Why use this tool?

This tool is about communicating about climate change and climate resilience, as well as engaging with a diverse audience, in ways that feel exciting, fulfilling and enriching for all parties involved. Some activities mobilize the arts to make environmental issues and climate change tangible, as well as encourage creativity and connection (with each other and with nature), so as to foster local action among the wider community. Other activities acknowledge the difficulty of tackling climate change in a polarized world, with multiple simultaneous constraints weighing on us.

Activities in this Tool

Activity 5.4.1. Art made of trash

Activity 5.4.2. Engaging in non-violent communication

Activity 5.4.3. Communicating with Empathyn

Activity 5.4.4. The Dilemma Game

Activity 5.4.1. Art made of trash

Overview 

This activity is about cleaning a beach while having fun, tuning into the coastal environment, and reflecting on collective change. It consists in using the plastic trash you remove from the beach to make an art installation that you can exhibit in the local community.

Curriculum linkage

  • Science, Physical Education & Health, Arts, Mathematics

Competences built

  • Innovation, collaboration, accountability, care, originality, interconnectedness thinking

Basic info

  • Age range: 6+
  • Duration: 1,5 days
  • Group size: could be a project for a class or the whole school
  • Level of difficulty: basic to intermediate
  • Materials/space required: a weight, a tarpaulin, rope, chicken wire
  • Location: beach + outdoor space at school
  • Engagement of external stakeholders: Working with a local artist could make the art-making exercise more exciting

Prep Work

  • Locate a beach that needs to be cleaned. (Or any other nature area with a lot of trash, as long as it is a safe space for the learners)

Competences/activities to practice first by the teacher: 

  • Creativity

Steps  in the activity 

  1. Cleaning a beach and becoming ocean
  2. Making an art installation inspired by the ocean

 Step 1: Cleaning a beach and becoming ocean

  1. When you arrive at the beach, do an exercise to tune into the environment by breathing in the same rhythm as:
    •  the waves hit the shore, 
    • a bird beats its wingsAsk the learners to pay attention to what goes on in the environment, and to search the environment carefully for trash. They need to look under rocks. Plastic that has been in nature for a long time starts to resemble natural formations, so there is a need to be thorough.
  2. Clean the beach. While cleaning, allow for free play and fun. After cleaning, weigh the trash. It is always interesting to see the number on the scale, and for younger learners, guessing the weight before weighing, helps them develop an idea of scale.
  3. Before leaving the beach, do a movement exercise to become part of the environment and reflect on collective action. Move from one side of the beach to the other like a:
    • sea bird (select a local bird)
    • an ocean animal (select a local animal)
    • a plastic bag moved by the wind
    • a drop in the ocean
    • the ocean
  4. Reflect on the movements with the learners. Ask them how it was to move as the different objects/subjects. 
    • How did they feel moving together? 
    • How was it to be a bird, a drop, the ocean?
  5. End with this line from the Persian Poet Rumi: “You are not a drop in the ocean, you are the ocean in a drop”, meaning what we do matters, because we are all connected. 

Step 2: making an art installation inspired by the ocean

  1. Find a suitable outdoor spot close to the school where you have running water available and enough space to dump all the collected trash onto a tarpaulin. Invite the learners to sort the trash into usable art materials and unusable trash.
    – Unusable: trash that is disintegrating, harmful, or too disgusting.
    – Usable: Anything that can be transformed into useful shapes/parts of an art installation. Bottles are nice for making arms or legs, corks are nice for decorating, plastic bags can be used in braids…
  2. Clean the usable materials.
  3. Brainstorm what kind of installation you can make with the materials. The installation should somehow be inspired by the ocean or other aspect of the environment you cleaned. If the learners are young, you should prepare a realistic idea that you can pitch to them and get them excited about, like making an ocean animal for example.
  4. Make the art installation using rope and chicken wire to attach the materials and shape them into whatever the group collectively decided to make. Allow for creativity and fun. How the end result will look is not really important, the creative process is the important part.
  5. When the installation is finished, find a place to exhibit the art work, either in the school or in a public place where the local community can view it.
  6. Optional: If you want to integrate more natural science into this activity,  you can add assignments such as:
    • taking water samples in polluted ponds and looking for micro plastic under a microscope; 
    • researching the direction and speed of ocean currents, drawing a world map with the ocean currents, and using this map, in combination with the level of decay of a specific item of plastic trash, to determine from where this particular piece of trash could have originated from;
    • researching how much plastic pollution is in the ocean and how much (in kg) each person on earth would have to clean up if every person on the planet helped out.

