«How dare you!?»
Published: 2nd April 2020By:
Perhaps the three most talked about words from 2019 were expressed by a Swedish 16-year-old, who was beyond tired of the inaction taken to limit man-made climate change. The utterance was met with both admiration and resistance. Yes, because there is an alarming amount of resistance when someone really takes action to save our future.
Why all this resistance?
Why isn’t enough being done? And why is it up to the young people to have to speak out? Is it because many do not see the seriousness of the threat we’re facing, or simply because it’s scary to think about the future? The stark reality is that if we are going to avoid the earth getting too hot, then we must think about the future. In fact, the UN has highlighted thinking of the future as an important tool for sustainable development.
This is something KLP, Norway’s largest pension fund, has taken seriously. They wanted to create a training programme for secondary schools with future thinking in focus: A programme where students could learn about climate change and how it affects us, and where they would be presented with two different future scenarios. Through an exercise, the students reflect on what it will be like to live in the year 2040 if we manage to slow down climate change, and on the other side, what it will be like if we do not make it.
Journey into the Future
Task has long been passionate about climate change, both because it is evident and pressing, but also because we are in the learning industry. We are convinced that good training and involvement can contribute to increased understanding and direction, so that we might help people take action instead of creating fear. Therefore, it was an honour to develop the “Journey into the Future” together with KLP.
The “Journey into the Future” is not only a teaching programme on one of the most important topics of all time, it is also a journey into the digital learning solutions of the future. The programme combines the teacher’s guidance role with films on the big screen and the students’ involvement with their own devices – combined learning, also known as blended learning. It’s reminiscent of an extended Kahoot, where our engaging host Samuel Massie communicates facts on the big screen, and the students participate interactively on their devices, answering questions about what they think the future looks like and how they themselves can contribute. The results are presented on the big screen, and the teacher, who has received his or her own facilitation guide, ensures that there are good discussions based upon the input the students have provided. Lastly, the students tell the Prime Minister what they think should be done. This happens via video greetings that are published on a social wall, and who knows, maybe the Prime Minister will address this?
«Hey, Prime Minister! I dream of becoming a good skier, but then I need snow. Can you fix that for me?»
Marcus, 16 years old
KLP is itself in the future industry and therefore sees great value in making us think ahead in a structured manner. In collaboration with the NORCE Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research at the University of Bergen, the Norwegian Climate Foundation and us at Task, they have developed one of the most important teaching programmes of all time.
After the implementation, we hope that more people throw themselves into the movement and shout:
How dare you!?
