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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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. ...
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DO WHAT YOU CAN
One day a wildfire engulfed a forest, the animals ran and stood by the river watching in fear and helplessness. A small hummingbird flew to the river and scooped up a beak full of water and poured it onto the fire. The animals discouraged him, an...
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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...
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PLANTS LIVE AND LET US LIVE
Plants live and let us live. We must live so that we can benefit each other....
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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...
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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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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...
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ONE HOME FOR ALL
The most important lesson; if we fail to protect our planet, we will be left with nothing. We have no other home, no second chance. Across thousands of light-years, there is only one place that welcomes us. We call this place Earth....
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“Alam takambang jadi guru” (NATURE IS A TEACHER)
As the saying goes, "Alam takambang jadi guru" - nature is a teacher. There are many life lessons that nature teaches us, such as always being humble (the rice is getting fuller, the more it bends down), never give up (a river that continues to flow...
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LIGHT SOMEONE’S DARKNESS
What stops me when I am on the verge of giving up is the fact that one day in the future my voice and words will motivate all those young minds who think that one failure can catastrophically destroy their future. Even in a situation when things make...
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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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LEAVE KIND TRACES
In our Akmola region, there is a magical place called love going there with my family, walking among the tall pine trees, listening to the birds sing, and watching the reflection of the cliffs in the lake’s clear waters. But it makes me sad to see...
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EARTH IS A GIFT
The trees they teach me That to breathe It means you need To not just take but give That the Sun Is life’s sustenance And the Earth Is his gift to us The animals They speak to me In languages more sophisticated Than our own chattering They see sign...
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KINDNESS TRANSCENDS ALL BOUNDARIES
My ancestors taught me that distance is no great hurdle to kindness and love. When one decides to be gracious, one can transcend time and earthly boundaries. ...
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DRESSING IS A POLITICAL ACT
Dressing is a political act, our clothes tell a story. I come to talk about my concerns as a young Indigenous artist denouncing the absurd practices of deforestation in Brazil. I make fashion a space for reflection. What story do your clothes tell? &...
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The Grandmothers’ Gift of Fibrous Yarning
This gift comes from an ancestry of strong women. Across continents and generations, they’ve been weaving and sewing the fabrics that sustain life while crafting subversive stories. We pick up the stitches cast by our grandmothers, which they’ve...
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NATURAL BALANCE
The words of Tajik poet Rudaki in his poem Shahri Maydon (The City Square): “When a person disrupts nature’s balance – suffering is inevitable, for the Earth avenges its wounds.” These lines remind us of nature’s fragility and the consequen...
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AN INVESTMENT IN YOUTH’S FUTURE
Integrating mandatory climate education into the school curriculum is an investment in the future of young people....
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CHANGE CULTURAL CUSTOMS
The environment can only be protected if we generate a change in our cultural customs, and at the same time, this change can be achieved if we begin to educate from the youngest generations. Because ultimately we educate the little ones and they...
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