Nature and sustainability in Scottish Education

Deputy First Minister John Swinney responds to climate youth action through Learning for Sustainability commitment

Educational practitioners at this year's Scottish Learning Festival - an annual gathering held in Glasgow at the end of September that aims to inspire, innovate and inform educational practice - heard John Swinney affirm that an appreciation of nature should be central to our educational approaches.

The Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, was replying to a John Muir Trust question about how education can respond to youth action on climate emergency and pupil entitlement to daily contact with nature.

He said it was one of the commitments at the heart of the Learning for Sustainability agenda: “I think an appreciation of nature is frankly essential to everybody’s wellbeing. I see lots of schools giving young people experiences of nature with enormous benefit, many are young people who wouldn’t normally have these opportunities. We have to respond positively to the voice of young people in our society – we have to hear, and we have to act. We need to incorporate an appreciation of nature and sustainability at the heart of our education.”

• Hear John Swinney speech in full in this Scottish Learning Festival video Scottish Learning Festival video (The Trust's question/response is at: 1 hour, 26 minutes, 35 seconds.)
• Read the (Trust’s response to the new Learning for Sustainability Action Plan) launched by the Scottish Government in June 2019.
• Find out more about (Youth Social Action and Nature).

Image credit: Aideen Byrne September Youth Climate Action Strikes 2019