Introduction

Climate change is already affecting communities across the world, with 2024 the hottest year on record globally. Across Australia, students are seeing and experiencing the impacts of these changes in extreme weather, with more frequent and intense heatwaves, storms, flooding and bushfires.

This Climate Essentials for Educators professional short course has been designed for teachers, principals, school administrators, education designers and education policymakers who seek an overview of the latest science, developments and innovative solutions relating to climate change for translation into classrooms.

The course supports educators to increase their knowledge of climate science and solutions for the purpose of classroom learning. It covers the science of climate change and latest projections, ways that climate evidence and misinformation can be communicated and addressed, the social justice and cultural dimensions of climate knowledge, innovative climate adaptation and mitigation solutions, and student and teacher wellbeing when communicating on these issues.

Delivered by the ANU Institute for Climate, Energy & Disaster Solutions (ICEDS), this course is convened by Associate Professor Bec Colvin and Emeritus Professor Mark Howden. Presenters also include global leaders in climate science, health and science communication, as well as practising teachers and education researchers.

"The course was an excellent introduction to different aspects of climate change and its impacts. I appreciated the broad spectrum of ideas, and was grateful for the huge amount of work and thought put into the course design, planning and delivery."

(Emily Begbie, participant of Climate Essentials for Educators, August 2024, in-person course)

Scope

The Climate Essentials for Educators short course provides professionals from the education sector with access to the latest research and ANU expertise on climate change adaptation, mitigation and co-benefits. It is designed to consider the decisions and situations faced by Australian primary and secondary school educators teaching climate change in the classroom.

The course is delivered in real-time, either online or in-person, and is centred on topic-based sessions and workshops with ANU-affiliated researchers who work at the interface of science-policymaking-practice. Group discussions are also a feature of the course - during the topic sessions and at nominated group discussion times - between you, the ANU team and fellow participants who typically come from a diverse range of schools and subjects.

By the end of the course, a fully engaged participant is expected to have, at a minimum, the skills and knowledge to:

• Broadly understand the latest science relating to climate impacts, extremes, and adaptation options in Australia and the region.
• Comprehend many of the social and economic issues that need to be addressed to mitigate and adapt to climate change (including disaster preparedness).
• Identify solutions to many of the climate change challenges presented in the course.
• Know where to access more information on real-world climate change-related case studies for translation to classroom contexts.
• Identify different perspectives, priorities and challenges of colleagues teaching climate change in the classroom.

"This professional learning day was one of the best I’ve attended, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking to deepen their understanding of climate change and enhance their educational toolkit."

(Paul Dorsett, participant of Climate Essentials for Educators, August 2024, in-person course)

Course Dates

There are no upcoming dates for Climate Essentials for Educators. Please register your interest via the link below. 

* More courses may be added to the 2026 calendar as the year progresses. To stay informed of future courses and dates, express your interest.

To enquire about a private course for your organisation or community group, contact the ICEDS professional learning experiences team via icedscourses@anu.edu.au.

Important Information

• The course is delivered either as a fully online course or an in-person course. 
• Six broad topics are presented with breaks and group discussions.
• Registrations for our public courses are via Humanitix (with 100% of Humantix profits going to education charities). 
• Registrations close 1 week before the course commences. 
• Each individual course take place subject to demand. Registrants will receive a full refund in the unlikely event that the course is cancelled. Places on our public courses are limited to 30 participants and registrations are on a 'first come - first served' basis. Private or tailored courses have a flexible maximum participant number. For more details on refunds, see our refund policy.
• To receive an ANU Certificate of Participation at the end of the course, participants must attend at least 50% of the topic sessions/group discussions. The ANU Certificate of Participation is not an Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) qualification and cannot be used for course credit or exemption at ANU.
• If you have a registration request after the booking portal closes, please contact the ICEDS professional learning experiences team directly via icedscourses@anu.edu.au.

Participant Acknowledgement

By enrolling in and participating in this course, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to comply with the terms of this Copyright and Privacy Notice, including all restrictions on access, use, and dissemination of course materials.

Registration Privacy Notice

By registering for this course, you are also subscribing to the ANU Institute for Climate, Energy & Disaster Solutions mailing list. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe button at the bottom of correspondence. Find out more information in the course registration privacy notice.

Event Photography and Recording

ICEDS professional learning experiences may be photographed and recorded. Images and recordings are kept by ICEDS and may be used for monitoring and evaluation purposes, and for promotional purposes including websites, publications, social media and other modern technologies. If you do not want to be recorded at a course, please inform the photographer or course facilitator on the day. If you do not want to be included in a course recording, please contact us at icedscourses@anu.edu.au.