The European Teach-In On Climate And Justice, March 2023

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals is essential to resolving the climate crisis. Higher education is critical in preparing climate-resilient societies and preparing students for careers in sustainable development. But how can universities reach more students in a larger variety of disciplines, outside of the dedicated climate or sustainability studies? The key is to show how their chosen field contributes to just and fair solutions. Since 2019, the Center for Environmental Policy at Bard College in New York has led a global initiative in collaborative climate education, The Worldwide Teach-In on Climate and Justice www.WorldwideTeachIn.org. In March 2022, more than 350 universities, high schools and other organizations held climate education events in 60 countries, directly engaging over 50,000 participants. The theory of change behind the initiative is that, at every school in the world, there are dozens of deeply climate-concerned faculty and staff. How do we empower these faculty to reach students across campus-- beyond the few dozen students who are directly studying climate-- in discussion about climate solutions and justice? The key is creating opportunities for faculty who are not climate experts to teach about climate from their disciplinary perspective—to focus on how artists, economists, chemists, philosophers, or business experts and others, are all working to resolve the climate crisis. For the March 2023 Teach-In, Bard is working with universities worldwide to help their climate-concerned faculty to #MakeClimateAClass. In this presentation, the local coordination team for Europe will provide insights into promoting campus-wide conversation about climate solutions in all disciplines.