The IEU is committed to supporting educators in delivering sustainability education.
The IEU has advocated for a healthy environment for our members and school communities for decades. In the 21st century, sustainability and climate action are at the forefront of environmental concerns. The IEU stands ready to tackle the greatest environmental threat facing our schools, students, and communities.
As a teachers union, we stand with our members who educate students daily about threats to biodiversity and the life support systems of the planet as a whole. We also stand beside student climate activists inspired by the tenacious teenager Greta Thunberg. How could an education union do otherwise?
Global heating has impacted communities around Australia with bushfires, smoke and floods. In February 2022, more than a dozen schools in Lismore were inundated by flooding made worse by climate change. Black Summer bushfires (2019-2020) saw 33 lives lost, 3000 homes destroyed, 19 million hectares burnt and billions of animals killed. During recess and lunch, students were kept indoors due to the smoke. It was not safe to breathe or play outdoors. Human fingerprints are all over these “natural disasters”. They are more intense and more frequent due to climate change.
The IEU’s Environment Committee is looking to expand on our already successful environment conferences, Environment Grant program and other sustainability initiatives. In 2024 we will trial the running of Climate Fresk workshops for members. These are part of a global educational “Fresk” project which informs people about climate change in an engaging, visual way. Read more here.
Climate action is union business.
Climate change is impacting all workers. Australian workers are on the frontline of climate change. Health professionals and carers are supporting Australians through heatwaves and bushfires. Workers on farms and in food manufacturing businesses are affected by increased temperatures and drought. Public servants working in government departments are administering disaster relief programs. Over summer, teachers were dealing with traumatised children and evacuations in fire zones with kids uncertain about the future of our planet. Posties and essential services workers face unprecedented heat and difficult working conditions. And workers in manufacturing businesses and the energy sector increasingly need a plan to clean up Australia’s energy supply in order to remain viable.
The environment committee is active and meets every three months.
IEU Environment Conference 2022
Committee Members
Anthony Telford
Carmelo Fedele
David Whitcombe
Emma Ford
Josef Dabbs
Lee Cunningham – CoConvenor
Liam Crisanti
Lyn Caton
Max Furby
Richard Ryan – CoConvenor
Sharon Jennings
Will Pollock
If you would like to be on the committee or share sustainability resources, contactenvironment@ieu.asn.au
Biennial Sustainability Events
For over a decade, the IEU has been running sustainability events that allow teachers and support staff to share their knowledge and experiences of creating sustainable practice in their own schools with other participants.
In August 2024, the IEU held the 2024 Environment Conference: Out of the classroom and into nature. IEU members from far and wide gathered among towering eucalypts at the Field of Mars Environmental Education Centre on Wallumedegal Country for a day of professional development in the great outdoors. You can read more about the Conference in Newsmonth.
