TURN IT
AROUND!

How to

TURN IT AROUND! is a toolkit to help us radically reimagine education in response to the climate and ecological emergency.  There is no one right way to use them, but here are some ideas that may get you started in turning this emergency around.

 

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PAY ATTENTION

Every living being teaches us something, we just have to pay attention and interpret it properly....

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DEVELOP ECOLOGICAL CONSCIOUSNESS

The future is in our hands. Climate change isn't new, and treating it like taboo amongst the youth gives no sense of global citizenship. As a human on earth, we are obligated to give back to the land that's raised us. How can we prioritize solving cl...

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UNDERSTAND PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

We study history to learn and understand our past. We must learn about climate crisis, too, for us to understand what will happen in the future if we don’t act now....

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HOLD CEREMONIES, EXPRESS GRATITUDE

My ancestors in Indonesia always taught us that we must care for and protect the universe. Nature and humans live side by side in mutual support of each other. My ancestors have taught us to hold ceremonies to express gratitude for what the universe...

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NATURE’S CREATIVE SOLUTIONS

Nature has been able to work out creative solutions to support all forms of life on earth. By observing and studying these life forms — their behavior, movement, form, adaptability, and so on — humans can develop new technologies or optimize exis...

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REGENERATION OR DESTRUCTION?

Yesterday – trees. Today – stumps. Why? They say it’s sanitary and rejuvenating pruning – the trees interfere with traffic and infrastructure… Now they’re grotesquely trimmed into poles....

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NATURE IS THE SECOND MOTHER

Nature is the second mother from whom I learn the lessons of four elements essential to life. Water teaches me how to calm and keep going when meeting any obstacles. Fire teaches me how to be a burning star. Earth teaches me how to be patient. Air te...

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TURNING EDUCATION INTO CLIMATE ACTION IN CENTRAL ASIA

Education is more than knowledge – it is empowerment. Climate change education (CCE) equips young people with the skills, values, and mindsets to become changemakers in their communities. Yet CCE remains under-prioritised in national strategies, bu...

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HOPE: WATER, WIND, SUN

Technology can help – not harm. There used to be more clean rivers, fresh air, and green forests disappearing, the air is more polluted, and trees are being cut down. Some say it’s too late to change anything – but that’s not true. The future...

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WE TOO DISAPPEAR

We need to learn that no matter how intelligent humans are, if planet Earth and its resources disappear, we too disappear....

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WHO IS TO BLAME?

The twenty-first century – filled with alarm, Our planet suffers, nature loses its charm. It slips through our fingers, drained and dry, Leaving behind only grey in the sky. Forests vanish, rivers run bare, Waters grow murky, life gasps for air. Fi...

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OUR INACTION

Natural disasters are a stark reminder of how fragile our connection with nature truly is. The melting of glaciers in the mountains of Central Asia deprives us of water, while hurricanes sweep away entire villages. But is nature taking revenge? No. I...

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RECIPROCITY

I believe everything that is treated well will thrive and give you the same treatment. I’ve learned this from taking care of animals and plants....

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WHEN EARTH TURNS TO DUST

Drought, scorched land, cracked soil, withered trees – these are nature’s urgent warning signs. The sky is choked with black smoke; thick gases from factory chimneys block out the sunlight. All around, there is no trace of life: green fields have...

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PRESERVE FORESTS

Preserving forests and living things on earth gives us the life we deserve. In recent years, there has been a massive exploitation of forests on the island of Borneo. Many people want to clear land by burning forests extensively for personal gain....

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EDUCATE WITH LOVE

Educate us with love, teach us to love. Love influences everything that surrounds us. Eliminate the capitalist protocol that has us tired and stressed, that has other species endangered and extinct....

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CLIMATE CRISIS FUELS GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE

Remember the women who are victims of gender-based violence due to climate crisis when you make decisions about their future. Remember the women who are being sold off into marriage because of a shortage of food in their house or during extreme droug...

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THE DEATH OF THE ARAL SEA

The Final Duty (2000) is a deeply realistic work – a philosophical reflection on the vast and unfathom- able tragedy of the Kazakh people: the death of the Aral Sea. In this novel by Kazakh writer A. Nurpeisov, the storms of a hard and tangled huma...

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A TREE LEAF ONCE TAUGHT ME

I keep this photo to remind me of what a tree leaf once taught me. Feeling exhausted after a hard mornings’ work, I sat in the grass to have lunch and picked up this fragile heart-shaped leaf. In that moment, the tree leaf taught me two things, sha...

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