May 2022

  • The manifesto with a hole at its centre

    Thanks to SOS-UK for alerting me to the Manifesto on Quality Climate Change Education for All! [subtitled: Teach for the Planet] from Educational International.  EI is the "Global Union Federation that brings together organisations of teachers and other education employees from across the...

  • The Westminster Forum Green Fandango

    I did not to the latest Westminster Education Forum event on May 18th.  It was a tour d'horizon of "green and climate education in England – sustainability and action on climate change in the curriculum, outdoor learning, and priorities for...

  • SDG 4.7 and Our Shared World

    A report by Doug Bourn (UCL) and Jenny Hatley (Bath Spa) on behalf of the Our Shared World coalition of organisations, was launched the other day.  The report gathered evidence of the extent to which the themes of Sustainable Development Goal...

  • Toilet Hummus

    Notes from a Small Town The elected council of my local town likes to present itself as "progressive", usually in comparison to the unitary authority in which it finds itself embedded which is both large C and small c conservative....

  • Two cheers for REF 2021

    I see that the outcomes of the latest universities research assessment exercise [ie, the REF: research excellence framework] have been published today.  Thank goodness not to be involved in this.  It's a major plus of retirement; indeed the thought of having...

  • Who ate all the canapés?

    An article in Schools Week says that the DfE spent over £11,000 on "canapés and booze" to launch its new strategy on sustainability and climate change.  As I was there, I need to put the record straight. The article reports...

  • Stan, Loretta, midwifery, and the Enlightenment

    This is my 2250th post since this blog began in June 2009.  And in all that time I've not had the opportunity to write about Monty Python.  That is odd given how often I've mentioned ESD which is Pythonesque in...

  • Biodiversity gain blues

    A recent article in The Conversation said that although the 2021 Environment Act made it mandatory (after a two-year transition) for most new developments in England to achieve a biodiversity net gain, there are concerns that the policy contains loopholes...