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.
Learn More
CONSEQUENCE OF OUR CURRENT ACTS
Let’s see the future as a consequence of our current acts, let’s show the youngest examples of good acts that have been done before and how they have contributed to the improvement of today. Every little seed that is planted today, tomorrow w...
Click to Continue
TRANSFORM UNSUSTAINABLE SYSTEMS
We are living through a social and environmental crisis, which is rooted in systemic inequities. Young people are confronted with this every day. We can’t achieve the change necessary for our survival by using the same systems that got us here in t...
Click to Continue
MONEY WON’T SAVE US
No matter how much money polluting industries have made, when wildfires consume the last forest, when the last city is flooded, when we are unable to produce any food and are severely dehydrated because of the extremely high heat and no water to drin...
Click to Continue
RESPECT THE HABITAT OF EACH BEING
My non-human teachers teach me to respect the habitat of each being, the need to have a home where to live in peace and safety, to be free, to have good health. Empathy is a quality that we must develop as much as possible to understand other human a...
Click to Continue
NO SITUATION IS PERMANENT
In times of hardship and uncertainty, I find my hope by affirming that no situation is permanent. I try as much as possible to keep my head held up high and try again when I fail. I believe in perseverance and this makes me work harder to achieve the...
Click to Continue
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...
Click to Continue
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...
Click to Continue
WE NEED SYSTEMIC CHANGE, INDIVIDUAL ACTION IS NOT ENOUGH
All our life, we have been taught about small acts to save the planet. We had always been told to plant more trees. Pick up our trash. Decline straws to save the turtles. Reduce, reuse, recycle. But at this level of crisis, simple acts won’t cut it...
Click to Continue
WISE USE OF RESOURCES
Nature shows us how animals adapt to their habitats and how organisms evolve to survive in changing conditions. It teaches us about sustainable development and the importance of using resources wisely....
Click to Continue
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...
Click to Continue
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...
Click to Continue
EVERYTHING ON EARTH HAS ITS OWN PURPOSE
Human ego tends to think of things in nature as being useful for us or useless in general. It’s a pretty incredible conceit. Truly observing nature teaches us that everything on Earth has its own purpose and we should value what each creature d...
Click to Continue
EVERY LIVING BEING TEACHES US TO COEXIST WITH THE WORLD
Every form of living being teaches us a way to love life, with its difficulties and affinities. They show us the result of millions of years of solving problems. Everything is already solved, our architectures, designs and psychologies need to lo...
Click to Continue
TABI TABI PO (MAY I PASS)
Growing up as a Filipino, the culture, taboo, and superstition played a big part of my identity. But if I had one thing to proudly share and pass on the next generations, it would be an old tradition for the kids to say "tabi tabi po" every time they...
Click to Continue
STOP LIVING LIKE TOURISTS
I hear a whisper in the wind. I walk over stifled growth on once fertile ground. We live in a dilapidated home begging its inhabitants to acknowledge the value of its treasures, patiently suffering and waiting for change. Oh, how we ignore the mo...
Click to Continue
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...
Click to Continue
CONSIDER THE IMPACT OF YOUR DECISIONS ON FUTURE GENERATIONS
When making any decisions, always put climate change considerations first. We can make big changes for our next generation. ...
Click to Continue
AN INVESTMENT IN YOUTH’S FUTURE
Integrating mandatory climate education into the school curriculum is an investment in the future of young people....
Click to Continue
WE ARE ALL CONNECTED IN A SINGLE JOURNEY
I learned that the songs of birds, the wood that we use for making fire, the water that we drink, and the food that we eat are some of the things that can’t be replicated in this world. With this awareness, I have realized the importance of taking...
Click to Continue