Globeducate partnership with World Wildlife Fund

Globeducate’s global partnership with leading conservation charity WWF (World Wildlife Fund) sees collaboration across the school network, impacting the education of more than 25,000 young people each year.  With the WWF having played a key role in identifying the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, it is a natural partnership for Globeducate.  

WWF supports Globeducate by sourcing inspirational speakers and experts and offering opportunities for teacher training in sustainability education. Working closely with the WWF Education Team, the schools have a calendar of events and learning opportunities and in 2020 took part in the following online events. 

Our Planet´s Future Summit

This workshop immerses students in the varied and interlinked issues that face our planet and is aimed to build their understanding of the complexities involved in bringing about change at a global level. Teams are divided into Biome expert groups and a World Leaders group and, after each Biome pitches for investment and international agreements, World Leaders retire to consider their options before leading a lively round-table discussion. 

At this time of planetary emergency, it is vital that the next generation understands not only the science behind the environmental issues we face, but the mechanisms for change. This workshop builds political literacy and systems thinking alongside knowledge and understanding of our planet and the impact of human activities on nature.  

During 2020, more than 55 of our students took part in these summits, interacting with students from 10 schools in the group.  

Our Planet, Our Business Webinar

This one-hour webinar with an expert panel gives students the chance to submit pre-prepared questions and to listen to experts in sustainability issues discussing their points. Prior to the webinar, students and their teachers watched the WWF and Netflix 30-minute documentary: Our Planet, Our Business.  

More than 20 Globeducate schools, including Nobel Algarve, and more than 500 students have taken part in these webinars during 2020 and impressed the experts with their insightful and challenging questions. Webinars such as this provide an incredible opportunity for students to engage in a professional context, to expand their knowledge base and to have their questions answered directly by experts who are working in the field. Through activities such as this, students understand the issues that clearly align with their curriculum work whilst being provided with key messages on actions they can take individually and collectively to impact on our planet´s future. 

Teacher development with WWF and TES Institute

Globeducate Eco-Schools coordinators are not only completing existing free online development courses with WWF and TES, but they are assisting in piloting new online courses and providing important feedback to enable these courses to benefit other teachers all over the world. This is a key feature of our work with WWF.  

The TES Institute and WWF Sustainable Development CPD courses are typically 6 to 8 hours long and develop confidence in teaching sustainability topics, supporting teachers in discovering strategies and activities for the classroom and enabling them to explore how to teach Education for Sustainable Development throughout the curriculum and to examine good practice in UK schools.  All teachers completing these courses gain detailed insight into WWF resources.  

Wear it Wild 

Across Globeducate schools in the UK, France, Italy, Canada, Spain and Portugal, students and teachers raised awareness of endangered species and their habitats, and the impact of human activity on wildlife. This annual WWF event was interpreted by schools in many different ways including artwork, poetry, song, making costumes, baking and creating masks – and even a virtual bingo night to raise money.  WWF ask people in workplaces, schools and homes to be fiercer, braver and louder than we have ever been and to have fun in the process. This is a particularly popular activity with younger students and we look forward to finding new and creative ways to celebrate the day next year.