About the Project

Change the Story offers KS2 resources and hands-on support for teaching climate change, citizenship and digital competence.

“The most common criticism I get is that I’m being manipulated and you shouldn’t use children in political ways, because that is abuse, and I can’t think for myself and so on. And I think that is so annoying! I’m also allowed to have a say – why shouldn’t I be able to form my own opinion and try to change people’s minds?” (Greta Thunberg)

Change the Story empowers pupils to create the future they want: to explore how the climate crisis impacts their lives and to create meaningful stories about how the climate crisis is being tackled now, and what needs to be done in the future. Pupils use digital technology to create stories about the climate crisis, producing new narratives to challenge the status quo, encouraging young people in their school, community and across Europe to take action.

Digital storytelling is a powerful tool for engaging teachers and pupils. Digital storytelling allows computer, tablet and smart phone users to become creative storytellers, providing them with the freedom to redefine, create and publish powerful new stories and communicate them widely. Digital storytelling also allows young people to share their experiences across cultural boundaries and national borders.

During Change the Story, we developed and piloting learning resources exploring the origins of the climate crisis, what is being done now, and how young people want the future to unfold. These were piloted with schools in the UK, Austria, Turkey, Hungary and Italy. Based on their explorations, pupils created digital stories about how the climate crisis related to them and their ideas for the future.

If you would like to learn more, the following blog posts at the UK National Association for Environmental Education website give additional context about the project:

• Changing the narrative about climate change education? by Richard Dawson and Ben Ballin (Feb 2020)
• A green curriculum – content and purpose by Richard Dawson and Ben Ballin (April 2020)
• What’s the big idea? by Ben Ballin (July 2020) - not specifically about the project but flow on logically from the first two posts