Dos and Don’ts 

Do

  • Take safety precautions and cancel the trip if the nature area is unsafe due to bad weather.
  • Make enough time for free play while you are in nature.

Adaptations

Choose the beach (or other cleanup location) based on what is suitable for your particular group and mobility options. 

Bring trash grabbers for learners who cannot easily bend down to the ground to pick up trash.

We always invite you to adapt this activity to the specific needs of your learners, including by taking into account their neurodiversity. When adapting tools and activities for neurodivergent learners, please note it is not about treating others how you want to be treated, but how they want to be treated. Ask, listen, and stay open to different ways of learning and engaging. 

References

This activity was designed by Climate Creativity. 

Art inspiration:

School projects:

Download the Activity Card here

Activity 5.4.2. Engaging in non-violent communication

Overview 

This activity has been crafted to introduce learners to the concept of nonviolent communication. Nonviolent communication (NVC) is a technique that can help you and your learners discuss difficult situations and concepts in a respectful and empathetic way. As part of this activity, learners are prompted to respond to various situations using nonviolent communication, and invited to continue using nonviolent communication going forward.

Curriculum linkage

  • Language & Literature, Ethics, Religion & Philosophy, Civics & Social Studies, Psychology, 

Competences built

  • Collaboration, accountability, perspective-taking, emotional regulation, active listening

Basic info

  • Age range: 7+
  • Duration: 40-60 minutes
  • Group size: Small groups of 2-6
  • Level of difficulty: Intermediate
  • Materials/space required: 10-20 Situation cards, whiteboard and/or large piece of paper, markers
  • Location: Classroom/Common area
  • Engagement of external stakeholders: No 

Prep Work

Make “situation cards”: These cards can be made with paper or cardboard, and you should write or draw on them a negative situation that your learners might encounter – for example, not being taken seriously when you ask serious questions (e.g. about climate). Consider the lives and social dynamics of your learners. What challenges might they face? Try to use situations that are relevant to them. See some examples at the end of the activity card. 

Competences/activities to practice first by the teacher: 

Activity 3.3.1 ‘Active Listening’ can offer a solid foundation for this activity, but is not required. 

Activity 1.1.1 ‘Climate Emotions Wheel’ can be a good activity for learners who may not be used to expressing emotions in words.   

Levels in the activity 

  1. Introducing Nonviolent Communication
  2. New habits
  3. Follow-up

Level 1: Introducing Nonviolent Communication

Steps

  1. Begin the activity by asking the questions, ”Have you ever been upset, and did someone make you feel worse because of what they said?” Give the learners time to share their experiences, if they feel comfortable doing so.
  2. Introduce the concept of Nonviolent Communication (NVC). Make sure to emphasize how Nonviolent Communication helps people talk in a way that is understanding and empathetic, and can help resolve problems without hurting other people’s feelings.
  3. Explain the four key elements of NVC. It might be helpful to write this on a whiteboard or a large piece of paper and display it for the class. 
    • Observations: Describe what happened without judgment
    • Feelings: Express how you feel about it
    • Needs: Identify what you need
    • Request: Make a kind request to meet your needs
  4. Organise the learners in groups of 2-6 and hand each group 1-3 Situation cards. Each Situation card will have an emotionally difficult scenario on it that learners in your classroom might encounter. One card could be ”Someone did not take you seriously when you asked a serious question (e.g. about climate).”
  5. Get the groups to role-play these scenarios using nonviolent communication, with each learner getting their chance to express their feelings about the scenario to the others in their group. Reiterate the four core steps of nonviolent communication, and have the learners practice using the same structure. An example of this might be:
  6. Observations: Describe what happened without judgment – ”I heard/saw that you did not take me seriously when I asked a serious question (e.g. about climate).”
    • Feelings: Express how you feel about it – ”I feel sad, frustrated, unimportant, unheard.”
    • Needs: Identify what you need – ”I need to feel that my questions are listened to and taken seriously.”
    • Request: Make a kind request to meet your needs  – “It would make a big difference to me if you could take my question seriously. Could you do that?” 
  7. Debrief the learners after the activity. Ask them how it felt to use Nonviolent Communication. Did it change the way they thought about how they normally communicate? Did it make expressing their feelings easier? This is a good time to discuss empathy and explain that empathy is about understanding both your own feelings and needs as well as those of other people. A good way to finish is by asking the learners to reflect on how they will speak to each other going forward. 

