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‘The world is changing now’: why education and climate activism go hand in hand: For students and universities, tackling the climate crisis is a shared responsibility

“I turned down a six-figure training contract to focus on climate issues,” says law graduate Harry Holmes, 21, a King’s College London master’s student in environment, politics and globalisation. Worried that many years of studying environmental law or a PhD would take him well into what he calls “the climate decade”, he opted for a one-year course that allows him to continue his environmental activism while broadening his understanding of climate breakdown. He volunteers for UK Youth Climate Coalition, engaging 18-29 year olds in national and community campaigns and works with UK Student Climate Network. “Juggling activism with my studies is difficult and draining but it’s the right thing to do,” says Holmes.

Harry Holmes chose a one-year degree to allow more time for activism. Photograph: Joe Twigg Photography

With sustainability-focused postgraduate courses ranging from agroforestry to engineering, the choice is now vast. “Sustainability is no longer just for biologists and geographers,” says Iain Patton, chief executive of the Alliance for Sustainability Leadership in Education, who recently launched the Climate Commission for UK Higher and Further Education Leaders with 40 vice-chancellors and principals from UK institutions plus students working together to meet net-zero targets. “Yes, we need environmental specialists but everyone needs a baseline carbon literacy and understanding of sustainability.” Thanks to youth climate activism, Patton has noticed a huge shift in postgraduate education. “The world is changing now,” he says. “This is really significant. Students will deliver carbon-literacy training, influence institutional leadership and have positive impacts on postgraduate curriculum design. What we currently have is broken – we need innovative new approaches.”

Former pro vice-chancellor of Arden University Dr Alison Green is an expert witness for the Climate Commission. Having moved from academia to activism, she’s now national director of Scientists Warning, a global movement of climate scientists, because “it can’t be business as usual”, she says. “Universities should be a force for good, enabling us to become good planetary citizens and stewards of the planet. The relationship between economy and education must be resolved – we need to transform MBAs based on classical growth theory to evidence-based environmental economics, for example.”

Manchester Metropolitan University leads the way with a pioneering carbon literacy programme as part of its commitment to be carbon neutral by 2038, and sits in second place in the student-led People and Planet University League that ranks universities by ethical and environmental performance. Helena Tinker, Manchester Met’s head of environmental sustainability, works with the Carbon Literacy Trust, training students and staff to reduce their environmental impact. “We’re embedding this into some degrees and we offer free five-day intensive courses teaching students how to lead carbon literacy training. From an employability perspective, it’s fantastic,” says Tinker. “While learning about sustainability and climate change they become competent, confident trainers.”

At the University of Sussex, which has 3,000 solar panels, an anerobic digestor, grey water recycling and renewable electricity, vice-chancellor Adam Tickell explains that sustainability will soon be integral to every student’s experience: “A compulsory, non-credit-bearing programme will give everyone a sense of collective environmental responsibility. The Sussex student spirit is hungry for change – we want to lead the way,” he says.

Experience: ‘I want to make a difference as a scientist’  Travelling abroad heightened Lucy Carruthers’ awareness of the climate crisis. Interview by Helena Pozniak

Lucy Carruthers left her job in pharmaceuticals to study environmental modelling. Photograph: Joanne Crawford/Guardian

I was so anxious about leaving a good job in an industry I knew well for a course I’d picked off the internet. But just one week in, I rang my mum and told her it was the best decision I’ve ever made.

Travelling had already opened my eyes to the environment and the climate crisis. I’d always wanted to see the Great Barrier Reef – but when I went scuba diving there, I saw how bleached and damaged the coral was. It was depressing. Travelling in India, I met farmers who were talking about how drought had hit their crops. I grew more interested in the environment and started reading up about it I began to feel more and more guilt about the industry I was working in. Although the company met environmental standards, I was still working with harmful chemicals on an industrial site where huge stacks were pumping out emissions into the atmosphere – I didn’t like it.

When I told people at work I cared about the environment, they called me a tree hugger and a hippy. They were all intelligent people. It still shocks me that some people don’t understand climate change; they don’t think it’s happening. You can find any answer you want online to suit your opinions and convince yourself it’s not happening. I think more work needs to be done in communication.

This course caught my eye as it was so hands-on. People have come from all different disciplines: geography, astrophysics, teaching – we all have a basic interest in climate change. As part of the course, we’ve taken samples from Lynemouth Bay, where coastal erosion has caused an old colliery landfill site to begin leaking waste on to the beach. Many of the beaches along the coast are being eroded – we’ve written a report that we hope will bring some positive action. In another project, we’ve analysed core samples to reconstruct an environment from 2,000 years ago. In June, we’re going to Abisko in Sweden to learn new skills and techniques monitoring the environment in a faster changing, extreme climate. I’ve never been so far north before or stayed in a research facility.

This has been a leap into the unknown – but I’d rather give it a go instead of wondering. I think there will be so many jobs linked to tackling the climate crisis and the environment in the future – from research, to environmental consulting or engineering. Course leaders want us to be the next generation of scientists to raise awareness. I do want to make a difference.

from The Guardian