At Klimatkoll, we are now expanding our work via two major new projects in collaboration with partner organisations in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. The projects are called “Empowering Teachers, Inspiring Pupils: A Transnational Approach to Fun and Engaging Climate Education” and are funded partly by the Nordic Council of Ministers and partly by the Swedish Institute.
We are very proud that these two prominent organizations believe so strongly in our educational concept! Their support to help us realise our goals is a powerful endorsement of our work and inspires us to continue driving change.
Photo: excited project participants at the kickoff in Tallinn in September 2023.
We develop several new versions of our popular card game
In short, the projects are all about equipping teachers around the Baltic Sea with the knowledge and tools to make climate education fun and engaging for students aged 12 and up, essentially replicating what we have already done so successfully in Sweden. The goal is to increase students’ understanding of climate issues and inspire climate-smart behaviours, through our proven light-hearted and playful approach.
New versions of the Climate Call card game will be created in Polish, Estonian, Russian Estonian, Lithuanian and Latvian. In addition, we are currently working intensively on translating all supplementary teacher material (consisting of cross-curricular and subject-specific school exercises and calculation explanations for a selection of cards) into the respective languages.
Check out our educational material for teachers in English!
By collaborating with educational organisations in the different countries, we ensure that all climate education materials are adapted for each country and fit into their curricula, syllabuses and school systems.
Within the framework of the projects, we will also meet regularly for partner meetings with a focus on team building, and exchange of ideas and experiences on climate education and climate education.
Hundreds of teachers to be trained in climate education
Hundreds of teachers will be trained on how to use the new materials in climate education. These teachers will become ambassadors for the project and spread the knowledge to other teachers and schools. We also plan to organise an exciting international school activity where students from five different countries will have the opportunity to meet and exchange their thoughts and feelings about climate change.
Having laid the groundwork for this cooperation, we will work to take it further. This means exploring opportunities for more long-term collaboration and sustainable projects for the future.
The project funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers runs until the end of October 2024, and the project funded by the Swedish Institute runs until the end of May 2025.
We strengthen co-operation with MTÜ Mondo in Estonia
The background to the project is a previous successful collaboration between Klimatkoll and the Estonian educational organisation MTÜ Mondo. The collaboration started when MTÜ Mondo approached us at Klimatkoll in 2020 to create an Estonian version of the Klimatkoll card game. This resulted in Kliimakool.
Read more about the Estonian version of the game here
The Estonian version of the Climate Call card game has been used in teacher training programmes in Estonia and has proved successful. So successful, in fact, that last year Kliimakool was named “best environmental education tool” in Estonia, and received a prestigious award from the Climate Minister himself at a gala in Tallinn!
Read more about the prestigious award here!
The strength of Kliimakool lies in its use of play and interactivity to engage and inspire the players. By playing the interactive card game, students can explore different aspects of the climate issue in a fun way while being encouraged to reflect on their own actions and their impact on the climate.
Photo below: Partner meeting and kick-off of the project in Tallinn in September 2023.
Partnerships to strengthen climate education around the Baltic Sea
Within the project, we have established partnerships with prominent climate education and training organisations in countries around the Baltic Sea.
Our partners in Estonia are called MTÜ Mondo and work towards the overall goal of reducing global inequality, including by strengthening education.
Read more about MTÜ Mondo here
The Centre for Citizenship Education (CCE) is our partner in Poland. It is a Polish non-profit organisation that works to support schools. Their mission is to inspire schools to use innovative teaching methods and address important social issues in their work with students, including climate education. Every year, they work with 40,000 teachers and principals from 10,000 schools across the country – a valuable network of contacts that we will be able to utilise in this project!
Our partner in Latvia is Green Liberty (“Zaļā brīvība” in Latvian). Green Liberty is a non-profit non-governmental organisation founded in 1993. Its mission is to contribute to the development of a society where people live in harmony with each other and the environment. Green Liberty aims to raise awareness of the social and environmental consequences of current trends in consumption, trade and globalisation, empower people to make meaningful decisions that are linked to their lives directly and indirectly, and oppose the abuse of power.
Read more about Green Liberty here
Our partner in Lithuania is LINEŠA, a non-formal education centre for learners (formerly LMNSC).
Kickoff in Tallinn: partner meeting and knowledge exchange
The projects started in earnest in September 2023 with a partner meeting in Tallinn. Present were representatives from Klimatkoll Guldheden AB (Erik and Kalle), Mondo, CCE, LINESA and Green Liberty.
During the two-day partner meeting, we determined the timeline for the project and exchanged knowledge and experience on climate and sustainability education. We learnt a lot, and were inspired by each other’s methods and tools! Methods tested by our respective organisations ranged from games and play to game shows and theatre. Now we can take the best from each other and develop a wider repertoire of effective methods for climate education in our respective countries!
The meeting also included good food and walks through Tallinn’s medieval city centre and old factory areas that have been transformed into creative environments with lots of street art. The air was filled with inspiration!