Dear friends,
We hope this email finds you well and ready for a break, and that you find some time to enjoy spring with the children and dear ones in your life.
As you know, former Campaign Manager Josephine has left us for maternity leave (!!) and Les Gunbie, our community manager, will also be transitioning to more locally based work in the South East where he is from.
We are incredibly grateful for their achievements over a year with the campaign.
While we are sorry to see them leave, this transition comes at a good time: with a wonderful film delivered, case studies collected, campaign asks refined, and a much stronger network of partnerships ... we are in a great position to reflect on how to build from these accomplishments.
For the time being, Liam Kavanagh, Harriet Ayliffe and Jadzia Tedeschi from the CMP team will be stewarding the campaign at its enters its next phase.
Fundraising will be a key part of our efforts at this stage. If this is important work and you are in a position to support it, please share and donate to the Climate Courage Schools crowdfunder.
Some of the gaps in the space we see are:
1. Prioritising (climate) education Due to a wider tendency to pursue short-term solutions — it can feel like there isn’t enough time to invest in the next generation. But this kind of thinking weakens our collective resilience. The CMP aims to bridge climate education with wider climate and polycrisis conversations, so that education can play the central role it needs to.
2. Supporting teachers and students emotionally To talk honestly about climate change, teachers and students need emotional support as well as information. Creating safe, supportive spaces to discuss difficult truths isn’t a luxury — it’s essential. This work naturally connects with schools’ existing focus on safeguarding, mental health, and wellbeing.
3. Learning from existing disaster response approaches Climate anxiety and overwhelm are often framed as new challenges, but disaster response and relief work have long recognised the importance of psychological care. By drawing on these established approaches, the climate education field can build stronger, clearer arguments when working with policymakers and the wider public.
Recent Events & Upcoming Opportunities
March 14 Climate & Nature Education Festival with Ministry of Eco Education and Unions:
An event at Regent's high school on 14 March brought over 300 educators and campaigers together. We are encouraged to see education trade unions taking steps towards working more closely together to bring climate and nature into the heart of our education system. The Climate Majority Project panel in collaboration with Jess Newberry Le Vay (Climate Cares) and Louise Edgington (ClimatEdPsych) was the most highly attended on the day.
Together, we facilitated a conversation with teachers and educators about what really helps young people understand the hard truth while moving away from apathy, fear & anger and into meaningful collective action.
Safeguarding consultation (Keeping Children Safe In Education) due April 22:
The UK government is currently consulting on updates to (KCSIE) — the statutory safeguarding guidance that all schools in England must follow. This consultation is a rare opportunity for parents and educators to shape how safeguarding is defined before the new guidance comes into force in September 2026. Because KCSIE sets expectations for schools on mental health, wellbeing, and emerging risks, it directly influences what support teachers are expected and empowered to provide.
As young people increasingly encounter distressing climate realities, schools need clear guidance on how to support honest, emotionally safe conversations and build resilience. Making a submission on building resilience (both practical and emotional) matters if one understands safeguarding being about protecting children’s wellbeing in a changing world.
Emotional support in the face of existential threats shouldn’t be treated as an optional extra, but synergise with a wider educational program that prepares children for uncertain futures, while giving teachers the backing they need to do this work well.
Integrating climate and shared resilience into safeguarding policies is an opportunity to weave environmental action with other aspects of life and education.
- For more on how safeguarding and climate education can best be done together, see what Danielle Ware & Sara Farish did at Drake Primary School in Norfolk here.
Encouraging signs
- There’s promising recognition that students need to engage with both scientific and cultural knowledge to face global environmental and social challenges. This opens the door to education that acknowledges that cultural shifts are required.
- The report repeatedly emphasises the value of a “wide range of perspectives.” This could support a more plural and global approach to knowledge — one that moves beyond the narrow worldview that helped create today’s crises.
- There’s welcome acknowledgement that young people need applied knowledge, not just theory — practical life skills, space to explore careers, and more diverse learning experiences. Adaptation skills could be introduced as part of this vision.
- The report gestures towards social justice and “the full development” of young people. That could include space for emotional and inner development.
What you can expect from us:
Right now, we’ll be focusing on one to one conversations with key stakeholders, some targeted outreach, and strategic direction for the campaign (which includes fundraising) – strengthening synergies between Climate Courage Schools and our adaptation campaign (SAFER) as well as the Inner Climate Response Alliance.
Schools should be at the heart of community resilience, and we are committed to helping make that a reality.
A great example of this is Cegin y Bobl (the People’s Kitchen) in Wales, improving health and food resilience in communities, with schools at the heart of them.
What you can do!
We'll be more quiet than normal for the time being but certainly will be in touch next month.
Happy Easter break!
Liam, Harriet, Jadzia
