GPE, UNICEF, EI toolkit

Global Partnership for Education, UNICEF and Education International on April 28 launched a new policy toolkit for climate-resilient education systems. (globalpartnership.org) The publication is titled *Educators at the Heart of Greening Education: A Climate Resilience Toolkit for Policymakers*. It is aimed at countries building education policy, planning and implementation around climate risks. (globalpartnership.org) (ei-ie.org) The toolkit says teachers, school leaders and education support personnel should be treated as central actors, not just end users of climate policy. It links educator support to learning continuity, workplace conditions, safety and participation in planning. (globalpartnership.org) (ei-ie.org) Climate-resilient education means schools can keep teaching through floods, heat, storms and other disruptions while also preparing students for a warming world. UNICEF’s earlier framework described that work as system planning that protects infrastructure, safety and continuity of learning. (unicef.org 1) (unicef.org 2) The new guide takes a whole-system approach rather than treating climate lessons as a single classroom subject. It covers governance, workforce support, school operations, curriculum and local adaptation planning. (globalpartnership.org) The launch also ties into UNESCO’s Greening Education Partnership, which promotes making schools greener, curricula greener, teacher training greener and communities greener. UNESCO describes the partnership as a global platform for governments and civil society responding to the climate crisis through education. (unesco.org) (greeningeducation.org) Education International said union members from around the world had already contributed to related climate-responsive education work before this release. That gives the new toolkit a labor and practitioner base, not only an intergovernmental one. (ei-ie.org 1) (ei-ie.org 2) The public launch event listed speakers from UNICEF, Global Partnership for Education, UNESCO, Bhutan’s education ministry, Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association and Egypt’s GPE youth leadership network. That lineup signaled the toolkit is being pitched across governments, unions and multilateral agencies at once. (globalpartnership.org) The document’s closing argument is simple: investing in educators is part of investing in climate resilience. The release turns that line into a policy manual for ministries now being pressed to keep schools open through climate disruption. (globalpartnership.org)