A team of geographers and educators from the UK will travel to West Africa later this month as part of a project developing teaching materials about the climate crisis in Cameroon.
The ‘Global Inequalities and the Climate Crisis’ project aims to develop a set of resources for students aged 11-14 years to understand climate science and stories about the global climate crisis, using Cameroon as a case study.
Based in the Cameroonian capital Yaoundé, the team will hear from local teachers about what is taught in schools about the climate crisis and how. They are also eager to learn about teachers’ and students’ experiences and knowledge about how their lives are impacted by the climate crisis.
The project group will share teaching materials that have been developed on Cameroon and the climate crisis to see how far their proposed resources, pedagogies and materials can be adapted and used in Cameroonian schools.
The team is made up of academics from the Universities of Aberdeen and Lancaster, the Open University and the English Geographical Association, an organisation working to improve the public’s geographical knowledge through education.
Dr Manu Lekunze, lecturer in International Relations at the University of Aberdeen’s School of Social Science, said: “Often referred to as ‘Africa in miniature’ Cameroon is both geographically diverse and representative of all the major climates of the continent, making it an ideal case study for this project.
“Moreover, climate change poses an imminent threat to more than 70% of the population whose livelihood depends directly on agriculture so providing good educational tools which help convey meaningful and relevant information to the next generation is vital.
“As part of the project we will further develop this suite of support materials during our time there and leave behind a resource pack which can be used by teachers and teacher trainers in-country. We also hope to establish long-lasting relationships with teachers so that further materials can be co-developed in the future.”
The underpinning project, Decolonising Education for Peace in Africa, is funded by UK Research and Innovation’s Arts and Humanities Research Council and supported by Research Councils UK funding obtained by the Universities of Aberdeen and Lancaster.
The visit has been organised with the assistance of the British Council in Cameroon.
Learn more in the Cameroon Country Climate and Development Report.