Trinity Finds Opportunity In Climate Literacy

Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

It's not often that you feel the stars aligning, but with climate literacy, it genuinely feels like a subject that is finally receiving the attention it deserves.

On September 5, EARTHDAY.ORG announced its theme for 2025, Our Power, Our Planet, championing renewable energy and calling for a tripling of clean energy generation by 2030.

In the same week that the World Bank Group released its data-driven report, Choosing Our Future: Education for Climate Action, it highlighted how the transition to clean energy is being hindered by a shortage of skilled workers. The report underscores that the global green transition requires millions of climate-literate workers-a challenge that EARTHDAY.ORG (EDO) has been emphasizing for years. Both organizations agree that universal climate literacy and education are crucial to addressing this skills gap.

Which is why it is gratifying to see Trinity College Dublin (TCD), one of the world's major learning institutions, recognizing this need and rising to the challenge by recently announcing that "all students and teaching staff will be empowered to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to act as agents of change".

Trinity is head of the curve on this issue. In the past two years alone, they have provided Climate Leadership Training to over 340 academics and researchers and appointed ESD Fellows-a group tasked with developing a mandatory sustainability module. This initiative aligns with strategies adopted by leading U.S. universities such as Stanford, Berkeley, Columbia and Arizona State University, marking a significant shift among major institutions toward integrating sustainability into their curricula.

Education is a fundamental pillar of Trinity's Sustainability Strategy and is central to our efforts to support climate education at EARTHDAY.ORG and within the Climate Education Coalition we support. It is very much a strategy aimed at universities and policy makers to promote practices that equip citizens with green skills.

TCD Vice-President for Biodiversity and Climate Action Prof. Jane Stout believes that it is the responsibility of universities to educate students, staff, the general public, and business to promote innovation that inspires us all to take positive action on climate. Stout agrees that education will lead to more green innovations, especially if this education is interdisciplinary.

Accordingly, Trinity College Dublin has developed its E3 Strategy which combines the fields of Environment, Engineering and Emerging Technologies by integrating education and research that covers the natural and technological disciplines. Trinity has led by example in this regard by the recent retrofitting and geothermal heating of the oldest building on campus (the Rubrics), which received many awards for its innovative approach.

"Green technology can only be a success if people understand what the benefits are to them personally and to their community," said Jane Hackett TCD's Sustainability Manager. According to Hackett, "Education for Sustainable Development should be embedded across all disciplines so that climate change solutions are developed that support behavioral and cultural change at a local and national level."

Which is exactly why Trinity aims to develop more interdisciplinary modules which can be adapted for integration within all undergraduate and postgraduate curricula, and within staff development programmes.

In addition in 2023, the university appointed Fellows in Education for Sustainable Development, to lead the design and development of a mandatory sustainability module called Enacting Sustainable Development. In September, approximately 600 first year students from Trinity's Business School will be taking the module and it is hoped that soon it will become available throughout the University student body.

"I hope that as mandatory climate action modules are introduced, more students will permeate those learnings and climate action throughout the rest of their work to have an impact on the university's overall climate action."

Trinity is among the universities stepping up their climate action to meet the growing demand for students prepared to manage the climate crisis and participate in emerging careers aimed at mitigating it. Education plays a critically important role in this green skilling process.

There is also growing external pressure on universities to green their curricula. Recently QS, Quacquarelli Symonds is a higher education analytics firm, created a separate category in their university ranking system measuring the sustainability and environmental impact of each university. One aspect of this ranking methodology is Environmental Education, which evaluates the presence of Climate Science and Sustainability Courses.

In addition to sustainability education, Trinity has been directly involved in climate action by sending four representatives to the COP28 climate conference in Dubai to promote TCD research and learn from other stakeholders about approaches for sustainability. As one of the delegates to receive the Trinity Sustainability Leadership Award, together with dozens of other engaged students, researchers and university staff, it was inspiring to witness first hand the energy and ideas youth are bringing to the challenges of climate change.

There is still much to be done and moving forward Trinity College Dublin needs to support more innovations and investment to reach its Net Zero target by 2040. However with more students and staff aware of the climate challenges we all face, this task should become more manageable. .

All universities must step up and actively engage in preparing students for the immediate climate challenges by equipping them with the knowledge and opportunities to innovate (strategies for managing) the climate crisis. Moreover, universities need to inspire students to become active contributors to these efforts.

Which is why it is gratifying to see leading global institutions like Trinity College Dublin, one of the world's top universities, the World Bank Group, and EARTHDAY.ORG, all perfectly aligned in their efforts.

Climate education should be central to every nation's strategy for addressing climate change, and we urge all stakeholders of the Paris Agreement, signed in December 2015 at the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), to integrate it into their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

If you are a student who wants to get involved on your campus promoting any of these issues, climate literacy, divesting from fossil fuels, renewable energy or sustainability, please contact our campus MobilizeU Coordinator Lee Franklin at [email protected].

If you are an educator, or a student, please find free resources on climate education and why it matters here and if you are a teacher in the K - 12 grades please consider utilizing our free guide, The School Guide to Teaching Climate Education, because you can never start teaching students about climate change early enough.