Level 2: New Habits

  1. Challenge the learners to practice using Nonviolent Communication (NVC) for the next week. If applicable, have them record any attempts or insights in a journal.  
  2. When the week is over, invite learners to share their experiences with the class.

Level 3: Follow Up

  1. Create a space in a common area of your classroom that can serve as a bulletin board. Label this space Nonviolent Communication Wall. 
  2. Next to the wall, place slips of paper that learners can use to write down situations and experiences they have solved using Nonviolent Communication and post them onto the bulletin board. Allow this wall to build with experiences organically. 
  3. Once a week (or month), as time permits, bring attention to the bulletin board and read out some of the situations that your learners have posted for the class to consider and reflect upon.

Do’s and Don’ts 

Do 

  • Craft relevant and age-appropriate Situation cards
  • Group learners in a way that allows them to broaden their perspective.

Don’t 

  • Don’t craft situation cards that could be traumatic or otherwise inappropriate.

Adaptations

We invite you to adapt this activity to the specific needs of your learners, including by taking into account their neurodiversity. When adapting tools and activities for neurodivergent learners, please note it is not about treating others how you want to be treated, but how they want to be treated. Ask, listen, and stay open to different ways of learning and engaging. 

If your learners are struggling to understand what to do, then inviting a pair of volunteer learners to model the activity in front of the class is a good way to get them started. 

If your learners already have a foundation in NVC and self-reflection, you can choose to invite them to create their own Situation cards.

If your learners struggle with expressing emotions, consider showing them the climate emotions wheel (see resources in 1.2.1) or doing this activity first.

Situation cards ideas relevant to climate change 

Here are some examples of Situation cards, which you can adapt so they are relevant for your learners:

Situation: Ideas about actions

You share an idea about climate change and how you would like to change things that you and others do, like starting a school compost, but someone laughs and says it won’t make a difference.

Observations               Feelings               Needs           Requests

_________________________________________

Situation: Sad News

You feel sad after hearing about floods on the news, but when you try to talk about it, people change the subject.

Observations               Feelings               Needs           Requests

_________________________________________

 Situation: Wildlife warrior

You talk about how worried you are about animals losing their habitats because of climate change, and someone says, “That’s not a big deal.”

Observations               Feelings               Needs           Requests

_________________________________________

Situation: A drawing of the future

You bring in a drawing of a green future city, and someone says it looks silly.

Observations               Feelings               Needs           Requests

_________________________________________

Situation: Nervous – and lacking support

You feel nervous talking about climate change, and someone laughs instead of listening.

Observations               Feelings               Needs           Requests

_________________________________________

References

This activity, designed by Legacy17, draws inspiration from Marshall Rosenberg’s concept of Nonviolent Communication (NVC) and has been thoughtfully adapted to support learners in building competences for climate resilience. While it remains rooted in the core principles of NVC – such as empathy, clarity, and compassionate dialogue – it also applies these principles in the context of sustainability and education for climate resilience. Legacy17 has a long-standing commitment to integrating NVC approaches within Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), always with respect for the original NVC framework and community.

Download the Activity Card here

Activity 5.4.3. Communicating with Empathy

Overview

This activity has been crafted to introduce learners to the concept of empathy, and how they can communicate with each other in an empathetic way. As part of this activity, learners will create a ‘shoe’ and use it to help take the perspective of someone else – i.e., walking in their shoes.

Curriculum linkage

  • Language & Literature, Civics & Social Studies, Psychology, Arts 

Competences built

  • Courage, collaboration, accountability, humility, care, perspective-taking, active listening

 Basic info

  • Age range: 7+
  • Duration: 40-60 minutes
  • Group size: Small groups of 2-6
  • Level of difficulty: Intermediate
  • Materials/space required: Situation cards, whiteboard and/or large piece of paper, markers
  • Location: Indoors
  • Engagement of external stakeholders: No

Prep Work

Make the Situation cards. These cards can be made with paper or cardboard, and should have written or drawn on them a negative situation that your learners might encounter – for example, feeling like there is nobody to talk to about their concerns regarding climate change. Consider the lives and social dynamics of your learners. What challenges might they face? Try to describe situations  that are relevant to them.

