Simulator – stimulator

Project Description

The Challenge

Scientists are increasingly sounding the alarm about how human activity is affecting climate change. European Union politicians have prioritised the issue in green policies under development. Private companies are incorporating carbon-neutral activities into their operations to assist the processes. Against this background, Bulgaria is lagging behind. This is partly due to the passivity of the Bulgarian school towards the issue. Varna schools are not making exceptions. The problem is not talked about en masse. The topic is not presented in an interesting way so as to intrigue students. This reflects on passivity among young people regarding environmental issues. Today we are clearly aware of the need to involve adolescents in the issue. To make the subject of climate change visible and interesting. We need to get more teachers on our side. We at the Public Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development have been working on the subject for years. Our member Apostol Penkov translated the En-ROADS simulation model (developed by Climate Interactive and the MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative) into Bulgarian on a voluntary basis. This is a tool designed to support educational processes. With this project we want to activate young people in the direction of solving climate problems.

Actions

More than 250 students between 8th and 12th grade in Varna received training on climate change in the school year 2023/2024. With the help of a specially developed global online simulator – EnROADS, students will learn about the impact of human activity on climate. In a geography and economics, biology and health education, chemistry and environmental education or class period, students took on the roles of politicians, industrialists, farmers, environmentalists and proposed solutions to reduce global warming. Our mission is to introduce the online simulator into the curricula of schools in Varna. For this purpose, we trained 20 teachers to work with the educational software, which they can then apply in their teaching practice in geography, chemistry, biology classes or in the class teacher’s lesson. To help more students understand how their decisions affect the effects of global warming, we produced video learning content on the topic.

Results

20 Teachers trained to be able to use the En-ROADS Simulation Model educational tool in their teaching practice.

Over 250 students trained with the En-ROADS Simulation Model.

Practical online tool “How to explain climate change with the En-ROADS simulation model” to help teachers, mentors, team leaders.

En-ROADS” to help teachers, mentors, team leaders.

If the simulator is recognized as a useful tool in the work of the Bulgarian teacher, we can expect that the topic will reach tens of thousands of students.