Sessions for London schoolchildren raise awareness of the climate crisis

Student volunteers are organising workshops to help London schoolchildren understand the causes and consequences of the climate emergency.

“Children are always super-excited to learn about climate change in a way that is both accessible and playful,” explains Isis Palay (MSc Environment, Politics & Society), Co-leader of The Climate Collage UCL student volunteer project.

“They feel empowered to make a change and to take individual action. They’re then happy to share what they have learned with their parents.” 

The Climate Collage UCL was established in 2019 by Maë Faugere (Philosophy 2019) with the help of Barbara Leger (Geography 2019). Mae discovered The Climate Collage, a non-governmental organisation that was organising climate education workshops in dozens of organisations in France.

The students asked relevant questions, and were able to think of some things they wanted to change now, and some future goals.

The science-based workshops help people understand the causes and consequences of the climate emergency. Based on Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports, the workshops explain climate change and what happens when human impact disrupts climate.

Mae brought the idea back to the UK and launched the project at UCL, where student volunteers are rolling out the workshops in London schools and within UCL.

Participants in the workshops play a game with 42 cards, each representing an element, a cause and/or a consequence of climate change. Guided by a facilitator, teams have to find the cause-effect relationships between the different components of climate change.

“The step-by-step reconstruction provides the tools and knowledge that are necessary to understand the systemic complexity behind the climate crisis phenomenon and the issues it catalyses,” explains Isis.

In 2019/20, the project ran workshops at schools including Brindishe Manor Elementary School in south-east London, where 60 Year 6 students attended the sessions.

“It was really enriching to run The Climate Collage with students who already had prior knowledge of climate change,” says Barbara. “They asked relevant questions, and were able to think of some things they wanted to change now, and some future goals.”

The project also ran workshops on campus for more than 60 UCL students, 10 of whom were trained to facilitate future workshops.

The Climate Collage UCL is one of the many initiatives supported by the Students’ Union UCL Volunteering Service, which connects students with community volunteering opportunities across London.