the local transmission of the Coronavirus, warning that the current situation of closure poses the risk of a "generational catastrophe".

Education is the key to personal development and the future of societies. It unlocks opportunities and narrows inequalities.
It is the bedrock of informed, tolerant societies, and a primary driver of sustainable development.




via @Corriere.it

The COVID-19 pandemic has created the largest disruption of education systems in history, affecting nearly 1.6 billion learners in all countries and all continents. 

Learning losses due to prolonged school closures threaten to erase progress made in recent decades, especially for girls and young women. 






A new policy brief by Secretary-General António Guterres reaffirms that education is a fundamental human right. It advises governments to strengthen the resilience of education systems by placing a strong focus on equity and inclusion.

"We are in the greatest education emergency of our times."

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the education of over 90% of the world’s students. It has exacerbated already existing inequalities and magnified the global learning crisis. The future of an entire generation is at risk.

But while education is clearly a victim of the pandemic, it is also the solution to the longer-term recovery.






Education:

Schools across the countries have been closed since March. They will begin in phased reopening from 1 June to September under the governments' lockdown exit strategies. Denmark was the first country in Europe to reopen its schools for the youngest pupils on 15 April. 


An handful of studies have been carried out across the world, and scientists are divided over their interpretation.

Some research indicates that children are far less likely to become infected compared with adults but other studies suggest that when they do become infected, they carry as much viral load as an adult, and therefore pose a real risk of passing the virus on to others.

Increased transmission would also result from parents not having to stay at home with their children, researchers say.





 Copyright  Daniel Leal-Olivais/ AFP
via Euronews

Meanwhile, schools in European countries such as Denmark and Germany reopened. And France, Portugal, UK and Italy will reopen next September.

We are faced the greatest education emergency of our times. The COVID-19 pandemic has magnified and exacerbated the global learning crisis. This reality threatens to continue creating lost generations of children without education.

The new campaign will amplify the voices of children and young people and urge governments worldwide to recognize investment in education as critical to COVID-19 recovery.


"⁣The decisions that governments and partners take now will have lasting impact on hundreds of millions of young people, and on the development prospects of countries for decades to come."





via @Corriere.it

The UPolicy Brief calls for action in four key areas:

1st: Reopening schools.
It will be essential to balance health risks against risks to children’s education and protection, and to factor in the impact on women’s labour force participation.
Consultation with parents, carers, teachers and young people is fundamental.

2nd: Prioritizing education in financing decisions. 

Education budgets need to be protected and increased. And it is critical that education is at the heart of international solidarity efforts, from debt management and stimulus packages to global humanitarian appeals and official development assistance.(...)

3rd: Targeting the hardest to reach.  

Education initiatives must seek to reach those at greatest risk of being left behind - people in emergencies and crises; minority groups of all kinds; displaced people and those with disabilities. (...)

4th: The future of education is here.

We have a generational opportunity to reimagine education. (...) To achieve this, we need investment in digital literacy and infrastructure, an evolution towards learning how to learn, a rejuvenation of life-long learning and strengthened links between formal and non-formal education.

And we need to draw on flexible delivery methods, digital technologies and modernized curricula while ensuring sustained support for teachers and communities.

Learn more at Save Our Future

Languages: 

Available in English, Français, Español, Português, العربية

Social Media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter





Maharashtra (India)
credits: Prashant Waydande/ REUTERS

"We are potentially damaging children's life chances. People worry about the pandemic but in the future there might be an epidemic of educational poverty."

Gavin Williamson, UK Education Secretary




G-Souto

04.08.2020

Copyright © 2020G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®


Creative Commons License
Education : Global Campaign #SaveOurFuture in the Age of COVID-19 bG-Souto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

sources: United Nations/ Save Our Future website


Saturday, June 27, 2015

Photo Competition 2016 for Young - Hotter, Drier, Wetter. Face the Future.





WMO Photo Competition 2016

WMO is holding a photo competition on the 2016 World Meteorological Day theme: “Hotter, drier, wetter. Face the Future.”



Theme:
The theme has been chosen to illustrate the reality of climate change. As a result of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, land and sea surface temperatures are rising. The frequency and intensity of extreme events like heatwaves and heavy rainfall is increasing. Without urgent action to cut carbon dioxide emissions, this trend will accelerate.
Who can participate:
Young people are especially encouraged to submit photographs, but there is no age limitation. We are keen to encourage a good geographical balance of photos.

Not si inspired? Check out last year's winning photog. Awesome photos.


Chased by the Storm, Texas, USA 
credits : Marko Korosec

How to enter:
  • Take a striking photo that meets our submission guidelines and captures weather extremes like heat, drought, heavy rain, snow and flood. It can also depict how we can prepare for future climate. Let your imagination run wild!
  • Fill out the mandatory online ENTRY FORM and attach your photo. Don’t forget a short explanatory caption and location for your image!
  • Want to e-mail your entry instead? No problem! Fill out the mandatory Entry Form with your photo attached and e-mail it to social@wmo.int.
Submission Guidelines:
  • All photos must be a minimum size of 10cms to 15cms and in high resolution (minimum 300 DPI).
  • All photos must be submitted in JPEG or TIFF format (with little compression to preserve image quality.
  • Black and white photographs as well as coloured photographs will be accepted.

N.B. WMO will require a higher-resolution for shortlisted photographs of at least A3 (42 x 30 cm or 30 x 16.5 inches) at 300 dpi, minimum size of 9000 x 5000 in pixels.
Judging Criteria:
Read on the WMO website here
Prize: 
No cash prize will be offered to winners of the photo contest.


