‘I have been involved with school energy monitoring for 5 years since I was 12. I am a member of the Energy club at Okehampton College which was set up to help make the school more energy efficient. The members are like detectives of the school finding out where energy is being spent in the school and making sure everyone is playing their part.

The club visits  the classrooms after school, leaving green faces if all the computers and lights are  turned off and red faces if they are left on.  Teachers then save the faces and use them in classroom displays. We are now giving out 95% more green faces so we know it has really made a difference.

School projects have made me more aware of saving energy. Some of the things we did in school to save energy, my parents also did to our house, after I mentioned it. We have even installed cavity wall insulation to stop the heat escaping from our house.

My involvement in school energy has been interesting and varied.  It has led to me meeting some famous people including David Attenborough when the school won the Ashden Award in 2010. I have been able to meet world leaders, including the Queen of Jordan.

In 2013 my school won the  the Zayed Future Energy Prize in 2013, and I travelled all the way to Abu Dhabi to collect the prize with my physics teacher Mr Webber. I attended the prize ceremony and I visited Masdar City which promotes ideas for sustainability. It even has driver less electric pod cars underneath the city!

I would never have imagined that turning off a few light switches would lead to what it has!’

See Okehampton College’s website here.

The post Okehampton College Blog appeared first on SEEd.

This highly popular course in how best to take teaching into a new environment was developed 5 years ago after requests from teachers looking for more support than just a one day course. During the course you will:

• Meet together for a FULL DAY at the base near Stirling to explore the value of outdoor learning and practice a range of hands on practical ideas to take back to school.
• Spend time at your school planning, delivering and evaluating a number of outdoor lessons – with support from LtL and over 20 years experience to tap into should you get stuck.
• Spend the day at an annual conference in March 2014 to gain inspiration and ideas from some of the best people working in school grounds at the moment. A place at this very popular event is usually £150.
• Share your experiences, highs and lows, top tips and useful contacts with other teachers taking part in the programme.
• Meet together for a FULL DAY at the base near Stirling to share your lessons and more practical ideas and inspiration.
• Use the resources collated from the course to lead CPD sessions with your colleagues – equipping you with the skills to generate enthusiasm for the outdoors within your school.

Early booking is essential to reserve your place so click here for more information and to make sure you’re there!

The post Learning through Landscapes: Lead Teacher in Outdoor Learning appeared first on SEEd.

Building on the success of the inaugural Learning Landscape Symposium Apathy to Empathy – reconnecting people with placein 2012, the Burrenbeo Trust are hosting an intimate networking event this year for place-based educators, teachers, parents and anyone with an interest in place-based learning and/or learning in the Burren.

This event aims to:

•                provide a unique opportunity to network with other place-based educators from Ireland and beyond, exchange ideas and experiences

•                hear from some leading practitioners both nationally and internationally

•                continue the momentum from our biannual symposium in 2012 and build towards our planned 2014 event

•                explore Ireland ’s ultimate learning landscape, the Burren.

This event will feature interactive workshops in community venues in Kinvara village as well as field trips to the Burren, cultural events and much more.   It will start on the evening on the 18^th, the workshops will be throughout the 19^th, and there is an optional fieldtrip on the 20^th.

Cost: €70 (€60 for OAP/Students, €55 for Burrenbeo Trust members).

Bookings are now open by contacting trust@burrenbeo.com and 091 638096. Places are strictly limited and bookings will be on a first come first served basis.

The full programme will be released shortly; keep an eye on www.burrenbeo.com for more information.

The post Place-based Learning – Building a network? appeared first on SEEd.

22-25 September 2013

Cambridge, UK

Registration now open

http://www-eesd13.eng.cam.ac.uk/

The Conference will explore how to develop the new skills needed by engineers so they can be more effective in dealing with messy problems in an increasingly complex and constrained world. A key theme will also be to reflect on how successful graduates who have received a sustainable development education have been in their subsequent working lives, as well as how useful their wider approach has been to their employers. The conference is the premiere forum for the dissemination of new advances in the evolution of sustainable development thinking in young engineers and associated professionals and will bring together students, academics, graduates and practitioners to rethink the professional engineer’s role and responsibilities in modern society.

Professor John Rallison (Pro Vice Chancellor for Education, University of Cambridge) will deliver the opening address. The Keynote Speakers are:

• Lord Browne of Madingley
• Professor Paul Jowitt (Heriot-Watt University/ Former President of the Institution of Civil Engineers ICE)
• Professor Ellen Williams (BP Chief Scientist/ University of Maryland)
• Professor John Robinson (Associate Provost Sustainability, University of British Columbia)
• Professor Dato’ Seri IR. Dr Zaini Bin Ujang (Vice-Chancellor, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia UTM)

Please visit the website for more information and instructions on how to register.

The post Engineering Education for Sustainable Development appeared first on SEEd.

1) Download and print the survey

2) Find a site with safe access to one or more broadleaved trees and start surveying.

3) Tell OPAL what you find!

That’s it! An easy way to help improve the nation’s trees, and something you can do as part of a group, as well as on your own.

Click here to download the survey and to view other surveys you can take part in.

The post Take Part: OPAL Tree Health Survey appeared first on SEEd.

To sign up, click here!

The post UNEP Global Environmental Alert Service (GEAS) appeared first on SEEd.