Climate Change is a challenge faced by all human beings and is of great concern to the international community. An important part of tackling it is raising the awareness and understanding of the public in general and young people in particular. Under Article VI of UNFCCC, governments should develop and implement educational and public awareness programmes on climate change and encourage international cooperation in this area.

In this context, the Climate4Classrooms（C4C）Project has been developed to give teachers greater confidence in and knowledge about climate change, to show young people aged 12+ how climate change is relevant to their lives as local and global citizens, and to provide opportunities for an international exchange of ideas. It also helps schools in the UK, China and other countries to teach, think and talk about the global and intercultural dimensions of climate change.

Through a multilingual website, C4C gives these teachers and students access to innovative and interactive teaching tools based on the latest climate change data from world-renowned climate experts. Resources include maps, graphs, student activities and case studies on the likely impact of climate change globally and for each participating country, as well as videos of climate experts bringing climate science to life.

C4C is a global project developed by the British Council, the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) and the Royal Meteorological Society. It is currently being piloted in China, Indonesia, Mexico and the UK. Many more countries will join the project in coming years. The website www.climate4classrooms.org will go live in July 2010.

The UK-China Climate4Classrooms Teaching Resources Project is delivered by the Cultural and Education Section of British Embassy and the China National Institute for Educational Research. With a UK-China National Teacher Training Centre for Climate Change Education at CNIER, the project offers teachers of more than 500 project schools opportunities for capacity building and exchanges through a series of activities, such as teacher training workshops, expert-guided teaching activities, and domestic and international exchanges to encourage young people to participate more in climate change related student activities. At the core of these activities is a set of resources covering different aspects of climate change, the most popular of which addresses the demand from Chinese teachers for more advanced teaching methods and more local content.

The UK-China National Teacher Training Centre for Climate Change Education is a milestone in UK-China collaboration on climate change and will play an important role in both raising public awareness and creating a deep talent pool for both the UK and China to draw on in tackling climate change in the future.
UK China Symposium on Climate Change Education and Official Launch of Climate4Classrooms Project

Organised jointly by British Council China and the China National Institute for Educational Research, the Symposium was successfully held on 31st March- 1st April 2010 in Beijing. The event brought together over 100 participants including representatives from local educational bureaus, head teachers and science teachers from 11 cities.

Participants Group Photo

Unveiling of Bronze Plaque to announce the establishment of the UK-China National Teacher Training Centre for Climate Change Education by Joanna Burke, Regional Director, BC China and Yuan Zhenguo, Director for CNIER

Please click to see the agenda, relevant materials and photos.