Polish coal region to introduce climate awareness in primary school subjects

Silesia is known as the industrial heart of the country, but its regional government wants to engender a new awareness among the youngest

Integrating climate and environment education in primary school curriculum. Sounds forward-thinking, timely and necessary, right? And when you consider that this step is being taken as a pilot project by the provincial authorities of Silesia, a Polish region known as the country’s coal-mining heartland, then this also makes the initiative bold, marvellous and laudable.

The project will run in 16 schools in the region, in cooperation with the University of Silesia in Katowice. What makes it really interesting, and worthy of attention is the fact that climate education will not be taught in a separate subject, the way you are primed to expect this to go down but rather it will be included and integrated into all other existing subjects. That way, the curriculum stays the same, but it gets a qualitative upgrade fit for our day and age.

Implanting climate education as a way of seeing the world

If you’re struggling to understand how climate awareness could be imbibed in the curriculum of subjects as diverse as maths, literature and history, here’s an example offered by Magdalena Ochwat, the project coordinator at the University of Silesia.

“During math classes, we can calculate how much water we need to make jeans”, she said according to the Polish Press Agency (PAP). “It forces us to think and take some action.”

There’s something classical to that approach as well since the approach to the environment will be divided by focusing on the four elements of water, fire, earth and air.

“For example, we will talk about water in the context of drought, torrential rains, melting glaciers, rising sea and ocean levels, the flooding of coastal areas, and climate refugees.”

The national government is also working on a similar scheme that would be introduced across Poland.