In April we launched our campaign This Is Not A Rehearsal, to raise awareness of the climate crisis and to encourage colleagues within the music education sector to take action on this important matter. Since launching the campaign we’ve delved into a range of topics, from musical instrument sustainability to embedding climate education into the music curriculum. As an organisation, we’ve started working on ways to improve our organisational carbon footprint and educate the staff team on the climate crisis. We started back in April with some carbon literacy training for the Music Mark team, delivered by The Carbon Literacy Project, which got us thinking about different aspects of the climate crisis. Fast-forward to now, and we have just delivered our first session of carbon literacy training for our network which was specific to the music education sector. More dates will be coming for this session in the spring term.
Embedding climate education in the music curriculum
A large part of this campaign is about helping the music education sector to consider aspects of the climate crisis within its work. In September we looked at how teachers can embed climate education in the music curriculum. We initially spoke to the team at The National College, which has offered our members free webinars on integrating climate education into the music curriculum. They discussed why music teachers should consider climate education within music and why it is important: ‘By integrating climate education into music lessons, we can help students develop a deeper understanding of sustainability while also enhancing their creative and collaborative skills.’
Connecting children to the environment
We also had the pleasure of speaking to Helen Mead, Sarah Lloyd and Jon Audain, who co-wrote chapter 12 (part 2) of the book Teaching Climate Change and Sustainability in the Primary Curriculum. They spoke to us about how music can connect children to their environment: ‘Through music we can connect to the world we are living in. From indigenous cultures, through popular music and classical genres, musicians have taken inspiration from the natural world. Listening and responding to music inspired by nature can bring children back to a connection to the world around them. It is only through this connection that an understanding around the issues of climate change and sustainability can have meaning to an individual.’
Sustainability in music education
We want to keep the climate crisis in the forefront of our minds and the minds of our network. Coming up in November we have our 2024 annual conference, which will also be on the theme of sustainability in music education. We’ll be delving into the topic of environmental sustainability, but also financial sustainability and the sustainability of our workforce, among others. Sessions include Developing Sustainability in Primary Music through Building Non-Specialist Teacher Confidence; Making Music in Minecraft; Beyond Youth Voice: Young People as Agents of Change, and more. We also have three fantastic keynote speakers lined up: Dominique Palmer, Konnie Huq, and Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason.
What’s next?
We have a lot more in store for This Is Not A Rehearsal. In December we’ll be focusing on climate anxiety in young people, and in January we’ll be looking at what organisations can do to improve their carbon footprint, such as monitoring electricity usage and looking at how banking can affect carbon footprints. Sign up to our newsletter to stay updated on the campaign developments.
We’ve also teamed up with an organisation called Positive Planet, which offers solutions to measure, report and reduce your carbon emissions. They are going to be working with us to report accurately on Music Mark’s carbon emissions. Positive Planet will also be offering Music Mark members a discount on their services for those wanting to take control of their carbon emissions.
- Want to get involved or have a story to share? Please contact us at info@musicmark.org.uk.
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For more information about the campaign This Is Not A Rehearsal, visit musicmark.org.uk/this-is-not-a-rehearsal
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Music Mark webinars on Integrating Climate Education into a High-Quality Music Curriculum can be found at tinyurl.com/4f24ua7z
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For the blog by Helen Mead, Sarah Lloyd and Jon Audain on how music can connect children to their environment, visit tinyurl.com/3tbvwuzs
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To stay updated on the campaign developments, sign up to Music Mark’s newsletter at tinyurl.com/pf5db52n
