Northland Regional Council’s Climate Action, Education (Enviroschools), and Te Tiriti Partnerships teams joined forces for a one-day workshop in Kerikeri on Wednesday 3 December to share tools and knowledge for teaching climate change with Te Taitokerau educators.
The workshop, Te Ao Hurihuri, brought together 30 kaiako from Enviroschools from all sectors – early childhood centres, primary and secondary schools – as well as educators from organisations ranging from EcoSolutions to Mountains to Sea and Garden to Table.
Rakesh Pinao explains climate change and its impacts in Te Taitokerau
Participants learned about what climate change is and its impacts, experienced a groundbreaking virtual reality environmental teaching programme, and participated in focused breakout sessions.
These sessions included matauranga Māori, the Climate Change Learning Programme, Climate Club’s Ripple workshop, and the ‘Serious Games’ Earth Sciences NZ has developed to gamify learning about climate change and natural hazards.
Breakout sessions included ECE climate resources, mātauranga Māori and Earth Sciences NZ’s ‘Serious Games’
Participants loved the learning and the opportunity to network and exchange ideas with colleagues from across Te Taitokerau.
“The amount that we’ve learnt in a short amount of time today has been huge,” says JoAnne Morningstar, deputy principal of Riverview School. “We’re coming away with ideas that are practical, things we can implement straight away, things we can put in our long-term plan.”
“We’ve made contact with Maia from the Climate Club, so she’s going to come up to Whangārei Girls’ High School and work with our Switch students on the Ripple programme, so that’s really exciting for our students,” says WGHS Head of Technology and Switch, Rebecca Maunder.
For council’s Education and Enviroschools Manager, Susan Karels, the workshop provided an opportunity to collaborate with colleagues across council and external specialists, to share climate expertise that will inform future teaching and learning.
“We’ve been able to draw on the resources of the Enviroschools Programme and work with experts throughout the realms of climate change knowledge,” – Susan Karels, Enviroschools Regional Coordinator.
Altogether, Te Ao Hurihuri has the potential to reach over 5,000 ākonga through the schools of teachers who attended the workshop.
Post workshop outcomes:
The workshop has already contributed to ongoing climate learning and action across multiple Taitokerau schools:
- Riverview School engaged Blake NZ Virtual Reality and continued climate change learning and action. This led to an Enviro Group-led whole-school environmental day focused on establishing a food forest through planting activities
- Matauri Bay School participated in the two-part Climate Club Aotearoa Ripple workshop. Students developed a list of climate actions for their school, which are now being implemented and supported with guidance from their Enviroschools Facilitator
- Opua School implemented the Climate Change Learning Programme (CCLP) and has initiated a freshwater-focused environmental project linked to the learning
- Kaikohe Christian School, while not attending Te Ao Hurihuri, became involved in the Ripple workshop series through connections and learning shared by their Enviroschools Facilitator. Students are now leading six climate action projects focused on solar energy, reforestation, mara kai, and e-bike initiatives
- Whangārei Girls’ High School is using the Climate Change Learning Programme (CCLP) and participated in the Ripple workshop series to further climate learning and action opportunities
- Ahipara School participated in the Ripple workshop series, supporting students to explore climate impacts and identify local actions
- Maromaku School applied learning from the workshop by incorporating the maramataka into its existing mara kai programme, strengthening the connection between mātauranga Māori and environmental stewardship
- Waiarohia Stream Project Climate Summit event. This on-going project involves four enviroschools and is funded by the Northland Regional Council’s Climate Resilient Communities Fund.
Ka nui te mihi – thanks to Toimata Foundation for funding this project, made possible through their partnership with Ministry for the Environment.
Kaiako experienced Blake NZ-VR’s groundbreaking virtual reality climate change lesson