Teaching activities

Here you will find advice and guidelines related to teaching based on the use of the sustainable development activity ’Extreme weather’. When the students have submitted their registrations, the opportunities for discussion, social commitment and collaborative measures increase. The below suggestions can be useful to help expand the learning focus and direct it towards the wider perspectives of  extreme weather, climate change and sustainable development. Learning will be provided at several levels if the school uses its results in collaboration with the authorities and other stakeholders in the society. The students become participants in development projects in which their work and views are important. You will find suggestions for collaborative partners in this document.

Discussion and reflection related to extreme weather and climate change

Are there differences in how weather incidents are registered in your local district and for the entire country? How are local conditions linked to the type of extreme weather incidents in your local  district or region?

Discussion and reflection related to management and emergency preparedness

Are there any links between the consequences of the incident and the handling of it? Which knowledge does the local authority have about weather incidents in the area over the last 30 years? How is the emergency preparedness handled in your  local district? Has your local authority taken any measures to adapt to climate change? If so, which?  

Discussion and reflection related to  the second part of the survey – the questionnaire

Compare your own result to those that apply to the whole country. Look for tendencies and relations in the answers: for instance are adults more concerned about emergency preparedness than young people? Are there geographical differences? If somebody has answered that climate change may lead to positive consequences for the local environment – which positive consequences could that be?

Local authorities: The students’ observations and registrations may take place on a basis of collaboration where the local authority receives the information; what are the local consequences of an incident of bad weather, who do people in villages think about climate and preparedness?  The sections of the local authority will both be able to brief students about the areas for which they are responsible and to discuss planning and emergency preparedness with the students.

Insurance company, police and fire brigade:  Damage is reported to insurance company and possibly to public autorities.The insurance company can therefore provide important information related to financial costs of damage to nature and they may be interested in a partnership that can raise awareness of preventive measures. Police will be contacted in case of evacuation and the fire brigade will often be contacted for clean-up operations or emergencies. Threfore, they are able to provide valuable information about incidents that have taken place in the local environment and give a wider perspective on the incident(s)

The road and highway authorities: Roads are often closed as a consequence of extreme weather.The road and higway authorities have information about stretches roads that are at risk, prevention and number of roads and mountain passes closed, reduced passability, etc.

Local media:   Local newspapers and other media often cover extreme weather incidents and natural hazards. Their archives will provide important information, also in the form of pictures from earlier incidents.

Local unions, assocations and organisations: Many unions, assocations and organisations can contribute information and can be involved in the project in different ways:

• Red Cross ( and civil Defence) are often involved in emergencies, for instance in case of avalanches.              
• Associations and museums of local history often have information and sources about previsous incidents of extreme weather in the local environment.                                                                                     
• Forest owners’ and houseowners’ associations may contribute information  about handling, prevention and about possible damage which has arisen as a result of extreme weather. Moreover, they represent important ownerhip interests.

In addition to being able to provide valuable information, several of the actors mentioned above will be interested in the results of the students' investigations. This is especially true for local authorities, but also local associations will be able to benefit from the information that the students can contribute.

There are different ways to involve external collaboration parthers. Here are some suggestions:

• If relevant issues emerge during the project, local stakeholders can be invited to a debate at the school to discuss these issues.  
• The students may interview representatives from relevant actors, for instance those mentioned above. The questions should be adapted to the different actors.Together they will form a good      picture of actors which in some say or the other are involved in an extreme weather incident. The interviews can be re-edited and made into a newspaper article which can be sent to the local paper.
• Students can work with the result of their survey (part 2) and present the results to representatives from the local authority and others.
• Representatives from some of the collaboration partners in questions can be invited to come to the class room to tell students how their work is affected by incidents of extreme weather. The students’ work may also take place after a dialogue with the local authority has been made, so that the survey is part of the knowledge basis for discussion and measures in the local community.
• Send out invitation for an exhibition: It is not unusual for an extreme weather incident to change the landscape. By using pictures and photos from the present and the past (before and after the incident), students can set up an exhibition or other presentation about incidents of extreme weather in the local environment.
• Film and pictures. In connection with registration on Sustain.no, students upload pictures and links to the  videos they take. Recordings from incidents and of the consequences, or an edited documentary, will sublement the observations in a good way and will provide a basis for discussion and ollaboration.
• Inspection: If students, houseowners and representatives from the local authority gather in a place which may be especially at risk, a common refererence is formed which can provide a starting point for the school’s teaching activities and the emergency measures of the local authority.

Before contacting the collaboration partner, it is a good idea for the students to find information on the websites of the partners.