Youth Work and Scotland’s refreshed Learning for Sustainability Action Plan – a roundtable
“Making Learning for Sustainability a key driver in the future of Scottish education will not only enable us to heed the call to action from learners but will allow us to achieve much more besides. All of our policy ambitions in relation to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, climate and net zero, biodiversity, circular economy, and economic and social transformation can only be delivered with the commitment of Scotland’s people, supported throughout their education.”
We’re delighted to welcome Scotland’s refreshed national Learning for Sustainability (LfS) Action Plan: ‘Target 2030: a movement for people, planet and prosperity’ which was launched on 23rd June. You can read our response to the Plan here.
On 05 September, YouthLink Scotland and Learning for Sustainability Scotland held a ’round table’ event for key individuals in youth sector network organisations in Scotland to discuss and examine the Plan and ways in which to:
- Promote understanding of the context and content of the refreshed Scottish Government LfS Action Plan and its relevance to youth work
- Consider how youth work organisations can engage with the LfS Action Plan’s Target 2030 ‘Call to Action’
- Share relevant planned activities and strategies addressing the needs of young people
- Identify opportunities for connecting and collaborating with others and between sectors (e.g. communities/ youth/ schools/ colleges/ universities)
Outputs
Participants heard from Betsy King, Development Manager at Learning for Sustainability Scotland, who welcomed everyone and provided an introduction to the session. Click here to view her presentation.
Dr Kumara Ward, Senior Lecturer in Education Studies Education and Society, University of Dundee, then shared more about the research that she and her colleague Tanya MacDonald undertook into young people’s views on Learning for Sustainability. Click here to view her presentation.
We then heard more about the refreshed national Learning for Sustainability Action Plan from Betsy King; and Julie Beckett, Community Learning and Development Officer at Education Scotland. Click here to view their presentations.
We then invited participants to go into small group discussions to consider three questions:
- Their initial reactions to the Action Plan, from a youth work perspective
- What are the opportunities for youth work organisations to get involved?
- Are there any perceived challenges? What support will be needed?
Click here to hear feedback from each of the small groups.
Click here to view a summary of points shared by the small groups on a Jamboard.
Click here to view all of the slides from the event.
Next steps
A wider event for youth work practitioners will be held on Thursday 28 September from 11:00 – 12:15.
We look forward to welcoming you. Please click here to reserve your free place.