With last year’s International Youth Day theme “Transforming Education” focusing on making education more relevant, equitable and inclusive for all young people, this year’s theme is “Young Engagement for Global Action”.
One of the main aims of IYD2020 is to highlight the importance of engagement and representation from younger generations to enhance global action in humanitarian events, such as climate change or the recent Covid-19 outbreak.
The Environmental Action Research Team at Heriot’s (EARTH) have done some great work on global action, including inviting Prof Dave Reay, a climate scientist at the University of Edinburgh, in to school to speak to them then using this information to inform other pupils in assemblies.
In March, the Geography Department’s entry to the Hunter Foundation’s Scotland Climate Champions competition was selected as one of the three national winners and a few pupils and staff enjoyed a dinner with guest speaker, Sir David Attenborough. The key messages resonated with our pupils, including the importance for our younger generation to engage with, represent and actively promote action on climate change and sustainability.
During the period of remote teaching and learning, S1 Geography classes learned about Climate Change then wrote to their MSPs with their ideas for environmental action. Pupils learned about the importance of engaging with political leaders, and some even received a reply!
You can read more about the fantastic work our Citizenship and Geography departments have done to help pupils take global action here.
