Co-creation with Schools
Sustainability is rightly becoming a greater requirement in education. However, the climate crisis is serious, and the danger is that we can create climate anxiety in a vulnerable population and/or avoidance from others who just don’t want to think about it.
We are developing a fun tool: ‘A Jigsaw to Save the World’ that can be applied across disciplines to generate discussion, focused on solutions, rather than problems, in an atmosphere of hope.
The book is being written now, and draft chapters are being released for feedback via a fortnightly LinkedIn newsletter. There will be an accompanying jigsaw puzzle, and possibly smaller versions specific to topic areas. But you don’t have to wait until it’s done to make use of it. We’re keen to engage schools in co-creating the pieces of the puzzle that we need to achieve the picture on the front of the jigsaw which is a flourishing, sustainable society we’d love to live in! Below is a suggested class outline with ideas on how this can be adjusted to suit different subject areas.
Suggested class outline
Getting Started
Ask your class to close their eyes and imagine a flourishing, sustainable world. Imagine it is ten years in the future. Our political leaders have done everything right and the world is just as we’d like it to be. What does that look like for you? Imagine what your neighbourhood looks like. What are people doing? What do you see, smell, hear? Which things are there less of and what is there more of?
Allow around five minutes quiet reflection. This is a great exercise to do outdoors under a tree if you can.
Ask the class to share their visions. If a large group, first break them into smaller groups of 4 or 5 and they can discuss among themselves.
In their groups they should decide on a vision of a flourishing sustainable future that captures the common elements of what they imagined.
This is the picture on the front of the jigsaw puzzle they are trying to build. So far typical adult responses have have been to desire more nature, greater sense of community, less traffic, local food, to feel safe and clean air and water. Similar for University students, but we have not yet done the exercise with under 18s.
[Soon we’ll set up a platform to capture these, but in the meantime we’d love you to summarise the key elements of these visions and email them to us.]
Choosing the Puzzle Pieces
Next ask them to decide on the pieces of the puzzle needed to get us there. They can write or draw these on blank jigsaw pieces (you can use post it notes as an alternative). The subject area and their age will affect which pieces they come up with or you suggest to them. Adjust the question to suit your topic area.
We plan on a book and associated jigsaw. The book is being written now and each chapter corresponds to a jigsaw piece. Where draft chapters are available (currently released as a fortnightly LinkedIn newsletter) they are provided below. Where not, a few ideas are provided, but teachers can draw on their own expertise or just use the exercise to draw out students’ ideas. chapter by chapter.
Some examples are below:
Science
You may expect them to include different kinds of renewable energy, carbon capture technologies, biodiversity, reforestation etc. The en-roads climate simulator may be helpful.
Citizenship/Politics
Consider ways to include the voice of future generations: e.g. Wales has a future generations minister, some suggest youth councils or lowering the voting age, regulate corporate donations and lobbying. More power to citizens’ assemblies which are like juries, drawn from a representative sample of society to decide on a specific topic. Benefits are they are not tied to short electoral cycles, not affected by corporate lobbying and paid for by vested interests etc.
Art, Craft and Design
Sustainable products happen at the design stage so they are built from sustainably coursed materials. Older students can be introduced to the idea of a circular economy. Products will also be built to last and to be easily repaired or recycled. Some ideas are in this draft chapter on repair of the book which is in development.
Design and Technology
As above and below. Cookery can focus on avoiding food waste (how to cook with leftover food), using seasonal ingredients, minimising air miles, home-grown local food or community gardens (see incredible edible project). Vegetables can be grown on school gardens, used in cooking, peelings placed in kitchen top food composter and transferred to school compost bin proving compost for food growing so students can see circular economy in practice.
Computing and Technology
Consider how AI can help (greater efficiency) or hinder (huge water footprint and carbon footprint) the transition to a sustainable society. Also how will AI affect wellbeing, job prospects etc? The H4rmony Project is pioneering the integration of artificial intelligence with ecological awareness. Their mission is to transform how Generative AI understands and interacts with the world, embedding sustainability and ecological consciousness at its core through ecolinguistics principles.
For example, if you ask AI about patio heaters, it will wax lyrical about their benefits but make no mention of the high carbon footprint of running a heater outdoors. The H4rmony Project AI model adds a filter so that the AI prioritises ecological sites for their information. Another example is if you compare typical AI versus H4rmony trained AI responses to requests such as “give me a metaphor for photosynthesis.” Traditional AI adopted a factory metaphor: Photosynthesis is like a high-efficiency green factory operating inside every leaf. H4rmony AI came up with this: photosynthesis is the earth breathing life into the future.
Religious Education
Compare different interpretations in Genesis. Is ‘man’ being asked to be steward and look after God’s earth with care, or is man being given dominion over animals and the earth?
History
Can look at global warming and CO2 emissions since industrial revolution. Notion of the anthropocene. Key change makers, such as Rachel Carson.
Drama and Theatre
Culture plays a key role in raising awareness, and fictional characters can often act as influencers. For example, take a look at this page: https://www.greenstories.org.uk/climatecharacters/. Schools who approach us direct can stage the play, ‘Murder in the Citizens’ Jury’ royalty-free. This imagines eight people in a citizens’ assembly on climate and then there’s a murder. It’s a fun whodunnit with a cast of 8-10 mixed gender. Its dramatic, fun and suitable for 12+. Details here.
Psychology
Explore factors underling attitudes and behaviour change: habits, norms, feelings of agency. Can look at climate anxiety. What kinds of people are climate deniers and why?
English/Languages
Do we think about ourselves as citizens or consumers? What does the term ‘human resources’ say about attitudes towards workers? For ideas, check out Arran Stibbe’s work on ecolinguistics. His team at the University of Gloucestershire have established a free online course called the Stories We Live By and the comments show clearly how ecolinguistics enables us to see the world differently.
Business/Law
Consider social enterprises, co-ops, benefit corporations. Is the corporate form that prioritises shareholder value fit for purpose or could it be changed? Laws that govern global treaties, climate change agreements, ecocide. Multi-stakeholder boards and multispecies governance. Do animals and future generations or even rivers have rights? Examples: Ecuador’s constitutional “Rights of Nature” Faith in Nature’s UK corporate governance innovation (appointing Nature to their board)
Geography
Think about ecosystem resilience, water cycles, sustainable cities, low-carbon transport and food, population change, circular economy principles, regenerative farming, etc.
Corner Pieces
You may like to go wider and consider how each piece of the jigsaw puzzle can be affected by others. In the centre you may have low-carbon food and transport, reforestation, sustainable farming, renewable energy, repair and re-use replacing buy new and throw away. However the corner pieces are those institutional aspects such as law, political systems, economic models that can make it easy or difficult to achieve the flourishing sustainable future we envisage.
Feedback and Co-creation of the Jigsaw
Please let us know what jigsaw pieces your students come up with. We’d love to get photos or written summaries and any testimonials from teachers or students. Soon we’ll set up a platform to capture these, but in the meantime please email them to us. This is a project that can be accelerated with collaborators and funding – if interested get in touch.