About Us

about us

We are educators who declare our solidarity with the students’ uprising for climate justice action. Today, the world is the most ‘educated’ it has ever been and yet the nearest to environmental breakdown. It is clearly evident that the ‘progress-and-development’ models of the past – and the existing modern education systems that underpin these models – perpetuate the status quo and its unending goal of economic growth and development, thus aggravating the climate crisis. While we’re not suggesting that the climate crisis can be simply ‘solved’ through more (or better) schooling, we cannot continue to deny the implication of our education systems in the anthropogenic climate crisis we now face.

The idea for the Call to Action emerged from many conversations among researchers and education practitioners from different disciplines about the need for a collective response to the youth climate strikes. The magnitude and urgency of the challenges we face require collaborative efforts of the education sector to address the climate crisis as our key priority. To advance this cause, a core group of educators drafted a Call to Action, gaining support from more than 150 leading educators as initial signatories from across the world.

We are launching the Call to Action on the occasion of the UN Climate Action Summit and the Global Climate Strikes, to express educators’ solidarity with the striking students. We call on our fellow educators globally to join us in supporting students’ uprisings and making urgent changes to the business-as-usual of education – at all levels and across all disciplines.

Join us.

Call to Action Drafting Team

Raewyn Connell, The University of Sydney, Australia
Daniel Fischer, Arizona State University, USA
Gustavo Fischman, Arizona State University, USA
Charles A. Hopkins, York University, Canada
Katrin Kohl, German Commission for UNESCO, Germany
Hikaru Komatsu, Kyoto University, Japan
Mary Metcalfe, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
David Orr, Oberlin College, USA
Jeremy Rappleye, Kyoto University, Japan
Iveta Silova, Arizona State University, USA
Affrica Taylor, University of Canberra, Australia
Antonia Wulff, Education International (EI), the world federation of teacher unions

Disclaimer

The Call to Action is signed by individuals and does not necessarily represent the views of their employers.

Acknowledgements

Thank you to everyone who helped make this initiative possible, especially those who translated the Call to Action, including Byoung-gyu Gong (Korean), Esther do Lago e Pretti (Portuguese), Estève Giraud (French), Hikaru Komatsu (Japanese), Jieyu Jiang (Chinese), Ketevan Chachkhiani and Keti Tsotniashvili (Georgian), Margarita Pivovarova (Russian), Yamini Yogya (Hindi), Yvonne Lujano Vilchis (Spanish), Daniel Fischer (German), Réka Könczey (Hungarian), Radu Ticiu (Romanian), Magda Karjalainen (Polish), and Michela Mayer (Italian). Additional thanks to Janna Goebel for helping to locate the images used on this website. The royalty-free images used here were found on pixabay.com and unsplash.com. Thank you to the artists who contributed their work to these sites for public use.

We would like to thank the initial signatories of the Call to Action for their support (listed in alphabetical order):

