Education is key: Heritage scheme hopes to turn learning into action

Children everywhere are being invited to take part in the National Heritage Keepers Programme so as to discover and protect the natural, built and cultural heritage on their doorstep

It’s a truism that children are the future and they may, through learning and education, devise some concrete actions to tackle climate change and the environmental problems caused by it. Picture: iStock

Burrenbeo Trust, a leading landscape charity in Co Clare, is calling on community groups and senior primary school classes everywhere to get involved in a project which aims to turn learning into action.

They are being invited to take part in the National Heritage Keepers Programme so as to discover and protect the natural, built and cultural heritage on their doorstep.

It’s a truism that children are the future and they may, indeed, devise some concrete actions to tackle climate change and the environmental problems caused by it: in other words, make up for the failures of past and present generations.

Upwards of 280 schools and community groups have already taken part in the Burrenbeo initiative which has five online workshops and funding for local projects like heritage trails, oral histories, wildlife ponds, tree planting, podcasts and community celebration days.

Applications close on September 30. See www.heritagekeepers.ie to find out more.

Perspectives from young people

Separately, a UNICEF-supported young people’s group, in Ireland, said children in rural areas disproportionally feel the impacts of climate change. A survey found 58% of those living in the country are so affected, compared to 21% of those in urban areas.

Unsurprisingly, the country cousins also claimed they are considerably less well-off regarding supports available to them. “I live in a rural area and, though we have the space for greener alternatives, we are never paid any heed, or given any options,’’ complained one respondent.

The group, which reports to the UN Commission for the Rights of the Child, has made several recommendations, including demands for better public transport in rural areas, and cities that are more pedestrian-friendly and accessible by public transport.

It also called for more supports for sustainable farming; more litter bins and cycle paths; more engagement with Traveller children; and accessible grants for electric cars and solar panels.

One participant raised the issue of flooding in Cork City and its negative effect on their sense of safety, the local economy and livelihoods.

Meanwhile, the success of an unrelated project, the Green Schools programme, is most encouraging. It’s always a joy to see the work children are doing in growing plants, flowers, trees and vegetables in their school grounds, with the help of their teachers.

An enormous change, surely, for those of us who went to school, fado, fado, when the only green things we saw were grass margins, a patch for football in the grounds and a big, green map of Ireland on the classroom wall.

It wasn’t all negative, of course. Children then walked to school, learning a lot about nature, wildlife and the environment generally…without realising it!