The Butterfly Effect: Calling All Young Change-Makers!

In her article for the Royal Scottish Geographical Society’s special edition of The Geographer magazine, Sarah Shanahan, Jacobs Senior Portfolio Operations Lead talks about her work inspiring and educating the next generation, and the recent launch of the Butterfly Effect, Jacobs' Climate Change Education Program.

Every day we make decisions; about what to eat, what to wear, how to travel and where to go. With a current global population of almost 8 billion people, set to rise to over 8.5 billion by 2030, these choices have a real and lasting effect on us and our planet.

We are each responsible for refining our own behaviour in a climate positive direction, while also inspiring and educating the next generation. And many of our young people are keen for action. Global movements like last year’s Mock COP26 uniting young people from over 140 countries and this year’s COP26 Youth Summit are vital in giving young people the means to express themselves on climate change and how we preserve our planet.

As a geology graduate from the University of Glasgow, I’ve loved working in a Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) career, delivering our portfolio of projects through a social impact lens to support what’s right for society and the environment. As a STEAM Ambassador, I’m passionate about inspiring young people on STEAM careers and have spent several years helping to create beneficial social impact and a lasting legacy through a community education program for a major Scottish infrastructure scheme. I’ve learned that if we want to create a long-term and sustainable behavioral shift toward climate change and our environment, we need to engage, educate and embed those traits early in our future generation, so they are inspired to do things better.

At Jacobs, we’ve developed the Butterfly Effect, our Climate Change Education Program, to enthuse and inform primary school pupils to make smart choices, so that the ripple effects of their actions will impact positively on climate change. Working hand-in-hand with teachers, our program works with young people under 12 years old, for eight weeks, every year for seven years, giving them the information, knowledge and understanding they need to consider sustainability in every decision they make.

The Butterfly Effect covers eight themes aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: Water, Plastics, Waste, Carbon, Biodiversity, Food, Human Rights and Lives, and Jobs of the Future. The topics are teacher-led and can be adapted to the needs of each class. Activities are differentiated by age group and are flexible enough to last anywhere from 15 to 90 minutes. We provide a mentor to work with the teachers throughout the topics and they provide insight into their experience working in STEAM.

Using this “little and often” approach, the online program covers all areas of the curriculum and is intended to be delivered throughout the school summer term. Easy to follow, themed and fully virtual activity sheets encourage fun learning and teachers can tailor activities to suit different pupil needs.

We involve the whole school community – engaging parents through homework extension activities and supporting teachers with the latest information and resources. We deliberately drive inclusion into the Butterfly Effect by pairing schools from diverse geographies and backgrounds. In the module focused on “human rights and lives,” for example, we help schools to partner and exchange knowledge, so they can build connections for the long-term.

The classroom gains real life context and relevance, while upskilling teachers in STEAM subjects and climate change topics. Critically, we know that by taking eight weeks, in each of the seven years to reinforce the learning from this program, we have a real opportunity to embed knowledge and decision-making which will last a lifetime.