Jill Adler	University of the Witswatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
German Alvarez	Departamento de Investigaciones Educativas CINVESTAV – IPN, México
Manisha Anantharaman	St Mary’s College, USA
Gary L. Anderson	New York University, USA
Arjun Appadurai	New York University, USA
Michael Apple	University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
Cecilia Åsberg	Linköping University, Sweden
Beatrice Avalos Davidson	Universidad de Chile, Chile
Stephen Ball	University College London, UK
Phil Bamber	Liverpool Hope University, UK
Matthias Barth	Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Deutschland
Stefan Baumann	Pädagogische Hochschule Zürich, Switzerland
Cathy Beach	A Kids’ Guide to Canada, Canada
Jason Beech	Universidad de San Andrés, Argentina
Aaron Benavot	University of Albany, SUNY, New York, USA
David Berliner	Arizona State University, USA
Andrés Bernasconi	Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile
Mindy Blaise	Edith Cowan University, Australia
Christopher Boone	Arizona State University, USA
Will Brehm	Waseda University, Japan
Halina Brown	Clark University, USA
Michael Burawoy	University of California, Berkeley, USA
Erica Burman	The University of Manchester, UK
Paul R. Carr	Université du Québec en Outaouais, Canada
Pam Christie	University of Cape Town, South Africa
Raewyn Connell	The University of Sydney, Australia
Gerry Connelly	York University, Canada
Joe Culhane	Portland Community College, USA
Pamela Curtin	Lancaster University, UK
Aklilu Dalelo	Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia
Rico Defila	Universität Basel, Switzerland
Elizabeth De Freitas	Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
Mathias Demetriades	Den Globala Skolan/Universitets- och Högskolerådet, Sverige
Antonietta Di Giulio	Universität Basel, Switzerland
Donald A. Dippo	York University, Canada
Jana Dlouhá	Univerzita Karlova, Czech Republic
Jen Dollin	RCE Greater Western Sydney, Australia
Thom van Dooren	University of Sydney, Australia
Lorna Down	The University of the West Indies at Mona, Jamaica
Inés Dussel	Departamento de Investigaciones Educativas CINVESTAV – IPN, México
David Edwards	Education International, Belgium
Ong Eng Tek	Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Malaysia
Jo-Anne Ferreira	Southern Cross University, Australia
Daniel Fischer	Arizona State University, USA
Gustavo Fischman	Arizona State University, USA
Hiroki Fujii	岡山大学 / Okayama University, Japan
Jim Gear	Canada
Susan Gesner	GAEL, Canada
Katherine Gibson	Western Sydney University, Australia
Libby Giles	New Zealand Association of Philosophy Teachers
William Goddard	University of Greenwich, UK
Juan Miguel González Velasco	Universidad Mayor de San Andres, Bolivia
Lin Goodwin	Teachers College, Columbia University, USA & The University of Hong Kong
Noel Gough	La Trobe University, Australia
Andréa Gouveia	Universidade Federal do Paraná, Brasil
Donna Haraway	University of California, Santa Cruz, USA
Mira Hird	Queens University, Ontario, CA
Charles A. Hopkins	York University, Canada
Tung-Hsing Hsiung	國立臺東大學
David Hursch	University of Rochester, USA
Maria de Ibarrola	Departamento de Investigaciones Educativas CINVESTAV – IPN, México
Hilary Inwood	University of Toronto, Canada
Alfredo Jornet	Universitetet i Oslo, Norge
Takehiko Kariya	University of Oxford, UK
Douglas D. Karrow	Brock University, Canada
Noah Karvelis	Former Arizona #RedForEd organizer and University of Wisconsin-Madison
Yuto Kitamura	University of Tokyo, Japan
Takeshi Kitazawa	Tokyo Gakugei University, Japan
Katrin Kohl	German Commission for UNESCO, Germany
Hikaru Komatsu	Kyoto University, Japan
Richard Kool	Royal Roads University, Canada
Ole Andreas Kvamme	Universitetet i Oslo, Norge
Barry Law	Otago Polytechnic and Untouched World Foundation, New Zealand
Un Leang	សាកលវិទ្យាល័យភូមិន្ទភ្នំពេញប្រទេសកម្ពុជា។
Barbara Leckie	Carleton University, Canada
Keith Lewin	University of Sussex, UK
Detlev Lindau-Bank	Universität Vechta, Germany
Bob Lingard	Australian Catholic University and the University of Queensland, Australia
Gustavo Lopez Ospina	UNESCO Office Quito, Ecuador
Geovana Lunardi	Universidade Estadual de Santa Catarina, Brasil
Antonio Luzón	Universidad de Granada, España
Basil Manuel	National Professional Teachers’ Organization of South Africa, South Africa
Michela Mayer	Italian Association for Sustainability Science, Italy
Marcia McKenzie	University of Saskatchewan, Canada
Tristan McCowan	University College London, UK
Hugh McLean	Open Society Foundation, UK
Milton McClaren	Simon Fraser University and Royal Roads University, Canada
Mary Metcalfe	University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Gerd Michelsen	Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Deutschland
Zsuzsa Millei	Tampereen yliopisto, Tampereen ammattikorkeakoulu, Suomi
Paul Morris	University College London, UK
Heinz-Dieter Meyer	University of Albany, SUNY, New York, USA
Jordan Naidoo	UNESCO, France
Robbie Nicol	University of Edinburgh, UK
Kai Niebert	Universität Zürich, Switzerland
Antonio Novoa	University of Lisbon, Portugal
David Orr	Oberlin College, USA
Mary Otieno	Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya
Veronica Pacini-Ketchabaw	Western University, Canada
Phillip G Payne	Monash University, Australia
Roger Petry	RCE Saskatchewan and University of Regina, Canada
Oren Pizmony-Levy	Teachers College, Columbia University, USA
Damjana Potočnik	The Learning Teacher Network, Slovenia
Peter Posch	Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt, Austria
Jeremy Rappleye	Kyoto University, Japan
Baela Raza Jamil	Idara-e- Taleem-o-Aagahi Centre of Education and Consciousness, Pakistan پاکستان۔
Dzulkifli Abdul Razak	International Islamic University of Malaysia, Malaysia
Jenny Ritchie	Te Whare Wānanga o te Ūpoko o te Ika – Victoria University of Wellington, NZ
Jessica Ringrose	University College London, UK
Fazal Rizvi	University Melbourne, Australia
Libby Robin	Australian National University, Australia
Debra Rowe	Oakland Community College, USA
Elaine Rubinoff	Learning for a Sustainable Future, Canada
Connie Russell	Lakehead University, Canada
Sandra Sales	Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
Ilga Salīte	Daugavpils Universitāte, Latvija
Mirriam Sampa-Moonga	University of Zambia, Zambia
Craig N. Shealy	James Madison University, USA
Ulf Schrader	Technische Universität Berlin, Deutschland
Pamela Schwartzberg	Learning for a Sustainable Future, Canada
Iveta Silova	Arizona State University, USA
John Siraj-Blatchford	University of Plymouth, UK
Christine Stayte	San Silvestre School, Peru
Kim Smith	Greater Portland Sustainability Education Network, USA
Faye Snodgress	Kappa Delta Pi, USA
Noah Sobe	Loyola University Chicago, USA
Margaret Somerville	University of Notre Dame, Australia
Stephen Sterling	University of Plymouth, UK
Martin Storcksdiek	Oregon State, USA
Beth Blue Swadener	Arizona State University, USA
Keita Takayama	京都大学、日本
Affrica Taylor	University of Canberra, Australia
Kariya Takehiko	University of Oxford, UK
Mark Terry	York University, Canada
Victoria Thoresen	Høgskolen i Innlandet, Norge
Leon Tikly	University of Bristol, UK
Shepherd Urenje	Uppsala University, Sweden
Philip Vergragt	Tellus Institute, USA
Arnd Wächter	Crossing Borders Education, USA
Reinhold Wagnleitner	Paris Lodron Universität Salzburg, Austria
Arjen Wals	Wageningen University and Research Centre, Nederland
Christine Wamsler	Lunds Universitet, Sverige
Joel Westheimer	University of Ottawa, Canada
David Blake Willis	Fielding Graduate University, USA
John Willinsky	Stanford University, USA
Antonia Wulff	Education International (EI), Belgium
Shoko Yamada	名古屋大学、日本
Jonathan Yee	RCE Saskatchewan, Canada
Atsufumi Yokoi	岡山大学, 日本
David Zandvliet	Simon Fraser University, Canada
Michalinos Zembylas	Ανοιχτό Πανεπιστήμιο Κύπρου, Κύπρος