Competences/activities to practice first by the teacher: 

Activity 3.3.1 ‘Active listening’ is useful in developing a foundation for this activity, but is not required.   

Levels in the activity 

  1. Empathy Shoes
  2. New habits
  3. Empathy Jar

 Level 1: Empathy Shoes

Steps

  1. Begin by asking the class: „What is empathy?“. Allow time for answers and discussion. You may choose to create a mind map of their responses. Then explain that empathy means understanding and caring about how someone else is feeling. It’s like stepping into their shoes to see the world from their point of view. 
  2. Next, ask: „What does it mean to communicate with empathy?” Allow time for answers and discussion. You may choose to add their responses to the mind map. Then explain that communicating with empathy goes beyond speaking and hearing the other person’s words – communicating with empathy requires all participants in a conversation to acknowledge the feelings and perspectives of each other. It’s like stepping into their shoes just as they step into yours.
  3. Make your shoe: give each learner a piece of paper and a marker and have them draw their own shoe. Allow the learners time to personalize the shoe and make it their own. This shoe will represent them, their feelings, and their unique perspective in the world. 
  4. Situation cards: 
    • Invite the learners to pair up, and give each pair of learners a Situation card. 
    • Ask the learners, ”How would you feel in this situation?”.
    • Allow the learners time to share and talk within their pairs. 
    • Have the learners switch shoes with their partner to symbolize them stepping into each other’s shoes. 
    • Give them time to reflect on each other’s shoes, and to consider each other’s perspectives and feelings. 
    • Ask your learners to consider how they might feel in the Situation now that they are taking on the perspective of the other person – i.e. wearing that person’s shoes. 
    • Give the learners time to reflect and share their thoughts. 
    • Encourage the learners to have a new conversation about the Situation where each partner considers the perspectives and feelings of the other. The two shoes together, now make a pair.

Level 2: New habits

  1. Challenge the learners to practice communicating with empathy for the next week. If applicable, have them record any attempts or insights in a journal.  
  2. When the week is over, invite learners to share their experiences with the class.

Level 3: Empathy Jar     

  1. Place a jar with a small hole or slit in a common area of the class. Label this jar the Empathy Jar. Next to the jar, place slips of paper that learners can use to write down their experiences with empathy. 
  2. Invite learners to include their name or anonymously put the slips into the jar. 
  3. Once a week, take one slip of paper out and read it aloud for the class to consider and reflect upon.

Do’s and Don’ts 

Do craft relevant and age-appropriate Situationcards, pair up learners in a way that allows them to broaden their perspective.

Don’t craft Situation cards that could be traumatic or otherwise inappropriate.

Adaptations

We invite you to adapt this activity to the specific needs of your learners, including by taking into account their neurodiversity. When adapting tools and activities for neurodivergent learners, please note it is not about treating others how you want to be treated, but how they want to be treated. Ask, listen, and stay open to different ways of learning and engaging. 

If your learners are struggling to understand what to do, then inviting a pair of volunteer learners to model the activity in front of the class is a good way to get them started. 

If your learners already have a foundation in empathy and self-reflection, you can invite them to create their own Situation cards.

If you wish to emphasize the arts and crafts portion of the activity, feel free to get creative with the materials the learners can use to make their shoes.

If your learners struggle with making their shoes, consider asking prompting questions that might spark their creativity and self-expression.

If your learners struggle with expressing emotions, consider offering them a pictogram where emotions are expressed. 

Suggestions for Situation Cards

  • The Pollinator Advocate

You suggest creating a small pollinator garden on campus/in your community to support local bee populations, but your friends dismiss the idea and decide to spend their free time scrolling social media instead.

Walking in their shoes: How might you feel when your environmental concerns are brushed aside? What support would you need to continue advocating for change?

  • The Solo Cleaner

You organize a campus/neighborhood cleanup day and show up with supplies, but only two other people arrive while dozens who said they’d come don’t show up.

Walking in their shoes: How does it feel to take initiative for environmental action but feel unsupported? What would motivate you to keep organizing despite low turnout?

