By: Rieanna Flores

According to the Climate Action Project, an organization that focuses on climate change improvement, Koen Timmers believes we can. Timmers created the Climate Action Project for students around the world to be able to connect with each other virtually and discuss ideas and topics on how we can help fight climate change.

The project was launched in October 2017, and involves over 250 schools across 69 countries. Timmers is able to illustrate how many students have been involved through his YouTube channel called “Koen Timmers.” One video shows students from around the world expressing their support for the Climate Action Project. This project has been featured by over 40 media outlets across the globe, including National Geographic and the BBC.

Students ranging in age from 6 to 22 are able to join the project for free. They spend six weeks brainstorming different ideas with each other through Skype calls, which are guided by teachers who encourage them to use critical thinking skills and act on them. Students are also able to create videos explaining what their thoughts are and how to take action. This is meant to give students the opportunity to learn from each other.

Various efforts have been made in the project in order to create a positive impact on climate change; some such efforts include 60 million trees being planted by students in Malawi, coral reefs being 3D-printed by students in Canada, solar-powered cars being made in India, as well as students creating ecobricks in Indonesia. As stated on the Climate Action Project’s website, it has “managed to bring change in government and society,” and has brought positive impacts to students and teachers.

In a 2017 blog post on the National Geographic website, Timmers furthers his explanation about why he felt the need to create this project. He says, “As a student, I frequently learned via boring textbooks about certain subjects, and I remember very little about those topics since I didn’t make any emotional connection and thus wasn’t engaged.” His goal as an educator is for students to exchange thoughts and focus on climate change.

Speaking with Timmers, he said, “First of all, it’s really important to change the behavior of students by encouraging them to take action. That’s really important to give a good sign and signal to governments to try and change things on a national level.” Timmers believes action will help spread more awareness of climate change.

He discusses more of how he can inspire students to make a change. “I think we can do that through education and by making sure that those students are connected on a global scale from every continent able to share their findings and solutions and their actions. That is really impressive to see. I want students to have authentic learning processes so they can know what they’re learning,” said Timmers.

Though the Climate Action Project is focused on education for students, it is helpful for teachers as well. Curricula are sent out for them to prepare lessons to make sure students explore their creativity, empathy, critical thinking, problem-solving, and most importantly learning to collaborate with other people.

On September 16, 2017, a teacher from the project wrote a blog post on a website called, “TravelOTeacher.” The teacher explained, “In all my projects I encouraged my students to come up with their own ideas. Still, I was there, their guide by the side, directing them in the way I thought was the right way.” The teacher went on to discuss how the goal as an educator is to get out of students’ way completely for them to be able to have as much of a say in the project as possible.

Rather than aiming mainly to teach students more about climate change itself, Timmers’ top goal is to give them authentic learning to encourage them not to just study, but to take the time to act on the knowledge they gain. Some students have put their knowledge into action by planting more trees and reducing the amount of electricity used.

Aside from the Climate Action Project, there are other organizations that seek to mitigate climate change, such as the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). This organization keeps its audience updated on our everyday climates around the world through articles, reports, and science and data. It also manages to give tips on what we can do to help, much like the Climate Action Project.

UNEP has managed to create a significant amount of change within the environment through its constant efforts to encourage people to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, focus on energy use and management, waste generation and management, fresh water use and management, and staff awareness, as mentioned on its website.

Another organization involved in combating climate change is the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES). This non-profit organization also works to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as to promote clean energy and strengthen resilience against climate impacts, according to its website. In order to develop practical climate solutions, it has connected business, state, and city leaders. Its website states, “A key objective is a national market-based program to reduce emissions cost-effectively. We believe a sound climate strategy is essential to ensure a strong, sustainable economy.” This can help us globally.

There are multiple ways to fight climate change. To do this, however, more help will be needed, not just from organizations or projects, but everyone around the world in order to create a bigger impact.

There is broad consensus that some effective actions we can take include: switching to 100% green power, saving energy, optimizing diet, avoiding using plastic, sharing items more, shrinking one’s digital footprint, avoiding flying on airplanes, making sustainable investments, riding a bike or walking more often, taking more time to protect forests and planting more trees, making informed decisions as a consumer and as a citizen, and most importantly, spreading more awareness on climate change and what we can do to help.

In recent years, there has been an increase in temperature, flooding, and storms in different parts of the world, with drastic outcomes. If this is what our climate is like now, imagine what it might be like for future generations. How will we be living? How will our environment be? How will wildlife survive? How can we improve our environment right now? Organizations like the Climate Action Project help encourage people to use their critical thinking skills to answer these questions.

Timmers mentioned, “Students have learned more about climate and environment. They have become more passionate, want to learn more. Teachers understand that some topics need to be taught a very different way than just by instruction. They are also enjoying being part of a global community.” He goes on to explain how their main goal is to change the mindset of not only students and teachers, but society as well. By taking more time to research what we can do to improve our climate, educating others around us, supporting organizations that work to promote, and most importantly taking action, we can create a huge impact on our environment for a cleaner, healthier present and future.

Can We Change Our Climate?