Teaching Climate Change: An Integrative Approach

Presented by Robin Leichenko, Professor of Geography, Rutgers University; and Karen O’Brien, Professor of Geography, University of Oslo

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Climate change is one of the most complex and urgent challenges confronting society. It has enormous consequences for young people, both today and in the future. How do we introduce the topic in a way that empowers students and fosters their individual and collective engagement with a wide variety of solutions?

In this edWebinar, Robin Leichenko and Karen O’Brien present an integrative approach to teaching about climate change. Drawing on their new textbook, Climate and Society: Transforming the Future, they describe:

• Why an understanding of the social and human dimensions of climate change is essential
• How to promote critical thinking about both the problem and its solutions
• How to promote a sense of agency among students that allows them to contribute to a sustainable future

This recorded edWebinar will be beneficial for teachers and school leaders who wish to learn more about the issue of climate change, including how it can be made relevant to all subject areas. It will provide information that is useful for the development of teaching materials and lesson plans. Robin and Karen each have more than 25 years of experience in climate change research and are happy to answered many questions in the live presentation.

About the Presenters

Robin Leichenko is Professor and Chair in the Department Geography at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Robin’s research explores economic vulnerability to climate change, the equity implications of climate change adaptation, and the interplay between climate change responses and community sustainability. She is the co-founder and co-director of the Rutgers Climate Institute, an interdisciplinary center for climate change research, education, and outreach.

Karen O’Brien is Professor in the Department of Sociology and Human Geography at the University of Oslo, Norway. Karen’s work focuses on human responses to environmental change, with an emphasis on the relationships between personal, cultural, and systems transformations. She is the co-founder of cChange, an organization that fosters new perspectives, knowledge, and tools for promoting equitable and sustainable transformations.

Robin and Karen have been collaborating on climate change research and writing for more than two decades. Their first book, Environmental Change and Globalization: Double Exposures (2008, Oxford University Press), won the Meridian Award for outstanding scholarly contribution from the American Association of Geographers. Their latest book, Climate and Society: Transforming the Future, presents climate change as both a critical challenge for society and an opening for transformation to a more sustainable and thriving world.

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