ECO2 Smart Schools Climate Conference 

Durham Energy Institute is working with Durham County Council and OASES (Outdoor and Sustainability Education Specialists) to organise this international schools climate education project in advance of COP26.

The ECO₂ COP will engage Durham schools and their international partners, to educate and inform children and young people about:

• Climate change.
• The COP (and the issues being debated at COP26).
• Global perspectives, experiences and actions on climate change.

Students and Staff from across Durham University are supporting the intitaive by helping to develop educational materials and research-led expert films for the lessons and getting involved in the live interactive events.

What is the ECO₂ COP project?

The ECO₂ Smart Schools Climate Conference will bring schools together from around the world to think about the issue of climate change. It is aimed at pupils aged 9 - 14.

Schools across County Durham will be partnered with a school in another country.  This partnering will enable the young people involved to to learn about how schools from around the world are experiencing and adapting to climate change.

Each school will provided with an education pack which will explore the COP26 themes: adaptation and mitigation, nature, transport, energy and finance. The education pack will guide and empower pupils to think about their own and learn about their partner school’s experiences and response to climate change. The pupils will also be challenged to think about what it means to be a ‘Let’s Go Zero’ School and encouraged to share their current climate change actions.

The ECO₂ COP will also seek to encourage:

• The young people to share their experiences / concerns about climate change.
• Schools / young people to share the actions that they are taking to combat climate change.
• Schools / young people to think of actions that they (and their school) can take to combat climate change and become carbon zero.
• Schools / young people to engage with the COP26 debates.

More information can be found on the ECO₂ Smart Schools website: ECO2 Smart Schools Climate Conference | ECO2 Smart Schools.

Virtual ECO₂ Smart Schools Climate Conference

Participating schools will come together for the live, virtual ECO₂ Smart Schools Conference in the Autumn Term of 2021. 

During the event the pupils will be challenged to think about the issue of climate change and explore each other’s experiences of it. There will also be an opportunity to vote on the actions that are needed to tackle climate change.

Everyone will work together to explore what it means to be a ‘Let’s Go Zero’ school.

Pupils will also be given the opportunity to quiz a panel of Durham County Council and Durham University experts about the issue.