Climate change and health in school-based education: A scoping review protocol

Abstract

Taking into account the adverse impacts of climate change on human health, the importance of increasing knowledge and gaining essential skills is necessary to mitigate and adapt to its impacts and protect human health. Researchers and experts are urging for more research in the climate-health nexus, as well as calling for efforts that establish climate and health educational goals. They encourage the development of agreed upon, articulated science-based curricula and resources addressing climate-health issues. This review aims to map out the current state of integration of climate change education in school-based education across the world and identify the human health topics included. Furthermore, it aims to explore the extents to which levels of prevention and health co-benefits of climate mitigation and adaptation are covered within the framework of school-based climate change education. Five electronic databases will be searched for peer reviewed articles in English, from year 2000-to May 2022. The findings from the study will be useful to school curricula developers looking to expand climate change education. This review will also highlight potential research gaps in education on climate change-related health in schools. The scoping review was preregistered with the Open Science Framework [registration DOI: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/8U5GK].

Content Focus and Effectiveness of Climate Change and Human Health Education in Schools: A Scoping Review

“…A scoping review was deemed the most suitable approach to meet the research objectives, as it offers a comprehensive assessment of the quantity and distribution of existing evidence [40]. The protocol of this review was published [41]. Information regarding the PCC framework, databases, keywords, and medical headings used are given in the published protocol.…”

Promoting transdisciplinary collaboration in academia: uniting for climate-resilient health

“…According to the study, teachers who took part in the professional development workshops had a greater understanding of the planetary crisis, which raised educators' awareness of the issue (Dal et al, 2015). Efforts are made to include studies to ensure that students from different academic fields have a clear understanding of how the planetary crisis affects health (Shaman and Knowlton, 2018;Cerceo et al, 2022;Ramadani et al, 2023). This integration includes academic disciplines, including engineering, social sciences, and policy studies, in addition to conventional medical and public health programs.…”