  • The Recycling Champion

You’ve been carefully sorting recyclables at home or in your dorm/shared housing, but you discover your housemates have been throwing everything into the general waste bin, undoing your efforts.

Walking in their shoes: How would you feel seeing your environmental efforts seemingly wasted? How would you approach this situation with your housemates?

  • The Water Warrior

During a group discussion about rising utility costs, you suggest simple water-saving measures, but someone responds with „We’re not in a drought, chill out“ and others laugh.

Walking in their shoes: How does it feel when your environmental awareness is seen as overreacting? What would help you continue sharing sustainable ideas?

  • The Conscious Consumer

You choose to wear thrifted clothes and bike instead of driving to reduce your carbon footprint, but classmates make comments like „Are you broke?“ or „That’s so extra.“

Walking in their shoes: How would you feel when your sustainable choices are misunderstood or mocked? What support would help you stay confident in your values?

  • The Energy Saver

You suggest turning off lights and electronics when not in use in shared spaces, but your family or roommates say „You’re being dramatic, it’s not that expensive“ and continue wasteful habits.

Walking in their shoes: How does it feel when practical environmental actions are dismissed as unnecessary? How would you want others to respond to your suggestions?

  • The Plant-Based Pioneer

You decide to try more plant-based meals to reduce your environmental impact, but friends constantly question your choices and make jokes about „rabbit food“ every time you eat together.

Walking in their shoes: How would you feel having your dietary choices constantly scrutinized? What kind of response from friends would feel supportive?

  • The Transport Transformer

You choose to walk, bike, or use public transport instead of driving, but friends regularly complain about your „inconvenient“ transportation choices when making group plans.

Walking in their shoes: How does it feel when your sustainable choices are seen as burdensome to others? What would help you maintain your commitment while staying connected to friends?

References

This tool was created and designed by Legacy17 and inspired by the activity Empathy: Put Yourself in Someone Else’s Shoes, by The Mustard Seed, found here, which can be used as an additional resource for teachers desiring blank print-outs of shoes. This might be especially helpful for younger learners.

If you are interested in how art processes related to the topic of walking in someone else’s shoes can favor social relationships and collaboration, please take a look at this article:

  • Martínez-López de Castro, R.; Alvariñas-Villaverde, M.; Pino-Juste, M.; Domínguez-Lloria, S. Designing and Evaluation of an Artistic Experience for the Development of Empathic Capacity: “Stepping into Others’ Shoes”. Brain Sci. 2022, 12, 1565. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci12111565

Download the Activity Card here

Activity 5.4.4. The Dilemma Game

Overview

When debating climate action, we are often faced with dilemmas where there are only finite resources available to achieve desired goals, and each option has far-reaching consequences. Therefore, in this classroom game the learners confront a dilemma by determining priorities – making a choice in favour of one goal, and in doing so maybe not fulfilling another. In some cases, a compromise can be found. In some cases, it cannot. This dilemma game offers learners the opportunity to practice perspective-taking in relation to collaborative communication and listening.

Curriculum linkage

  • Language & Literature, Science, Civics & Social Studies, Psychology  

Competences built

  • Courage, collaboration, accountability, humility, care, perspective-taking, critical thinking, systems thinking

 Basic info

  •   Age range: 12+
  •   Duration: 40-60 minutes
  •   Group size: Small groups of 4-6
  •   Level of difficulty: Intermediate
  •   Materials/space required: Whiteboard or similar, markers or similar, paper (optional)
  •   Location: Indoors
  •   Engagement of external stakeholders: No

Prep Work

Determine how to present the game diagram (see below) in your classroom. This might entail drawing it on a whiteboard/ blackboard/ chalkboard, or displaying it as part of a PowerPoint, or drawing it on a large sheet of paper. If you wish, you may also choose to print the diagram on a sheet of paper for learners to use within their groups.

 Competences/activities to practise first by the teacher: 

Activity 3.3.1 ‘Active listening’ and or 5.4.2 ‘Engaging in non-violent communication’,  is useful in developing a foundation for this activity, but is not required. 

