Italy will become the first country in the world to require climate change studies in classrooms alongside reading, writing, and arithmetic.
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“The entire ministry is being changed to make sustainability and climate the center of the education model, “ Mr. Fioramonti told Reuters.
The Ministry of Education plans to enlist the support of environmental experts including Jeffrey D. Sachs, director of the Harvard Institute for International Development, and Kate Raworth of Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute to help prepare the new targets in the curriculum for each grade and will include suggestions on best methods to engage each age group. Mr. Fioramonti says teacher training will begin in January and the full program in place in the school system by September 2020. It will apply to all public education schools from first grade through high school.
Mr. Fioramonti has also pushed for additional pro-environmental legislation in the government, including increased taxes on plastic and airplane tickets with the tax revenue going to battle climate change problems.