Coding for Climate to bring real change

Publication date: March 14, 2024

Climate change is a global issue. This is how you explain a complicated topic to your students: As greenhouse gas emissions blanket the Earth, they trap the sun’s heat. This leads to global warming and climate change. The world is now warming faster than at any point in recorded history. Because of this, different areas of the world are dealing with different effects: hurricanes, floods, wildfires, rising sea level and droughts.

Rather than pointing to governments and going on a strike, we can also try to bring change to our personal behavior and come up with potential solutions. How about trying to find solutions through technology?

Teachers and students are invited to join Coding for Climate, a free, online global collaboration project inviting classrooms from around the world to come together united for change. Teachers are able to register for the project and will be guided through phases of action: Phase I: Explore Environmental Topics, Phase II: Coding for Climate Action, and Phase III: Collaborate. The experience is appropriate for all ages and across content areas.

Calling teachers instered in climate action

Are you a teacher excited to explore the intersection of innovation and climate action? Here is more on what you can expect. You and your students will be able to find a solution for climate change through your preferred ICT-tools: Minecraft, Scratch, Micro:bit, AI, App prototyping, web, etc. The sky is the limit!

You can even join without computers as we provide activities which allow you to code without technology, which is called unplugged coding.

The project will be launched in mid March and will end on April 22, during Earth Day. Teachers can work for 3 to 6 weeks on the project with their students. First they identify a certain global issue: climate change, air or water pollution, loss of biodiversity, drought and water scarcity, or other.

Get inspired

Next they will be working on a solution through their preferred tool. A few options and examples for inspiration:

Minecraft: create an eco-friendly Minecraft world with hydroponics
Scratch: Create a simple game to visualise the concepts of climate change
AI: generate a comic with ChatGPT and Dall-E
Micro:bit: use your device to detect air pollution
LEGO Fortnite: work on climate mitigation and adaptation in a virtual world
App prototyping: make a prototype of how an app could solve drought
Web design (HTML): share your findings about plastic pollution at your own web page
Python: create a tool which is showing the impact of 1.5, 2, 2.5 and 3 degrees warming
Unplugged coding: Find a lesson plan with a grid at the website