The team of young educators are part of the National Association for Environment Education funded All Change project. Since April they have been testing activities at local Woodcraft Folk groups, gathering feedback on what young people want to learn about regarding climate change and which activities they find engaging.

The team have just published their first film, exploring carbon footprints. This will be one of a series of films looking at climate change, climate science and how young people can take action to address the climate emergency.

This summer the team will be hosting workshops at Common Ground for children and young people, they also have a special day planned for teachers and youth workers on August 5th. 

For more information about the project, please visit Woodcraft Folk’s website.

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The group, along with Woodcraft Folk staff and volunteers, took part in carbon literacy training as part of the residential. This was led by Emma Fielding from Future We Want and focussed on playing the game ‘How Bad are Bananas?’. The participants were really engaged in learning more about carbon footprints and how our everyday actions can have an impact on our environment.

“I was surprised that make up has such a large carbon footprint because it has sheep oil inside which uses a lot of carbon and energy to use” – Luna (15, New Barnet). 

The participants also explored their own carbon footprint. This was an impactful way for the young attendees to see where eco friendlier changes can be made in everyday life. All the participants made pledges for individual action to reduce their carbon footprint and together the group developed ideas for how Woodcraft Folk as an organisation, could lower their carbon footprint. This included some engaging conversations around travel options to camp, event menus and activities that groups do whilst together. 

After the sessions with Emma, the young participants worked together to create a series of videos about what they had learnt – watch this space to see what they created! Woodcraft Folk, NAEE and RSC hope to share these videos with educators, group leaders, adults and young people in the coming weeks and months. 

Excitingly, the group was lucky enough to have Margaret Fleming (Leicester district) as a KP (responsible for the kitchen) for the residential. The delicious food that the participants enjoyed was all seasonal, locally produced and had an extremely low carbon footprint. This tied in really well with the theme of the residential and there was very minimal waste left over by the group. This sparked debate and conversation around whether all Woodcraft Folk camps and residentials could be more friendly to the planet yet still be just as tasty!

On the final day of the residential, the group was joined by Raquel from the Common Ground board. Raquel led a session with the young participants around how climate is talked about in the media. The young people really resonated with the workshop and shared their own personal experiences of using social media and accessing the news. Many were surprised that according to a recent survey, most young people get their news from their families/households rather than their expectation that all their news updates came from social media. Raquel and the other adults then supported the young people to develop their own session plans to be delivered at Common Ground this summer and with their local Woodcraft Folk groups.

As well as learning about carbon literacy and creating videos the participants sang songs around the campfire, played wild games in the woods, spotted lots of nature including squirrels and deer and made new friendships. 

Those who attended the residential will go on to deliver activities around the climate crisis and lead games of ‘How Bad are Bananas’ and other workshops around the topic of the climate emergency at Common Ground this summer. 

If you would like to find out more about the All Change project head to the project page https://woodcraft.org.uk/projects-campaigns/all-change/ or get in touch with Lauren via email at lauren@woodcraft.org.uk 

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The outreach grant will enable Woodcraft Folk to develop partnership work with the Future We Want organisation who are passionate about creating opportunities and supporting others to learn about sustainability.

A spokesperson from the RSC says:

“The panel were very positive about the activity planned by Woodcraft Folk with the funding and the audience it would be reaching. In particular, it is great to hear that the young people have asked for this and that they will be trained as ambassadors to disseminate climate action and education information.”

The funding is also allowing for a small group of young people from Woodcraft Folk to receive carbon literacy training as part of a climate action residential event to be held at the charity’s Cudham Environmental Activities Centre. If anyone is interested in the residential, there are still some spaces available – all ages are welcome.

The residential participants will be introduced to the ‘How Bad are Bananas?’ carbon footprint game and will begin the process of measuring Cudham’s carbon footprint. The young people who complete the residential, will receive accreditation through the Carbon Literacy Trust.

The Cudham event is part of wider activity led by Woodcraft Folk, which will educate young people, teachers and youth workers about climate change. Over the next few months the charity will be:

• Supporting young people to produce informative podcasts sharing their views on climate change
• Sharing educational resources and group night session plans on climate change and climate justice
• Delivering workshops at the charity’s international camp, Common Ground this summer
• Creating a badgework programme for Elfins, Pioneers and Venturers

Woodcraft Folk have a wide selection of resources available on environmental activities and climate science which can be accessed at https://woodcraft.org.uk/activity/. The resources may be of particular interest to groups, youth leaders and schools.

To enquire about the residential weekend please email Lauren at lauren.karstadt@woodcraft.org.uk and to find out more about Future We Want head here.

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The project is in its second year and there are many exciting opportunities for young people coming up over 2022. The next stage of the project is to work on creating workshops which will help educate and empower young people to teach other young people – youth workers and teachers – about the climate crisis, climate literacy and what actions everyone can take. The workshops, plans and resources created will be put together into a ‘toolkit’ after the event and will be developed during a residential between 11-13 April at Cudham Environmental Centre. The residential is open to young people age 10-15 who want to be involved in the project.

The team of young people (plus staff and volunteers) will take time over the residential to learn from a climate literacy professional. The ‘training’ that the participants carry out with Emma, will end with all involved to be accredited as carbon literate! The residential will also see collaboration between young people to create two workshops around educating others on the climate crisis and how others can take action. One workshop will be prepared to be delivered to adults and one to young people. The workshops will consist of content created by the young people and their ideas. The residential will also answer any questions the young people may have e.g. how to deliver a workshop, how to get everyone’s attention and how to lead adults etc.

As well as taking time to create resources and workshops, the residential will see other ‘usual’ camp activities such as clan, cooking, campfires and a bit of exploring around the centre! 

This is a really exciting opportunity for young people (age 10-15) and a great project to be involved in. To express interest in coming along, please fill in this simple Expression of Interest Form and Woodcraft Folk’s project team will be back in touch very soon. This form can be filled in by parents/carers sending individual young people or by group leaders planning to bring a few participants. There are 28 spaces to be filled by young people and booking will close when 28 have booked on 6 April 2022.

Feel free to pass on this opportunity to others who may be interested. 

Please note that travel, accommodation, activities and food costs will all be covered within the project budget for this residential as well as the cost covered for any materials for the workshops.

Any questions, please get in touch with lauren.karstadt@woodcraft.org.uk

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The project team of young climate educators will work alongside experienced climate scientists and educators to produce a range of interactive activities designed to introduce children and young people to climate science and the climate emergency. The winning T-shirt design will be chosen by a vote from the team of climate educators which will work on the project this year. The T-shirts will then be printed and worn by them when delivering workshops and attending conferences on climate science in the future.

How to enter the competition

The All Change project would love to see designs created by people from all areas across the UK age 6-18.

Make sure your design reflects one or more of the following themes:

• The climate emergency
• Importance of the climate emergency to young people
• Things young people want to know about the climate emergency
• Things young people want to change about our approach to managing and slowing climate change 

You can either make your design on a computer or by hand.

Maximum dimensions of the picture should be 30×21 cm (A4 paper size).

You can submit your picture online for the T-shirt design competition before 11 April 2022 via this form.

Any questions about the All Change project or the competition get in touch to lauren@woodcraft.org.uk

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