With an alarming increase in natural catastrophes all over the globe, the causes of climate change ought to be clear at this point, with the ongoing temperature rise, now exceeding pre-industrial temperature levels by 1.1°C. Thus, all over Europe, the disastrous impacts of rising temperatures can be witnessed through forest fires, floods, heat waves and droughts.  

In views of this, the latest Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), published in March 2023, provides our current knowledge about climate change as well as suggestions on how to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases worldwide. Therein, the report also mentions and discusses the need for “climate literacy”.  

What do we mean by Climate Literacy? 

Climate Literacy encompasses the capacity to better assess and understand the information provided about the changing climate, as well as being able to better judge the risks posed by a changing climate. It also aims for enhancing people’s understanding of how they can adjust their behaviour in a more sustainable way. Referring to the IPCC, the key to furthering Climate Literacy is education. 

For fostering knowledge on how to build a more sustainable future at all levels, be it regionally, nationally or internationally, reskilling and upskilling are needed more than ever. The EU has declared 2023 as the European Year of Skills and thus points out the need for properly skilled citizens to undergo a successful green transition in Europe. Being a climate-literate citizen therefore not only encompasses being aware of the impact we as humans have on nature and its wildlife, but also acquiring skills which help reduce environmental damage. 

Intertwined: Adult Education and the Green Transition 

This emphasises the importance of lifelong learning and education in the race of fighting environmental pollution’s harmful effects. Hence, education must not stop at school education, but also needs to continuously address adults to guarantee that people of all ages are well-equipped with the required skills for working towards a more sustainable and green future. This objective is certainly not new to the sector of ALE (Adult Learning and Education) with many organisations operating in this area already engaging in initiatives and programmes which inter alia promote ecological behaviour, sustainable food production or natural disaster response.  

ALE’s ability to push forward the green transition has been empirically proven in a recent study, which examined whether participation in adult education programmes reinforces people’s development of sustainable skills, awareness towards the environment, the adoption of eco-friendly behaviour and the construction of sustainability empathy. Comparing the groups of attendees and non-attendees of adult education programmes, the study’s findings show that adults who participated in green ALE initiatives achieved significantly higher levels of sustainability awareness, values, empathy and action. Such findings underscore the importance of putting projects that focus on strengthening climate literacy and green skills on the agenda of adult education organisations and lifelong learning providers.

In a concept paper on adult learning and the green transition, the European Association for the Education of Adults addresses two major strands in the efforts to create an eco-friendlier environment. The first one targets the learners’ curricula, programmes, projects and other adult education initiatives. It is about putting sustainability at the forefront and engaging civil society in the green transition. The second strand aims at making internal processes in lifelong learning and adult education organisations more climate sensitive. This holistic approach responds to the call for furthering a more sustainable external learning environment and tackling the problem from within the ALE community.  

Walking the walk: ALE’s sustainable good practices 

There are already many valuable approaches to tackle climate change and bring forward ALE’s green transition. One example is the Green Step Project, a cooperative initiative between various European organisations pursuing the green transition both externally and internally. For participants of adult education programmes, the objectives are to enhance the learners’ environmental sustainability skills and encourage them to adopt environmentally friendly behaviour. For greening adult education organisations also “from within”, the project aims to foster teaching methods and curricula in learning centres and adult education organisations that successfully equip the learners, especially migrant learners, with the necessary skills for a green job and a more sustainable lifestyle.   

The Young Leadership Programme - Mediterranean, run by the European Forest Institute, is another non-formal approach which provides young adults from the Mediterranean region with in-depth knowledge of the Mediterranean ecosystem understanding paving the way for sustainable entrepreneurship and biodiversity conservation. The programme also follows a peer-to-peer approach because the young adults who participate in this training are equipped with skills, offering them the opportunity to become a leader in this field and spread the gained knowledge even beyond the programme’s participants.  

Another good practice comes from Germany. Die Agronauten, a German non-profit association, focuses on sustainable food production and a green farming culture with an emphasis on regionality. The organisation includes a pronounced educational dimension by not only regularly giving lectures at universities or being involved in the AgriKultur Festival, an event which promotes sustainable regional agriculture and supply, but also by offering educational tours in five different languages to teach the civil society more about green farming and sustainable food production.     

Other good practices from within the ALE community:  

Such already implemented good practices in the ALE community serve as valuable examples to further the green transition in and through adult education and lifelong learning. For the future, it will be continually essential that adult education programmes prioritize environmental education and incorporate green practices into their curricula and operations to create a more sustainable and equitable future for us and future generations.  

Additional resources on this topic on EPALE

https://epale.ec.europa.eu/en/blog/critical-and-systemic-thinking-are-key-green-transition 

https://epale.ec.europa.eu/en/blog/everyone-must-be-equipped-sustainable-development 

https://epale.ec.europa.eu/en/resource-centre/content/adult-learning-and-green-transition 

Photos in this post

Opening photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Second photo by Providence Doucet on Unsplash