A cross-national dialogue organized by two OSUN institutions.

2023 marked a perilous year for climate-concerned educators around the world. According to PEN America, the U.S. has seen the spread of “state-level legislation [that facilitate] a chilled climate in public education.” The chief aim of such legislation is to shape classroom discussions on race, gender, and increasingly, climate change. These efforts have both mirrored and differed from disputes in Europe, where governments have criminalized and censored climate protest and more radical forms of climate advocacy on university campuses. Amidst this context, the question of how we approach educating students on the climate crisis becomes an urgent one. As climate-concerned educators, we have a duty to prepare our students for the world that they’re inheriting, but we must also ask ourselves this: how do we navigate this work during a time when climate education is increasingly politicized and censored in our schools? And what strategies can we learn from science educators on the forefront of this issue in the U.S. and Europe?

We will also be joined by Blake Touchet (Science Education Specialist, National Center for Science Education (NCSE)) who has taught middle school, high school, and undergraduate biology and environmental sciences in Louisiana, most recently serving as Science Master Teacher for Lafayette Parish School District. He has worked on state and district committees for developing curricula, assessments, and mentoring science teachers. With NCSE, Touchet helps further NCSE’s mission of helping educators teach accurately on climate and evolution. In addition, he supports NCSE's mission to block threats to science education in the U.S.