News Decoder’s EYES project pilots a new curriculum to inspire teachers and engage students in a deep dive into climate change in schools.
A teacher discusses climate change with students. (Illustration by News Decoder)
Secondary school students in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, will pilot a new class curriculum this year that will focus on climate change without flinching from its stark reality.
Designed in part by News Decoder through its Empowering Youth through Environmental Storytelling (EYES) project, the lesson plans will begin next month at the Blessed Gebre Michael Catholic School. The goal is to help students understand the science behind climate change, explore and come up with solutions and tell compelling climate stories with the goal of affecting change.
News Decoder Managing Director Maria Krasinski said that News Decoder was built on the principles that EYES shares — a global platform for dialogue and exchange, where multiple and diverse perspectives on important issues can find an audience.
“We’re thrilled to see EYES piloted in multiple schools around the world, particularly in regions that have been underrepresented in the global conversation around climate,” Krasinski said.
Blessed Gebre Michael is part of a pilot project in seven countries across Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America, to provide schools with the tools to teach climate change in a way that can inspire teachers and engage students to tackle the world’s most pressing problem.
Educating people on ways to cool the planet
UNESCO has identified climate education as a key component in the fight against climate change. “There is an urgent need to transform the way climate change and sustainability are taught in classrooms and at schools,” UNESCO said in a 2024 report. It found that more than two thirds of secondary school curricula around the world contain no reference to climate change.
In answer to UNESCO’s call, News Decoder partnered with the Climate Academy, a non-profit specialized in systemic climate change education based in Brussels, and Superfluous, a youth empowerment organization in the Netherlands to secure funding from Erasmus+ to develop lesson plans that combine climate change research with storytelling skills.
The participating schools will complete seven modules. For its part, the Climate Academy offers the schools its systems-informed approach to understanding climate change. For EYES, the Climate Academy has created a new textbook that explores climate change through the lens of science, social analysis and systems. Written guides will provide students with the crucial knowledge of why climate change is happening and what systems are involved, and identify the systemic and just solutions to the crisis.
The lesson plans culminate in a journalistic product as the final assignment. In preparation, students will be led through the skills of journalism — from providing data in context, seeking out multiple perspectives and finding and assessing solutions to how to write an article, produce a video and make a podcast.
The goal is for students to root their understanding and communication about the climate crisis in working towards solutions that transform the underlying systems in a way that is beneficial to the well-being of all.
“What makes this curriculum unique is its focus on transformative and fair solutions to climate change,” said Andreea Pletea, EYES project manager for the Climate Academy. “Students not only learn about climate change, but they also actively engage in solutions journalism by investigating and reporting on a solution to a local climate problem.”
Pairing science and storytelling
The Climate Academy wants students to understand and utilize such things as the CutX Index, a database which prescribes emissions reductions for each country based on a per capita distribution of the remaining carbon budget — the amount of CO2 emissions that we are able to emit before hitting a temperature limit.
“EYES doesn’t shy away from highlighting the significant CO2 emission reductions required from high-emitting countries, as outlined in the CutX Index, or from exposing the systems that lie at the heart of the climate crisis,” Pletea said.
The CutX Index focuses on the “bare minimum” that each country needs to achieve before 2030 so that global warming can be limited to 1.5°C or 2°C. The EYES curriculum encourages students to use data like the CutX Index in their journalism and communication in an effort to provide clarity in the media about climate change.
The EYES pilot schools, which are so far in the Netherlands, Belgium, Colombia, Malaysia and Ethiopia, will begin to teach the curriculum this school year to students between the ages of 16 and 18.
The EYES curriculum not only provides students and teachers with the foundational knowledge of climate change, but it emphasizes its disproportionate impact on certain countries and communities.
Confronting the reality of climate change
Pletea said that the content will explore “false solutions,” which do not address the root causes of climate change but instead further exacerbate inequalities that the climate crisis already amplifies.
“False solutions allow Global North countries to continue growing their economies, at the expense of the Global South,” Pletea said. “They are taught to critically assess so-called ‘false solutions’, like geoengineering, the overemphasis on individual carbon footprints and green growth narratives.”
EYES takes a solutions-oriented approach to teaching journalism. The written guides are designed to encourage students to critically assess local climate problems and what is needed to address them on a systems level and in a way that equitably meets needs in their local community.
“Around the world, people are coming together to drive transformative change that ensures well-being within planetary boundaries — yet these powerful stories often go untold,” Pletea said. “By amplifying these stories through their journalistic work, students offer a glimpse into real, transformative and fair solutions to the climate crisis.”
Once the EYES curriculum kicks off in pilot schools, the students will be paired with peers in other parts of the world, in an effort to share global perspectives on the effects of climate change and to foster connections between young people from different parts of the world.
“What excites me the most about the EYES project is the opportunity to connect with students and teachers worldwide who will be piloting this curriculum and to see how their contributions will help it evolve,” Pletea said. “This project is not just about educating. It’s about co-creating a global narrative that highlights the real, transformative actions already taking place and inspiring others to believe that a just and sustainable future is within our reach.”
The EYES classes at Blessed Gebre Michael Catholic School will be led by media professional and trainer Dereje Moges Tadesse. He said that climate change education in high schools is crucial. As Ethiopia develops, there will be a growing demand for green technologies and practices and that climate education can prepare students for careers in these fields.
“Education empowers students to become proactive in addressing climate change. It fosters critical thinking and problem-solving skills, enabling them to develop innovative solutions,” Tadesse said. “Integrating climate change education in high schools is vital for fostering informed, empowered and proactive future generations, especially in countries like Ethiopia where the impacts of climate change are already being felt.”
Questions to consider:
- What is the CUTx Index?
- Why did UNESCO make climate education in the schools a priority?
- Do you think there is enough education about climate change at your school? In what classes might climate change lessons be appropriate?
Amina McCauley is News Decoder’s Climate Education program manager. Born in Australia and living in Denmark, Amina has a background in reporting, media analysis and teaching and a particular interest in the relationship between humans, their environment, and the media.