We are a team of leading researchers on climate change, education, childhood studies and Indigenous studies at Southern Cross University's Sustainability, Environment and the Arts in Education (SEAE) Research Centre in the Faculty of Education. We also have 2 partner universities – the University of Queensland and the University of British Columbia. This research project has been funded by The Australian Research Council (DP240100968).
My name is Professor Amy Cutter-Mackenzie-Knowles, and with my colleagues, Professor Tracey Bunda (UQ), Professor Alexandra Lasczik (SCU), Professor Rita Irwin (UBC), Professor Robin Shields (UQ), Adjunct Professor Kim Snepvangers (SCU), Dr Shannon Leddy (UBC), and Dr Chantelle Bayes (SCU), we are planning to lead a project that explores Climate Change Education. Professor Bunda is a Ngugui Wakka Wakka woman from The University of Queensland, and Dr Leddy is FNMI (First-Nations-Metis-Inuit) from the University of British Columbia.
My name is Professor Amy Cutter-Mackenzie-Knowles, and with my colleagues, Professor Tracey Bunda (UQ), Professor Alexandra Lasczik (SCU), Professor Rita Irwin (UBC), Professor Robin Shields (UQ), Adjunct Professor Kim Snepvangers (SCU), Dr Shannon Leddy (UBC), and Dr Chantelle Bayes (SCU), we are planning to lead a project that explores Climate Change Education. Professor Bunda is a Ngugui Wakka Wakka woman from The University of Queensland, and Dr Leddy is FNMI (First-Nations-Metis-Inuit) from the University of British Columbia.
What is this ARC Discovery research about?
We want to map children and young people’s understandings of climate change. To do this, we are inviting two hundred Indigenous and non-Indigenous child and youth researchers (5-18 years old) in Australia and Canada to work with a team of adult researchers to capture their stories and gather stories from their communities on climate change.
Not only do we need science but we also need the arts and culture to know about climate change. In hearing your stories and your community’s knowings, young people along with the research team will make climate change education with Country. From what we find out, we will create a plan for teachers and home school educators to learn about climate change. We will also plan a 'Climate Country Community Exhibition' to share children and young people’s stories of the climate.
What would we ask you to do?
- Share your understandings of climate change
- Share your and your community's stories through interviews, video diaries, drawing, painting, photography, storytelling, poetry or any other way you like
- Record your conversations about climate change through audio or video recording on a Tablet
The Grounding Workshop
To begin the process we invite children, young people and their parents and/or teachers to attend a 2 day workshop to learn about the project, meet the project team and do some creative activities together on Country.
The workshops will be held in 4 places - on Yugambeh (Gold Coast) and Yuggera (Ipswich) Countries in Queensland, Australia and in Musqueam Skwxwú7mesh (Vancouver) and Tsleil-Waututh Territories in British Columbia, Canada. These will be held in July 2025.
If you are interested in attending one of these workshops and being involved in the project, please complete this expression of interest and a research team member will be in touch with further details and to register you for the most appropriate workshop.
If you have further questions or if you are a teacher interested in getting your class involved, please email us at climate.country@scu.edu.au
The Human Research Ethics Committee at Southern Cross University has approved this research. The approval number is 2015/021.