MAPping the future of climate education: complex systems and person-centred tools

Climate change is not a new concept to me. It’s been discussed in the news for as long as I’ve been paying attention. 

Over time, I’ve tried to make conscious decisions about my plastic use, where I shop, what I do with my rubbish, what I eat. I’ve been involved in beach clean ups and citizen science projects. But it’s always been a bit of a side project or side interest: nothing that directly linked to my career or day-to-day practice as an educational psychologist.

Making a difference, no matter how small

That changed when I attended an Ocean Advocacy Summit in February. One presenter talked about imposter syndrome and the struggle she experienced coming into conservation and advocacy spaces as a non-scientist, non-expert. This was a person who cared about trying to find space to make a difference. 

Bex Band told a story that I, as an ELSA coordinator, immediately felt had “therapeutic story” potential. It was about a young girl who lives by the beach. There’s a storm overnight and hundreds of starfish wash up on the beach. In the morning, she runs to the beach and picks up as many starfish as she can and throws them back into the ocean. A man walks past and asks “why are you bothering? You can’t save all these starfish” and the girl responds “I know that. But I can make a difference for these ones”.

I spent the day inspired by the idea of carving out a space in the mess and noise of climate activism to make a difference, no matter how small. What can I bring to this? The answer came to me almost without me thinking about it, as I had the sudden urge to draw a PATH (Planning Alternative Tomorrows with Hope, Pearpoint et al. 1993).

Fast forward a few weeks, and I hear about this webinar focused on climate education facilitated by the Ministry of Eco Education, a collaboration of teachers working together to place sustainability at the heart of education.“Awesome”, I think: a chance to get more information and potentially learn about how I can help. 

My agenda coming into the webinar was to listen and learn, but almost as soon as it started, I found myself needing to see the information visually. The speakers had been asked to talk about barriers that are stopping climate education being more mainstream. But as I was listening, I was hearing strengths, a state of the nation at play now, our hopes and fears, and practical suggestions about where to go next. Again, the psychologist in me (bubbling not too far below the surface) quickly drew out a MAP (Making Action Plans, Pearpoint & Forest et al., 1989) template and started writing.

A repeat watch of the webinar recording, and 3 hours of editing later, and I had something that resembled the key discussion points, this time arranged in a way that spoke to a sense of chronology and direction.

How EPs can get involved in discussions around climate education

Feedback on the MAP has been overwhelmingly positive, with people sharing that it provides a good summary of the incredible webinar. It led me to think about how person-centered planning tools can be used more broadly to think about systemic change in conservation spaces:

• Solution circles to support discussions about sustainable practice
• PATHs to support school discussions around reducing carbon emissions

Aside from the process of making the MAP, the webinar made me think about so many ways in which the EP profession can be actively involved in these discussions. Without going too much into the growing use of AI within or beside the profession (could write a whole separate post about the climate issues with that), the recommendations shared by speakers focused on:

• psychologically informed planning and delivery of a climate-aware curriculum
• supporting teachers and schools with the emotional impact of talking about climate change
• working with those experiencing climate anxiety or eco-grief
• empowering leaders to practice in ways that suit their community and their ethos,
• supporting discussions at a systemic level around practice changes that consider environmental impacts. 

I’m pleased to learn that Doctorate courses are now discussing climate anxiety as a difficulty impacting children and young people, but feel at a loss for those of us who qualified years ago and missed out on opportunities to learn about these issues in a more structured way. What is important is to keep discussions like this going.

Enough from me for now, I’ve found my starfish.

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