Western Morning News (Saturday)
Broadcasts on climate crisis from Eden biome
THE UK’s biggest indoor rainforest will be transformed into a global broadcast studio from Monday September 20, as a new online series developed to inform, educate and empower the public on the climate crisis kicks off.
Devised by education-to-action hub, AimHi Earth, with support from Eden, the live, hour-long weekly sessions will be broadcast from the biome, located at the Eden Project, near St Austell in Cornwall.
Created with Cambridge Zero, the four one-hour online climate lessons form part of a wider commitment from Eden to improve climate literacy across the globe. Attendees will be invited via Zoom to participate in a community crash course covering “everything you need to know about climate, nature and how to make a difference.”
Sessions will be led by AimHi’s expert science communicators and at the end of each session, attendees will have the opportunity to reflect on learnings and ask questions during interactive panel discussions.
Special guests for the panel discussions include Netflix star Jessie Mei Li, Olympic champion Hannah Mills, Indonesian youth activist and YOUTHTOPIA founder Melati Wijsen, leading environmentalists Chris Packham and Sylvia Earle, and Jojo Mehta, co-founder of Stop Ecocide International.
By the end of the course, viewers will be left with a full understanding of the key climate concepts, a tool kit of solutions and communication skills and renewed energy to take action on a personal level, and push for greater and faster change.
Whilst the series is for people of all ages, a recent study from Teach The Future revealed that only 4% of young people feel well informed about the climate emergency.
Academic jargon, an avalanche of out-of-context graphs and doom-andgloom headlines leave people feeling isolated and hopeless.
A recent Friends of the Earth’s YouGov poll found that 70% of young people aged 18-24 are experiencing ecoanxiety regularly.
Matthew Shribman, co-founder of AimHi Earth and writer of the online series, said: “Technology alone won’t save us. Education for people of all ages is everything: we cannot and we will not solve this without the brainpower of the whole world.”
Tickets for the course are £25, though this is a not-for-profit project and free tickets are available on request. Email the team at team@ aimhi.co