This year, the London Climate Action Week (LCAW) Schools Climate Summit will take place from Monday 27 June to Friday 1 July, bringing together London’s school sector as a major force for climate action. All London schools are invited to take part. Each day of the Summit will engage with one of the Summit’s five major themes – the four ‘C’s and the one ‘F’ – Campus, Curriculum, Community, Careers and Finance.
How to Take Part
It’s easy to take part! Participation is a bottom-up process. We encourage schools, students, staff, parents/carers and other members of the school & broader education community to organise their own events using the LCAW event registration site for the week from Monday 25 June to Friday 1 July.
Below are three ways in which schools can take part in the Schools Climate Summit. We encourage schools to do what works for them – whether that’s using their own materials or using ones we’ve provided in our resources section.
Hold a Themed Day
Schools can organise on-campus activities that encompass one or more of the Summit’s themes – the four ‘C’s and the one ‘F’ – Campus, Curriculum, Community, Careers and Finance?
Put on an Assembly
Schools can put on an assembly for each day of the Schools Climate Summit and base them on our five core themes. Schools can use their own materials or can check out these useful resources from our partner Transform Our World.
Host an Event
Schools can host their own event based on one or more of our five core themes – the four ‘C’s and the one ‘F’.
Take Part in the London Schools Climate Action Map
As part of the Schools Climate Summit, we will be releasing our annual London Schools Climate Action Map Report, showing which schools are engaged in eco/climate-related initiatives, on the five different themes of the Schools Climate Summit: Campus, Curriculum, Community, Careers and Finance. The survey will provide a reliable and growing data source to understand what London schools are doing on the sustainability agenda and promote comprehensive engagement by the school community, going beyond traditional ‘eco’ actions. The Map also seeks to promote peer-to-peer learning, networking and collaboration.
The London Schools Climate Action Survey is a fantastic way for London Schools to engage with the Schools Climate Summit. Our hope is that the Survey will help everyone working to bring about rapid transformation in our schools, and wider society, to be more effective and deliver equitable climate action.
How to Register
Create an Organiser Login account on the London Climate Action Week website. After entering the details of your organisation, you can register your event! In your event registration, please indicate that your event is part of the LCAW Schools Climate Summit and include our logo as part of your branding.
London Climate Curriculum
A series of four unique lesson plans, the LCAW London Climate Curriculum is designed to introduce pupils to climate change and the UN Sustainable Development Goals in both a local and global context. Aimed at Key Stages 2 and 3 (ages 10-14), the lesson plans draw on London as a classroom, using London landmarks and features such as the River Thames, the London Plane tree, cultural and scientific institutions such as the British Museum and the Science Museum to illustrate climate impacts and solutions.
Originally designed for the debut LCAW in 2019 by GLOBE International, London Sustainable Schools Forum and World’s Largest Lesson, the curriculum is updated every year to tap into London’s unique cultural offerings and exhibitions to enhance student learning. The 2022 curriculum will include London landmarks such as The Shard, Battersea Power Station, the Thames Barrier and the Tower of London.
Lesson plan 1
Download Lesson Plan 1 PDF here
Lesson plan 2
Lesson plan 3
Lesson plan 4
Deep Dives
The full list of Deep Dives offered as part of the LCAW Schools Climate Summit, can be found here with full registration details.
Student-MP Climate Surgery
On Friday 1 July 2022, GLOBE will be facilitating the annual Student-MP Climate Surgeries across London as part of the Schools Climate Summit. London MPs and students in their constituencies can be involved, with a view to improving democratic dialogue on climate change and on-the-ground outcomes.
This year, the Student-MP Climate Surgery goes global, with surgeries being held in Nigeria (Abuja – 29 June 2022), South Africa, Egypt, Uganda and Senegal throughout the year, feeding into COP27.
Context
On 20 August 2018, a young girl rode her bike to the Swedish Parliament and sat down on the cobblestones outside with her placard reading ‘School Strike’. Without knowing it, Greta Thunberg had launched a revolution.
Since then youth climate strikes have spread worldwide and the rise of youth activism has been a geo-political game-changer. With the right to vote for 16-year olds being a key demand of student Climate Strikers in the United Kingdom, how can young people’s voice and calls for climate action be reflected in politics?
Across the world, youth climate strikers have taken to the streets on Fridays, giving rise to the #FridaysForFuture movement, with young people marching to centres of political power such as Parliament Square in the heart of London.
In the United Kingdom, however, Members of the House of Commons are typically not in Parliament on Fridays, but their constituency surgeries, as Fridays are traditionally reserved for constituency business.
Mindful of this – and the need to connect student activism with political and civic education – in 2019, the legislators network, GLOBE International, initiated the first ever Student-MP Climate Surgery in London. This first effort took place on Friday 5 July 2019 during London Climate Action Week 2019. This was the start of an annual effort to put a practical spin on #FridaysForFuture and support democracy in action.
Why London?
