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TROP ICSU: Climate Change Education across the Curricula, across the Globe
About
Together with the International Union for Quaternary Science (INQUA) IUBS is leading the Climate Change Education project TROP ICSU. The project was funded by the International Science Council (ISC) during the first phase of 2017-2019.
Importance
Understanding the dynamics of Earth’s ecosystem and identifying measures to sustain it for the future requires immediate action with multidisciplinary approaches. Research efforts to identify key factors that affect the biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services need to be scaled up substantially and rapidly, requiring a whole new generation of multidisciplinary scientists/policymakers/administrators, whose education should start now. Educating forthcoming generations about the causes and effects of global climate change is also imperative as implementing solutions depends on an informed public. In this context, we need to develop education and science communication modules in such a way that every future citizen would be better equipped to identify appropriate solutions for sustainable and equitable development.
TROP ICSU Collection of Teaching, Learning Resources
TROP ICSU’s collection of innovative educational resources, with detailed step-by-step descriptions for use in regular lectures, are designed and packaged so that teachers in schools and colleges/universities across the world can use them to
- introduce examples and case studies from climate science and climate change while enhancing the conceptual understanding of topics in the Sciences, Mathematics, Social Sciences, and other disciplines
- impart interdisciplinary training that is essential for research on climate change.
These teaching resources are locally rooted in their context, but globally relevant for their science.
Websites and Contact :
https://tropicsu.org/ ; https://climatescienceteaching.org/
tropicsu@iubs.org
Objectives
The project aims to identify, through a consultative mechanism, most relevant curricula and efficient pedagogical tools, and outreach and citizen science programs to study the impact of climate change on biodiversity and ecosystem function and services and human health and diseases; and ways to address these problems in the coming years.
What makes the project unique is its focus on those education and citizen-science modules that are locally rooted yet globally relevant for much wider outreach. The project aims to integrate relevant education and science communication modules in the education system to help future citizens across the globe in improving their understanding of the science of climate change and in developing necessary skills to mitigate its impact.
Links with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
TROP ICSU maps its goals with SDG4 (Quality Education) and SDG13 (Climate Action).
TROP ICSU also aligns with the Action Plan of UNESCO to promote Education for Sustainable Development.
TROP ICSU Websites and YouTube Channel
TROP ICSU at Global Events
TROP ICSU continues to strengthen its alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of Quality Education (SDG 4) and Climate Action (SDG 13) via opportunities to present our educational efforts at different events organized by United Nations. The project was represented at following events:
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP25) at Madrid, Spain
- UN High Level Political Forum 2019 at UNHQ, New York
- 4th UN Science, Technology and Innovation Forum 2019 at UNHQ, New York
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP24) at Katowice, Poland
More information here.
Educators Workshops and Events
The objective of the TROP ICSU project is to equip students across the world to identify solutions for sustainable and equitable development in the context of climate change. With this objective in mind, the team aims to introduce the collection of digital teaching resources on the TROP ICSU website to teachers of various disciplines or subjects (Science, Mathematics, Social Sciences, and Humanities) through workshops organized in different countries. These workshops are being planned and organized with valuable support from the project partners and collaborators.
The map shows locations of various events organized or participated in by TROP ICSU.
More information is available here.
Partner Organisations in TROP ICSU Project
International Union for Quaternary Science (INQUA) – Co-leader in the project
International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS)
International Mathematical Union (IMU)
International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS)
International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG)
International Union for History and Philosophy of Science and Technology (IUHPST)
International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO)
Committee on Data for Science and Technology of ICSU (CODATA)
ICSU Regional Office for Africa (ICSU-ROA)
Indian National Science Academy (INSA)
Mongolian Academy of Sciences (MAS)
National Research Foundation – South Africa (NRF)
Universidad Tecnica Particular de Loja (UTPL)
Australian Academy of Science (AAS)
World Climate Research Program (WCRP)
