Kōrero miramira Inspiring stories
Articles and links that share experiences from school communities and showcase student voices and actions in Aotearoa.
- Education Gazette article about educator Sian Carvell's work in Christchurch, engaging and empowering young people and their communities – Climate change education ignites actionopen_in_new
- Inspiring case studies from schools in Ōtautahi – Street Art: Children’s Voices and Climate Actionopen_in_new
- Next generation conversation video (6 mins) – The story of a coalition of climate change activists aged 10 to 14 years in Ōtautahi Christchurch who submitted on the city's Coastal Adaptation Framework.
An award-winning 12-minute animation that portrays the crucial connection between water cycles and the climate. The animation shows what a healthy intact water cycle is, the consequences of its destruction, and how our broken water cycle can be restored. How Water Makes Climate is an engaging and educational animation that inspires youth to learn about the importance of water and with that, to also take action in their communities.
Climate change projections (6 mins)
Environmental data scientist Hannah Ritchie digs into the numbers behind human progress across centuries in this 14 minute video, unpacking why the conventional understanding of sustainability is misleading and showing how we can be the first generation of humans to actually achieve it.
Hannah Ritchie: Are we the last generation — or the first sustainable one? | TED Talkopen_in_new
Stuff articles from their Forever Project series about the challenges of climate change and sustainability, which aim to do more than articulate the scale of the peril but also to share solutions and to help readers hold on to hope.
- Stories of teachers across the country working to educate students on the causes of and solutions to climate change and the role young people can play in addressing it – Teaching climate hope, not despairopen_in_new
- Article from 2022 about what actions the world's nations need to take to limit climate change – Yes, there’s still time to limit climate warming to 1.5C – major reportopen_in_new
- Another 2022 article on the report discussed in the article above, which talks of "a litany of broken climate promises” by governments and corporations – World hurtling towards climate danger zone, top climate scientists sayopen_in_new
Two articles from the former GNS Science (now Earth Sciences New Zealand) about the success of their Drive it down! school gate carbon emissions project at Meadowbank School in Auckland:
What's next?
Teacher planning and development
We have linked resources from trusted organisations to help you to develop a programme across a range of curriculum areas. More to come!
Related Lessons
Te ine i ō tātou tukuwaro Counting our carbon emissions
The final lesson in the series that measures carbon dioxide emissions in a way that makes sense to a student's everyday travel. Raise awareness of the carbon we create and what changes we can make.
He aha rā te hirahira o te Āhuarangi Hurihuri? What’s the big deal about Climate change?
Three lessons that set the scene for teaching climate change, carbon emissions, the greenhouse effect and more. A series of hands-on lessons to capture the imagination of every student.
Te Taiao Environment
Mā raro, mā wīra rānei nā te mea he pai ake mō te taiao!
I walk or wheel because it’s good for the environment!
Te Taiao is the Movin'March focus for 2025.