There are 73 Members of Parliament in London. One in nine of every UK member of parliament is a London MP. This is the largest concentration for any region in the UK – and a severely underleveraged resource for climate action.
Our Student-MP Climate Surgeries seek to change this and act as a test bed for effective youth civic engagement in similar democratic settings beyond London.
Our objective is to bring London’s MPs together annually with students during London Climate Action Week to:
• improve awareness of the role of MPs in addressing climate change as part of student’s broader political and citizenship education,
• improve MPs understanding of the concerns and demands of young people on the climate and nature emergencies, and
• promote more responsive politics and catalyse practical collaborative cross-party action on climate change by London MPs, accelerating solutions and producing positive outcomes for London and beyond.
2021 & COP26 – a Big Year for Climate Action
The Student-MP Climate Surgery in London was an important feature of the youth engagement focus of the GLOBE COP26 Legislators Summit, held from 5-6 November 2021 at the Scottish Parliament – the largest gathering of global parliamentarians at COP26.
Ahead of COP26, GLOBE partnered with Scotland’s Children’s Parliament and the Scottish Youth Parliament, the country’s centres of excellence for children’s participation and engagement, to mobilise a similar Student-MP Climate Surgery on Friday 29th October 2021 called ‘The Moment‘. This surgery was held across Scotland with Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) and Members of the UK Parliament (Westminster). The outcomes, pledges and calls to action from this youth mobilisation were shared on the opening day of the GLOBE COP26 Legislators Summit at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh on Friday 5th November 2021.
Supporting political education and civic engagement by young people, in particular in the lead-up to and at the UN Climate Summit COP26 (Glasgow, November 2021) was a key objective of GLOBE International‘s educational efforts, and continues to be a focus in the run-up to the 2022 Student-MP Climate Surgeries.
The Student-MP Climate Surgery also gives practical effect to the Lesson Plan ‘Writing to your MP’ developed as part of the LCAW London Climate Curriculum by GLOBE International, World’s Largest Lesson and London Sustainable Schools Forum, in partnership with Unicef and support from UNESCO.
How to Take Part in the Student-MP Climate Surgery on Friday 1 July 2022
Member of Parliament
- Please contact schools in your constituency and inform them of your willingness to hold a Student-MP Climate Surgery with interested students at your constituency office, or a suitable location such as a school or community hall, as part of the Schools Climate Summit and London Climate Action Week.
- Many schools in your constituency will have been informed of the Schools Climate Summit by London Councils and the Greater London Authority, both Summit partners, and may already be aware of the Student-MP Climate Surgery.
- GLOBE International has published Guidance on effective climate change communication with children with the Climate Psychology Alliance, to assist with appropriate communication with children and young people.
- Please let us know by emailing MP-Surgery@globelegislators.org if you are hosting a Student-MP Climate Surgery and we would be happy to provide further support as needed.
- Please spread the word from your social media accounts, announcing that you are participating in #LondonClimateActionWeek and the #StudentMPClimateSurgery as part of the #SchoolsClimateSummit – copying to our Twitter accounts: @GLOBE_intl, @climate_london and @london_climate. We will be happy to amplify on social media.
Student
- Find your MP using this link from our friends at They Work For You. This helpful guide from the UK Parliament explains what MPs do. You must be a constituent of the MP – i.e. reside in their constituency – in order to write to them.
- Email your MP with your request to meet with them on Friday 1 July 2022 as part of the Student-MP Climate Surgery. Please mention this is being held as part of the Schools Climate Summit during London Climate Action Week (25 June – 1 July 2022). Please use any of the questions suggested above or add your own to your request. You authentic voice is the best. Please use the suggested subject heading ‘Meeting request FRI 1 JULY – London Climate Action Week‘ and copy your email to us at MP-Surgery@globelegislators.org.
- Consider meeting your MP with fellow students and accompanied by a teacher/appropriate adult to ensure safeguarding requirements are met.
- Given the demands on MPs time and potential COVID-19 restrictions, meetings may be virtual via MS Teams or Zoom.
- Please spread the word from your social media accounts, announcing that you are participating in #LondonClimateActionWeek and the #StudentMPClimateSurgery as part of the #SchoolsClimateSummit – copying to our Twitter accounts: @GLOBE_intl, @climate_london and @london_climate. We will help amplify on social media.
- Please write-up/report back on your meeting with your MP and share widely within your school and community. We would love a copy and for you to keep us in touch with your progress.
Follow Up
We’d love to know how you get on with the Student-MP Climate Surgery! Please let us know – your experience will be helpful as part of our ongoing efforts to improve democratic engagement, share good practice and encourage better practice.
We will be in touch with London’s MPs and convene information and networking events to promote learning, collaborative effort and leadership for climate action in and beyond London. These annual Student-MP Climate Surgeries during London Climate Action Week will be a key focal point for reporting on and auditing local constituency action.
Any questions/comments/feedback and suggestions? Please drop us a line at MP-Surgery@globelegislators.org.
Thank You and Good Luck!