Category: data

Infographic titled "Climate literacy as safeguarding in schools" with five sections: Acknowledgement, Care, Honesty, Support, Shared Responsibility. Each section has an icon and brief explanatory text, emphasizing emotional and educational roles in addressing climate change.

Climate literacy as safeguarding: What reasonable professional responsibility looks like

Posted on by Kit Marie Rackley (they/she)

The final part of the "This isn't activism, it's duty of care". Here I propose five 'reasonable responsibilties' of educators regarding climate change and its impact on children. By combining the three reports explored, we recognise children's emotional connections to nature, school systems' contributions to environmental issues, and officially recognised ecological risks. Rather than advocating for heroic actions, I call for acknowledgment of climate-related concerns, careful language, and institutional honesty. The aim is to cultivate climate literacy without placing undue burden on students, grounding responsibilities in shared, reasonable actions rather than individual blame.

When ecological risk becomes a planning assumption: reading the National Security Assessment with care

Posted on by Kit Marie Rackley (they/she)

Part 4 of the "This isn’t activism, it’s duty of care" series. Recent reports highlight the intersection of climate change, education, and responsibility, specifically the UK government's National Security Assessment on biodiversity loss. This internal document emphasises foreseeable risks to food, water, health, and economic stability. It calls for awareness and preparation rather than prescriptive measures, advocating for ecological risk acknowledgment in education. Thus, climate literacy should focus on safeguarding rather than activism, fostering resilience and understanding amid uncertainty.

Infographic showing key findings on environmental impact: 40% transport, 27% energy, 32% food, 72% scope 3 emissions, under 1% water/waste, over a blurred image of children outdoors.

Schools are not neutral: What school carbon data reveals about responsibility, modelling, and care

Posted on by Kit Marie Rackley (they/she)

Part 3 of the "This Isn't Activism: It's a Duty of Care" series discusses the findings of the Count Your Carbon 2026 report, which analyses carbon emissions from over 1,600 schools in England. It reveals that structural decisions, such as transportation and food sourcing, significantly contribute to school emissions, often beyond children’s control. I emphasise that framing climate responsibility on students is misleading and may lead to emotional burdens, and so there is a need for institutional honesty and alignment of actions with the realities of carbon impact to support safeguarding rather than shifting blame onto young people.

A bar chart shows that most children and young people in England agree that being in nature makes them happy, with 40% completely agreeing and 29% strongly agreeing.

Children already know this matters: What Natural England’s Survey tells us about wellbeing, inequality, and care

Posted on by Kit Marie Rackley (they/she)

Part 2 of the "This Isn't Activism: It's a Duty of Care" series on climate education. I look at the importance of understanding children's experiences and relationships with nature as revealed in the Children’s People and Nature Survey for England, highlighting that most children feel happy in nature, but access to it is uneven, influenced by factors like income and ethnicity. Safeguarding frameworks need to account for these inequalities, as children’s emotional connections to nature exist before climate-related concerns. Educators should approach these topics with care, awareness, and honesty rather than avoidance or panic.

This isn’t activism, it’s duty of care: What three recent reports tell us about climate change, young people, and responsibility in education

Posted on by Kit Marie Rackley (they/she)

The start of a series of blog posts focusing on climate literacy and institutional responsibility, examining the complex issues children face. By analysing recent reports, the series aims to slow down the conversation and emphasise professional duties toward young people's wellbeing. It will challenge existing narratives and explore safeguarding implications.

Annual International Gender Survey Opens For Twelfth Year Running

Posted on by Kit Marie Rackley (they/she)

The Gender Census is an annual online survey aimed at collecting data on gender language preferences. Launched in 2013, it gathers responses globally, providing valuable data that supports academia, activism, and businesses. The 2024 survey gathered over 48,000 responses. This initiative, led by Cassian Lodge, encourages respectful gender language usage and fosters community among gender-divergent individuals. A fantastic initiative that demonstrates the beautful intersectionality between human geography and queerness.

Climate Change Visualised: Warming Stripes Explained

Posted on by Kit Marie Rackley (they/she)

Climate change isn’t abstract. It’s a silent shout in blue and red. The stripes don’t lie: we’re running hot. Lighten the shade. #ShowYourStripesDay #CoffeeGeogPod 🌍 Your stripe matters.

“We’ve Spent Our Wages”: Reflections on the UK’s Earth Overshoot Day 2025

Posted on by Kit Marie Rackley (they/she)

Today, 20th May 2025, marks the UK’s Earth Overshoot Day—the date when, if everyone on the planet lived like the average person in the UK, we would have used up our share of the Earth’s renewable resources for the entire year. From this point forward, we’re living in ecological debt. In our latest Espresso & Geography podcast short, I was joined by the Dave Wynn to unpack what Overshoot Day means, why it matters, and how we can use it as a powerful communication tool for sustainability.

Understanding Climate Change: Resources for Education (2025 Update)

Posted on by Kit Marie Rackley (they/she)

Climate science and related disciplines (like social and economic science on climate change impacts and solutions) is constantly envolving. Back in 2020, I was comissioned by the Geographical Association to produced some member-access resources, with some minor updates for 2022. A lot happens in just three years when it comes to the issue of climate change, and while those GA resources are still relevant and useful, recently commissioned work has compelled me to update some of those resources and create some new ones.

How to Use Carbon Brief’s Attribution Interactive Part 1 – How Climate Change is Impacting Extreme Event Trends

Posted on by Kit Marie Rackley (they/she)

This mini-series offers teaching ideas for using Carbon Brief's Extreme Weather Attribution Interactive Map, focusing on climate change's effects on extreme weather. Part 1 is a resource to guide learners through analysing data trends in extreme events like heat, storms, and droughts using spreadsheet apps like Google Sheets.