Levels in the activity 

  1. Try out in class
  2. Finding a dilemma in your local community

Level 1: Try out in class

Steps

  1. Introduce the concept of dilemma: A dilemma is a situation in which you are faced with two or more alternatives, and you have to make a decision. Dilemmas occur in everyday life whenever a decision is called for, whether individual or collective. Now ask the learners to think and reflect on moments when they have found themselves in a dilemma: „What kind of dilemma(s) have you encountered recently?“ Allow time for answers and discussion. You may choose to make their responses visible by putting them on a whiteboard (or similar).
  2. Then explain that in a dilemma: 
    • We often face conflict between principles, values and goals that are important to us. 
    • Each option has its consequences: positive ones that we want; and negative ones that we may or may not have thought of. If you are a decision-maker, you might look for consequences in areas like:
      1. moral and religious duties
      2. rights and obligations
      3. the threat of psychological or physical trauma
      4. respect for human rights
      5. financial resources
      6. practical reasonsIf you are not the decision-maker, you might perceive these options and consequences quite differently.
    • Policy decisions related to climate change often lead to dilemmas, and each choice has far-reaching consequences. A decision in favour of one option versus another needs to be based on determining priorities. 
    • Divide learners into groups of 4-6. Then introduce the game, as follows: 
      • Imagine that each group represents a group of experts tasked by the Minister of Environmental Protection of your country to prepare for the impacts of climate change. There are several options that have been proposed for consideration, and each group might have a new idea of their own. However, you have limited resources to pursue these options, and so you now face a dilemma: Which of these options will you choose? 
      • Consider: Which options do you think are the most effective? Which options will have consequences if you ignore them? There are no right or wrong answers in the game – only the options and your choices between them. The options are presented below.
        • Teach about the impacts of climate change, as well as about climate change adaptation and resilience in all schools and universities 
        • Invest heavily in protective urban infrastructure (e.g. sea walls or dykes along rivers) and climate-proof other existing infrastructure in relation to flooding
        • Increase green cover and the number of trees, including by removing some pavement, to reduce the heat island effect in cities
        • Make it mandatory to paint all roofs white and have roads painted in white as well
        • Other – Make your own (Optional)
  3. Explain the structure of the game:
    • Present the diagram below by putting it on the whiteboard (or similar) as a classroom reference and ‘master’ diagram. It can also be printed and distributed to each group for reference, if desired. Each group will have 7 investment points to distribute to the different options. More points should be allocated for options the groups wish to prioritize more highly. Learners may allocate all seven points to one option, or they may choose to distribute the points amongst the various options. 
    • Encourage learners to discuss amongst themselves the considerations for prioritizing each option.
      Points Options List your arguments
      Teach about the impacts of climate change, as well as about climate change adaptation and resilience in all schools and universities
      Invest heavily in protective urban infrastructure (e.g. sea walls or dykes along rivers) and climate-proof other existing infrastructure in relation to flooding
      Increase green cover and the number of trees, including by removing some pavement, to reduce the heat island effect in cities
      Make it mandatory to paint all roofs white and have roads painted in white as well
      Other – Make your own (Optional)

       

  4. Collect and share the results
    • Once groups have decided how to allocate their points, invite each group to explain their choices and place their points on the ‘master’ diagram.
    • Once the entire class has allocated their points, have a classroom discussion and reflect on the choices that were made.  
    • Encourage learners to reflect on the outcome.

Level 2: Finding a dilemma in your local community

  1. Ask learners: What are the dilemmas in your community? Can you identify any dilemmas in relation to climate resilience in your local community? 
  2. Invite learners to play the dilemma game around those dilemmas and if possible around a dilemma that can be converted to a task you as a group or a class can take action on.

Do’s and Don’ts 

Do 

  • Encourage learners to engage in self-reflection during these discussions.
  • Ensure that discussion and debate do not turn into competition or arguments. 

Don’t 

  • Don’t silence or discourage learners from expressing their own viewpoints and solutions. 

Adaptations

We invite you to adapt this activity to the specific needs of your learners, including by taking into account their neurodiversity. When adapting tools and activities for neurodivergent learners, please note it is not about treating others how you want to be treated, but how they want to be treated. Ask, listen, and stay open to different ways of learning and engaging. 

If your learners are struggling to understand what to do, then modeling the activity in front of the class is a good way to get them started. 

References

This tool is based on a tool originally developed in the Green Package Project by OSCE in Ukraine, and was adapted by Legacy 17.

Download the Activity Card here