Project will survey organizations active in climate communication and education

Project will survey organizations active in climate communication and education

photo: Tima Miroshnichenko from Pexels

Education and communication are important tools in the fight against climate change.To learn more about the organizations working in these areas, what they do and how they operate, visit Sustainable Future Center Columbia University’s Teachers College is conducting an investigation.

The International Survey of Climate Communication and Educational Organizations (CCEOs) will be the first international survey to give voice to organizations on the front line, through educate, training and public awareness. The survey asked organizations around the world—including NGOs, community-based organizations, the K-12 education system, higher education and higher education institutions, museums and parks, and corporations—about their services and programs; their challenges; their networking and collaboration; and a variety of other leadership, management and workplace issues. This is not an assessment, but a self-reported survey.

Why do we need this survey?

Article 6 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) recognizes the role of education, training and public awareness in reducing the impact of climate change on society.Recently, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change adopted Action for Climate Empowerment initiative with the overall aim of “empowering all members of society to participate in climate action”. In many countries, including the United States, this goal is achieved through the efforts of many different organizations. Unfortunately, we know very little about these organizations. The survey will provide the first catalog of these organizations with insights into their characteristic trends and patterns.

The United Nations emphasizes that education and public awareness are key factors in empowering people to take action on climate change. source: UNFCCC Action for Climate Empowerment

The main goal of the project is to document the services and programs offered by CCEOs and to discern patterns in the social context in which they operate. Specifically, the project will address the following issues:

1. How many CCEOs are there?
2. What do CCEOs do? What services do they provide and to whom?
3. What are the strengths, weaknesses, challenges and needs of CCEOs?
4. To what extent does the work of the CCEO vary by social context (for example, regions and countries affected more or less by climate change)?
5. What is the structure of the CCEO field? What is the shape of the organizational network? What factors explain the structure of the network?

A Quick Fact About the Survey

• Questionnaire is online management It takes 20 minutes to complete.
• We ask that the director of the organization or someone who knows the organization best complete the survey as completely as possible.
• Based on survey responses, we will publish the first-ever international directory of organizations active in climate communication and education, with basic information on each organization – specifically name, location, year of establishment, and projects and services. The web-based catalog and dataset will be freely available, with search and filtering capabilities.
• We will also prepare a written report and prepare an article for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. In these publications, to protect the confidentiality of participants, names and any other identifying information about participants will be omitted.
• If you have any questions about the questionnaire, you can contact Oren Pizmony-Levy at op2183@tc.columbia.edu or +1-212-278-3180 or WhatsApp +1-812-219-0826.

How can you, State of the Earth readers, help?

1. complete the survey If your organization is active in climate communication and education.
2. Share blog and survey links with your network.
3. postal survey link on your social media. If possible, please tag @TCSustainable so we can answer any questions people have about the survey.

Who is behind this project?

• The survey was conducted by Sustainable Future Center at Teachers College, Columbia University. The mission of the center is “to explore new ways to transform education through original research and the exchange of ideas, so that all people can address global and local environmental challenges.”
• The research team on this project includes:
  • Principal Investigator: Oren Pizmony-Levy, associate professor of international and comparative education at the Teachers College. As a sociologist, Oren’s research looks at the interplay between social movements and education.
  • Project leader: Erika Kessler, doctoral student majoring in international and comparative education at Teachers College. Erika’s dissertation examines youth climate activism.
  • The team also included several master’s students from different academic programs at the Teachers College.
• The survey is the result of a collaboration between three organizations:
• The research was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (partner grant number 895-2020-1019), the Monitoring and Evaluation of Climate Communication and Education Project, and the North American Association for Environmental Education.