Learning Hub
At FuturEnergy Ireland, we are mindful of the need to support education and to help point the way towards well-informed, reliable resources on the topic of climate change.
We have divided recommended resources into three categories: a Junior Hub for under 12s, an Advanced Hub for senior cycle students and adults and a general Community & Organisations Hub.
All three have links to a ‘jargon-buster’ list to assist with building up understanding and knowledge.
Junior Hub
Met Éireann provides an excellent package of primary level active learning tools here. The lesson plans are easy to follow and assist both teachers and parents to create a fun way to learn and understand the science around climate change.
The European Space Agency runs a Climate Detective Award Competition perfect for schools and budding young scientist teams to participate in. This award involved combining ESA’s satellite data, local environmental and citizen science gathered data to initiate local climate action plans and raise awareness.
NASA has a dedicated site for children explaining sea level rises, global temperature rises, the carbon cycle and more: https://climatekids.nasa.gov/
An Taisce’s Climate Ambassador programme https://climateambassador.ie
Climate Jargon Buster https://climatejargonbuster.ie/
Advanced Hub
Met Éireann Our national weather centre offers high quality climate change education. This link will give access to videos that explain Met Éireann’s work in climate science, how we know Ireland’s climate is changing and what it might look like in the future. https://www.met.ie/climate/climate-change
Met Éireann also provide accurate information on the following:
- What are greenhouse gases?
- Climate change is a global challenge
- Climate models
- Status of Ireland’s climate 2020
- How will climate change affect Ireland?
For more advanced research papers see Met Eireann’s Climate Change Research Reports
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) The Irish EPA provide a wealth of information on climate action and in particular outlines what Ireland is doing to tackle the issue, explaining what we mean by 'Mitigation' and 'Adaptation', terms frequently used by experts and in the media. For more in-depth information on climate research, there are a wide range of useful sources:
EPA’s Climate lecture series which is part of the National Dialogue on Climate Action under the Government’s Climate Action Plan
World Meterological Office (WMO) See the latest State of the Global Climate Report 2022 https://public.wmo.int/en/our-mandate/climate
The Climate Clock Hour by hour, day by day countdown to when global warming will have officially increased to an extra 1.5 degrees Celsius https://climateclock.net/
Climate Tracker www.climateactiontracker.org
Carbon Designer for Ireland Calculates the carbon in new builds https://www.igbc.ie/carbon-designer-for-ireland/
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (USA) NOAA 2022 Sea level rise technical report https://www.noaa.gov/climate
EcoEd4All This programme explores the themes of Biodiversity, Climate Change, Water/Air Pollution and Circular Economy. Try the “Place-based learning for transition year students day trip” or “Eco advocate for TY students” https://ecoed4all.com/
Climate Jargon Buster https://climatejargonbuster.ie/
Community Groups & Organisations
Climate Fresk - Want to help tackle climate change but don’t have the time to become a climate scientist? In just three hours, the collaborative Climate Fresk workshop will teach you the fundamental science behind climate change and empower you to take action. https://climatefresk.org/
Climate Action Regional Offices (CAROs) www.caro.ie
Climate Smart https://climatesmart.ie/about
Climate Smart provides access to the ‘iAdapt game’ developed by Trinity College. It consists of workshops suitable for organisations or community groups on the following topics:
- The science of climate change, and the policies developed to combat it
- The recent history and future of flooding in Ireland
- Sensing, monitoring, and predicting floods
- Visualising floods and flood-related damage
- Approaches to adaptation – from sea walls to community adaptation plans
- Processes of adaptation planning: an intro to the iAdapt serious game.
Eirgrid Live Dashboard Learn about the demand on the energy system and see how much energy is being generated, all in real-time https://smartgriddashboard.com/#all
Climate Jargon Buster https://climatejargonbuster.ie/
