October 2026, Colombo and Male: UNESCO with the United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS) and the Korea Environment Corporation (K-eco), trained 49 teachers in Sri Lanka and the Maldives in October 2026 through the Climate Change Competency Framework for Educators (C³FE), developed by UNU-IAS.
The workshops form part of UNESCO’s work on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and the Greening Education Partnership, which supports countries to integrate climate change education into teaching, learning and school practices.
UNESCO’s 2021 survey of 100 countries, Getting every school climate-ready , found that only 53 per cent of national curricula refer to climate change. Whether students learn about it often depends on whether their teacher is equipped to teach it.
In Colombo, from 13 to 15 October, 21 teachers from 20 schools across eight of Sri Lanka’s nine provinces trained alongside representatives of the Sri Lanka National Commission for UNESCO.
In Malé, from 21 to 24 October, 28 teachers from 16 schools took part with nine officials from the National Institute of Education (NIE). Twenty-seven of the 28 teachers attended all four days.
Participants taught science, social studies, languages and mathematics. Women made up the majority of both groups.
I learnt to plan more effective lessons for sustainable education by integrating real-world examples. I also gained insights into building students’ climate preparedness through what to teach, how to teach and how to care, including addressing climate emotions, accessing relevant resources and incorporating community perspectives into learning.
C³FE is built around pillars that include What to Teach, How to Teach, How to Care and How to Support Action. Participants worked on climate science literacy, climate justice, systems thinking, futures thinking, media literacy and evidence-based reasoning, alongside authentic assessment and ways to support learners’ wellbeing when climate change feels overwhelming.
Through interdisciplinary group work, teachers wrote lesson plans, designed classroom activities, learned from one another and tested new approaches in mock teaching and action-planning sessions.
The Greening Education Partnership recognizes that meaningful climate action begins with education. By empowering teachers with the competencies and practical tools to integrate climate learning across subjects, we are helping schools become catalysts for sustainability and preparing young people to shape a greener, more resilient future.
Schools shouldn’t just be places where students learn about climate crisis- they must be places where students discover their power to respond to it and grow their hope for the future. The C³FE framework provides a practical pathway for supporting educators and learners alike.
UNESCO, UNU-IAS and K-eco will build on curriculum greening, teacher professional development, sustainable schools and climate literacy initiatives, helping ensure that learners across the region are better prepared to contribute to a more sustainable and resilient future.
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