What kind of world do we want to leave for the next generation?

The world that we inherited will not be the world that we will hand over to the next generation. Reports and data concerning climate change are truly alarming; a change which is noticeable all over the world and affects us all. «Climate change is a global problem with serious implications, environmental, social, economic, political, and for the distribution of goods; it represents one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day.» (Laudato Si’ Paragraph 25) 1

The United Nations has taken the lead in encouraging world leaders to take immediate action to improve the current fragile nature of our world’s climate. However, this is not only the concern and responsibility of our world leaders. It is the responsibility of each and every one of us. As teachers and educators, we have an arguably greater responsibility and opportunity to teach our students to care for the environment. As Pope Francis pointed out in Laudato Si’ “Education in environmental responsibility can encourage ways of acting which directly and significantly affect the world around us.»

Our Responsibility

In October 2017 Fr. General addressed the Jesuit Education Delegates at JESEDURio2017. Speaking about the importance of Caring for our Common Home, Fr. General highlights the importance of teaching our students to care for the environment.

Respect and care for our “common home” demands that our institutions train our students in the environmental dimension of reconciliation. All human beings share responsibility for our planet, for its future viability, beyond our national, local or generational interests. It is important that we join in the efforts of many to create a sustainable society and economy, so that human beings and the environment are both protected. Our institutions should reflect this attitude in their actions and their physical structure” (Allocution of Fr. General Artur Sosa at JESEDU-Rio Congress 2017) 2

How can we teach our students to be responsible Global Citizens and care for our Common Home?

Recently a group of Global Citizenship experts from the Educate Magis community developed an online course on Global Citizenship in English and in Spanish. See English version here: online course on Global Citizenship. Mira la versión en español aquí: Curso en  Línea de Ciudadanía Global  

One of the 5 modules of this course focuses on Caring for Our Common Home. The course is designed for teachers to gain an understanding of Global Citizenship Education as well as providing teachers with some reflections and resources they can use to teach these topics to their students.

The Module on Caring for Our Common Home involves an introduction and 3 lessons. These lessons explore the call of Laudato Si’ to care for our Common Home, the relationship between Ignatian Spirituality and the Environment and the importance of Ecological Justice.

We invite you and your colleagues to take this module as part of the 5-module course. You can take the modules consecutively, from 1 to 5 or pick out single modules such as this one which you find particularly interesting.

(El curso también está disponible en español. Mira este módulo del curso de ciudadanía global aquí )

The course is free for all Educate Magis members! Just login and enroll to access it!

References:
1 http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html
2 https://www.educatemagis.org/documents/allocution-fr-arturo-sosa-sj-jesedu-rio-congress-2017/