Climate change and sustainable development education in Egypt: Policy-relevant Evidence from Girls and their teachers in under-privileged urban primary Schools in Egypt

An Egyptian girl-child asked our Research Team to ‘try to understand what children need’ (Hargreaves et al., 2018). Our project does so in the context of climate action in Egypt. Egypt’s coastal/Nile Delta cities are among the most environmentally precarious in the world. Little research exists regarding Egyptians’ awareness/understanding for taking climate action but extant data suggests these are inadequate. Among the least consulted in the population are girls in primary-school in disadvantaged areas of cities who will bear the greatest brunt of potential climate disaster. Through face-to-face surveys, interviews and drawings, our research investigates voices of hundreds of girls about their sense of empowerment for climate action and how this can be boosted; and surveys hundreds of primary-school teachers. Our findings inform future policy in relation to Sustainable Cities by contributing to national textbooks and materials for primary children and potentially developing teachers in using these.

Research Team: Professor Eleanore Hargreaves, University College London; Dr Dalia Elhawary, Alexandria University; Dr Richard Sheldrake, University College London; Professor Nicola Walshe, University College London