New Climate Education Courses Provide Young People with Knowledge and Tools

Many children and young people are concerned about the changes in the Earth's climate they see in news from around the world. Climate education is (still) not part of the curriculum in the Danish education system, but with a range of new climate education courses supported by Villum Foundation, children and young people can now engage concretely with the solutions many of them are asking for.

The climate education courses were developed through 21 projects that, in 2022, collectively received DKK 39 million from the Villum Foundation. Schools, youth education programs, professional colleges, and knowledge centers have worked to develop programs that increase children and young people's knowledge, engagement, and action competence in the climate field. Most of these courses are now ready, and many lessons have been learned along the way.

Engineer the Future: Courses That Make an Impact

At Engineer the Future, in collaboration with the Københavns Professionshøjskole (Copenhagen Professional College), seven educational programs have been developed, covering the entire natural science curriculum for grades 1 through 10. These courses are based on an engineering mindset, where students acquire subject-specific knowledge by solving practical tasks. For example, they develop climate-friendly packaging using mushroom mycelium and create solar collectors to heat water with solar energy.

All programs were tested in classrooms and continuously evaluated by researchers from Syddansk Universitet (University of Southern Denmark), leading to new insights, says project manager Mads Joakim Sørensen from Engineer the Future:

"Many students don’t get the opportunity to feel and sense what they are working on in their lessons. Natural sciences traditionally don’t focus much on affective learning processes, even though research in sustainability education shows they have great potential. Through this project, we’ve found they are important for some students’ engagement, and we’ve integrated this into the programs. For instance, students touch and smell mushrooms in nature as part of the design process, or they begin the solar collector course by standing against a sunny and shaded wall and describing what they feel," he explains.

Five of the seven programs are available for free through Engineer the Future, with the final two expected in January 2025.

Green Smith: Sustainable Craftsmanship

In vocational education, integrating climate issues into the curriculum is also essential, especially in trades that build green technologies like wind turbines, geothermal systems, and solar panels.

How do you prepare future metalworkers for this role? This question is the basis of the Green Smith project, carried out by the UddannelsesCenter Ringkjøbing-Skjern (UCRS) in collaboration with vocational schools Tradium in Randers and Learnmark in Horsens.

The three schools have jointly developed 18 educational programs tailored to existing subjects in the EUD and EUX blacksmithing programs. Through workshops and testing, teachers and school leadership, together with local businesses, have focused on how future blacksmiths can work more climate-consciously.

Educational director Hans Uhd Jakobsen from UCRS describes the programs:
"We’ve introduced sustainability issues into all the school periods students go through—for instance, how to avoid material waste in their work or how to sort waste so that rust, aluminum, and steel don’t end up in the same bin. They also learn to evaluate their methods and weigh time and cost against climate impact—such as whether it’s easier and cheaper to use a robot instead of CO2 welding by hand," he explains.

Both students and teachers have embraced the programs, Jakobsen emphasizes:
"We’ve conducted final evaluations among students for all the courses and were positively surprised by how well this has been adopted—they remember all the key concepts and understand why it’s important. Our vocational teachers have embraced the programs and become true green ambassadors, dedicated to equipping students for the green transition. We’ll continue working on this topic in the future."

All educational programs are freely available through the Green Smith Project.

...and Many Other Projects

The engineering courses and the green blacksmiths are just two of the 21 projects that have developed climate education programs. Some are still finalizing their courses, but most are ready for use. These include Klimaoptur by the media outlet Koncentrat, Gymnasieskolernes Klimaalliance by Danske Gymnasier, and EUD redder klimaet by the Center for IT in Education. Find information and links to all published projects in the boxes below. (Danish only)