Teacher preparation:

Overarching learning goal: Through this activity students will understand that while science can be used to make predictions about our future, students themselves have the skills and knowledge to create their own vision for the future. Students will understand that although different people have different ideas about what the future should look like these differences can be used to give strength to the vision and its meaning.

Teacher content information: You may remember that in 2008 the Rudd government hosted an event called the 2020 Summit. It brought together a range of people from different sectors to "help shape a long term strategy for the nation's future". Most of us are used to governments and policy makers designing the future for us, so the idea of engaging the general public in creating a vision of the future is a very powerful notion, especially in the face of the bad news around climate change.

The aim of this activity is for students to create a shared vision of the future, one that includes climate change but that remains positive. Most importantly this is an activity that gives the students the opportunity to think about what kind of future they would like to create for themselves.

The IPCC

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change. It was created to:

provide policymakers (governments) with regular scientific updates about climate change;
highlight the impact climate change will have on the planet in the future; and,
offer some ideas about how to tackle the challenges of climate change's potential effects on the planet.

In 2021-22, the IPCC released their sixth assessment report. This is the most up-to-date physical understanding of the climate system and climate change.

The report makes a number of important points:

It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land.
Global surface temperature will continue to increase until at least mid-century under all emissions scenarios considered. Global warming of 1.5°C and 2°C will be exceeded during the 21st century unless deep reductions in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions occur in the coming decades (B1). The report describes five possible climate futures, where #1 is not great and #5 is extremely bad. If we want to keep global warming at less than two degrees, which the IPCC says is the best-case scenario, we need to reduce our CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions significantly and start right away.

'Net zero' or 'carbon neutral' are terms that refer to achieving an overall balance between greenhouse gas emissions produced and greenhouse gas emissions taken out of the atmosphere. Getting to net zero means we can still produce some emissions, so long as we're doing something else to reduce the greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere at the same time, kind of like balancing a set of scales (more info).

Psychological safety. The IPCC Report sets a hard challenge. While this real-world issue is essential for students to understand, there is no doubt it can make them feel sad or anxious about the future is becoming darker and scarier by the day.

So, reassure students that we can have a hopeful and optimistic outlook on this report, rather than one of doom and gloom. Explain that optimism involves looking objectively at a situation and making a conscious decision to focus on the good (more info), and that hope is the belief that you can make an impact (more info). Explain to students that you are going to look ahead, identify what needs to be improved, and then work on the skills and confidence so that they can go out and do it.

If you're interested in learning more about how to approach challenging topics around climate change and sustainability in your classroom through a Hope and Optimism lens, consider our PD course.

Student and classroom organisation:

Step 1.

Begin this activity by sharing with students the following statement from this Australian Government website:

"If emissions continue to track at the top of IPCC scenarios, global temperature could rise by between 3.2°C and 5.4°C by the end of the century (relative to a 1850-1900 baseline). If emissions track along the lowest scenario, then global average temperature could rise from 0.9-2.3°C by the end of the century (relative to a 1850 -1900 baseline)."

Ask students to share what they think this might mean for the future, using the following questions:

How might your town or city look like in 100 years time? What might the weather be like? What might the natural environment look like?
How might your state or territory look like 100 years time? Again, what might the weather be like and what might the natural environment look like?
What about Australia? What about the world?

Using student volunteers as illustrators, ask the class to create a picture of this future on the board, showing how this world looks. Discuss this image with your students.

This may not be a particularly cheerful exercise or a particularly uplifting discussion. But remind your students that this is not a future written in stone: there are still things that can be done to change how the future will look. Explain to your students that in the rest of this activity they will be creating a future that they actually like the look of and that they would want to live in. How can we do this? By working in groups to create a shared vision for the future using the 'thinking hat' learning tool.

Step 2.

Break your class into groups of at least six. Assign each person in the groups with one of the following 'hats':

White Hat: Finding out the facts.
Red Hat: Our thoughts and our feelings about the topic.
Black Hat: What are the negatives or problems that may arise?
Yellow Hat : What are the positives?
Green Hat: What are the alternatives?
Blue Hat: Thinking about thinking.

Ask students to read the description of each of the hats on the student worksheet.

Once complete, ask each group to begin planning the future that they would like to see, in the context of climate change. Initially groups can begin by brainstorming things they would like to see and respond to each of these things wearing their hats. The role of each group member is to take the position of the hat they are wearing around the vision of the shared future. Groups should record their brainstorming session using either bubbl.us or mindmeister. Allow 15 minutes for brainstorming.

Use the following topics to get groups thinking about their shared future:

Cities and towns
Government
Natural environment
Oceans
International relations
Transport and travel
Food
Water
Material goods
Health
Education
Community

Step 3.

Once groups have completed their brainstorming, it's time for them to create an image or presentation of their shared future. Students can create a presentation (e.g. Prezi or Powerpoint) or an infographic (e.g. Piktochart).

The presentation should include:

An outline of the vision for a shared future
The strengths and weaknesses of this vision
How this vision relates to climate change
At least 5 actions that can be taken to achieve this vision
Supporting images and/or music

The presentations or infographics will be shared with the class and should be accompanied by a oral presentation from each group, including a brief statement from each group member describing their future and how they resolved the issues between the hats.

Assessment/Reflection

1. Ask students to use the Peer Assessment Rubric to assess group presentations (available on the student worksheet).

2. Ask students to complete the PMI chart (available on the student worksheet).

Homework/Extension

Ask students to think about how different sectors of society (e.g. businesses, government, education, health) could be involved in creating this shared future. Students should create a dot point presentation that shows the involvement of at least 5 sectors, describing what actions these sectors could take and what the outcomes might be.

Creating a shared future

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