A foundation for enquiry.
A proposed progression from careful observation to the ability to compare evidence and explain a conclusion.
Explore our approach
Understanding Before Anything Else.
OUR FOUNDING CONVICTION
“The Academy welcomes those who seek not merely to acquire knowledge, but to contribute to understanding.”
Ideas with their sources.
Academy essays and selected research, brought together for readers who like to know where an explanation comes from.
Enter the LibraryQuestions made tangible.
A concept for safe, practical enquiry: observe a system, examine a pattern and find out what the evidence can support.
Step into the LabA world worth
understanding.
For enquiring minds, thoughtful educators and a generation with rather important questions to ask.
We are developing an environmental education programme that begins with curiosity, follows the evidence and makes room for independent judgement.
Learning to see the connections
A shared foundation.
A local understanding.
A question about water can belong to chemistry, geography, mathematics and the life of a community all at once. The planned curriculum gives teachers a common foundation, with local evidence and language shaping its use.
How the learning develops4stages of learning
from ages 12 to the final school stage
from ages 12 to the final school stage
16module packages
planned across the four age groups
planned across the four age groups
12–16teaching hours
for one age-group programme
for one age-group programme
A little curiosity. A great deal of care.
Knowledge is a beginning.
Understanding goes further.
A learner may remember a definition. We hope they will also learn to ask why it matters, how it was established and whether it applies to the question in front of them.
That calls for sound science, thoughtful teaching and the confidence to say, occasionally, “We do not yet know.”
For educators & partnersTwo beginnings
Different places.
A common discipline.
Ghana and Nepal are the two pilot directions: one centred on educational delivery in an African setting; the other on the scientific questions of the Hindu Kush Himalaya. Each begins with its own people, evidence and responsibilities.
Understanding, close to home.
The founding education pilot: working towards locally relevant teaching, educator support and a careful assessment of what learners understand.
Explore GhanaFrom mountain ice to daily life.
A scientific and educational flagship connecting snow, ice, water, hazards and the communities who depend on these systems.
Explore NepalThe First Wave
Twenty-five further territories.
Twenty-five local conversations.
The UNICEF-informed planning selection brings educational need into focus. The next task is to understand each place well enough to build a useful programme with it.
See all 25 territoriesCurrent Affairs
Curiosity deserves
somewhere to go.
The world rarely arranges itself into neat school subjects. We connect environmental questions with science, mathematics, geography and language — and with the places learners call home.
Explore the LibraryWhy Environmental Understanding Must Begin Early
Children inherit environmental systems they did not design. Giving them the ability to understand those systems is not about recruiting them to a cause. It is about giving them the knowledge needed to recognise evidence, ask better questions and make more informed decisions later.
Read the essayPollution, Climate and Waste: Helping Children Understand the Difference
Pollution, climate change and waste are connected environmental issues, but they are not the same thing. Children can understand the distinction when each problem is explained through its own cause and pathway.
Read the essayClimate, Snow, Ice and the Water We Depend On
Mountain snow and glaciers store water and influence river systems. As the climate warms, changing snow and ice can affect when water becomes available, creating consequences far beyond the mountains themselves.
Read the essayAn invitation
There is room for
another good question.
We welcome the contribution of educators, scientists, researchers and institutions who share a commitment to careful explanation and independent thought.
Explore a partnership