Deadline : 29 June 2015 

Extended deadline : 13 July 2015 - midnight (CEST)


Entries:

Winning entries will feature in the 2016 WMO calendar, showcase on the WMO website and Flickr gallery, and feature on the WMO Facebook Timeline.


Education:


"Look deep into nature, 
and then you will understand everything better." 


Albert Einstein

All my usual readers know that I am a huge fan of Environmental education as a cross-curricular activity. There are so many posts about the theme on my blog!

Now, here an interesting contest outdoor. The WMO Photo competition invites everyone - students, photographers, young people who like photography, in every part of the world, to share photos that visually capture climate change.

Environmental and outdoor education play an important role for young students personal and academic growth. With students now spending 90% of their time indoors, “nature deficit disorder” is on the rise. 

Nature Deficit Disorder is not a medical condition - it describes our lack of a relationship to the environment. It hurts children, families, communities, and environment. Luckily, the cure starts in our own backyards, streets, nature parks.

Getting kids outside teaches them about the world around them and gives them an appreciation for nature while providing an opportunity for sunshine and exercise.

It would be interesting if teachers motivate their students to understand the reasons of climate change.

The contest could be a creative actvity to introduce in different curriculum or even better as a cross-curricular project.

Target : All levels (teachers must ask for parents help with young kids).

Curriculum : Science ; Geography ; Languages, Arts (Photography).

Enter the @WMOnews Photo Competition: Hotter, drier, wetter. Send in your photo today ! 

Now with the extended deadline, no excuse, you have the time.

G-Souto

27.06.2015

Copyright © 2015-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com

Creative Commons License
Photo Competition 2016 for Young : Hotter, Drier, Wetter, Face the Future bG-Souto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Friday, April 19, 2013

Let's talk about Earth Day 2013




Big day approaches! April 22nd ! Earth Day 2013! After Earth Hour 2013, this is the most important day of the Planet!

And Earth Day is a special day for schools! All over the world, teachers and students work on fantastic projects to commit to actions that go beyond the planet. More than 100 million schoolchildren around the world will learn about the importance of clean air and water and about climate change;

Earth Day 2013 theme is "The Face of Climate Change" to highlight growing impact on individuals through interactive digital campaign.

“Many people think climate change is a remote problem, but the fact is that it’s already impacting real people, animals, and beloved places all over the world, and these Faces of Climate Change are multiplying every day,“ said Kathleen Rogers, president of Earth Day Network. “Fortunately, other Faces of Climate Change are also multiplying every day: those stepping up to do something about it. For Earth Day 2013, we’ll bring our generation’s biggest environmental challenge down to size – the size of an individual faced with the consequences.”






Thousands of people but most of all schools around the globe are sharing their activities and stories - stories of the impact that climate change has had on their lives, and the extraordinary efforts that they are making to fight it. Each one represents a different Face of Climate Change.





Education:


After Earth Day 2011 and "A Story about the Forest" by the Canadian author Franke James, or Earth Day 2012 and Wall-E by Pixar, let's continue inspiring our students, this time for Earth Day 2013 by elevating the importance of environmental issues at school curricula. 

School time is a wonderful place to teach and share those values. 

"If you have any sense of wonder or faith in humanity, you would have to agree that Earth Day is an extraordinary event. It combines the functions of educator, movement builder and the largest public service project in the world. More than one billion people from almost every single country on earth will take an action in service to our planet."


One more thing! This year Universities Participate in Climate Changes Efforts


Campuses around the world have been stepping up to participate in The Face of Climate Change


Earth Day Network is receiving some great student #faceofclimate photos from places as far-flung as Taiwan, Iran, Costa Rica, and the USA. 


The Face of Climate Change Photo Mosaic is a fantastic wall with  people sharing their stories on the impact of climate change.

Check out these awesome photos, and send yours! Earth Day Network wants at least 200 campuses represented on The Face of Climate Change wall by Earth Day.


Let's continue inspiring our students, this time for Earth Day 2013 by elevating the importance of environmental issues around the world. 

School time is a wonderful place to teach and learn about and green values.




Well, this year I have a real story: The Team AuroraA group of four young people was going to the North Pole to declare it protected on behalf of all life on Earth. 

They began their journey on April 5. Backed by millions they will plant a flag for the future on the seabed and call for a sanctuary in the uninhabited area around the pole. 



And they did it! On April 14 Ezra (USA, Renny (Seychelles), Josefina (Sweden) and Kiera-Dawn (Tso’Tine-Gwich’in youth from Denendeh in the Northwest Territories, Canada) have planted a flag. 

The flag is attached to a glass and titanium time capsule containing the names of 2.7 million people who joined the campaign to Save the Arcti

The four young ambassadors went to the Pole to say "this special area of the Arctic belongs to no person and no nation, that it is the common heritage of everyone on Earth."

Yes! It is indeed! The Arctic is a common heritage pf everyone on Earth.




Before lowering the pod, the four ambassadors held a ceremony at the top of the world, offering their wishes for the future, their dreams for a different tomorrow.


  • Share and discuss those dreams (image above) with your students;
  • Ask them for their dreams about the planet Earth;
  • Writing: news, storytelling, reports, poems, slogans;
  • Green tweets at school's account: #EarthDay #FaceOfClimate




Ideas or some Activities for students? 

Ecological Footprint Quiz

Become a Climate Report

North Pole Expedition (interactive)

Green Blog ( my students)


You may read (French language) my pedagogical experience in 2008 with students published on a French academic website for teachers :

Journée de la Terre

"We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children."

Native American Proverb


G-Souto

19.04.2013
Copyright © 2013G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®

Licença Creative Commons
Let's talk about Earth Day 2013 by G-Souto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.