The EYES Climate Justice Workshop at Lab School

Lab School founder Pascale Haag and IB English and Art teacher Jo Perkins recently returned inspired from the EYES (Enhancing Youth Engagement Skills for Climate Actions) Workshop for Educators on Climate Storytelling, held in October 2025 at Factory Forty in Brussels. This dynamic event, co-funded by Erasmus+, brought together passionate educators and experts to explore innovative approaches to teaching climate change and justice – using powerful stories that connect, inspire, and motivate collective action.

At Lab School Paris, we were lucky to have to members of the EYES consortium –  Anka from The Environment and Human Rights Academy (TEHRA) and Maria from News Decoder – to host a workshop for high school students, based on what they presented in Brussels.

How much do students know about climate justice?

The climate crisis is a social justice crisis! But do students know how climate change affects populations differently?

Anka and Maria began the workshop by asking students to choose – I could explain what climate justice is to a friend or family member, yes or no – most students said “no”. This quick poll allowed the experts to meet students where they currently are in terms of their understanding of the issue. This meant slowing down, defining key terms, and answering student questions about climate justice.

Anka began by zooming out and showing students that injustice between countries is a major concern. Developing countries, when compared to wealthy countries, are more vulnerable to climate change. Vulnerability measures how difficult it is for a population to adapt to the effects of climate change.

She then zoomed in to show students that vulnerability exists when comparing populations of a single country. For example, women can be more vulnerable to natural disasters than men – as caretakers, they are often less able to evacuate because they must stay to ensure the safety of those in their care. Another example is farmers who are much more vulnerable to drought conditions than bankers, whose livelihood is not dependent on climatic conditions.

From these examples, students learned that climate justice is the recognition that responsibility for and vulnerability to climate change are not equally distributed, and that actions should be taken to correct this imbalance.

Lastly, Anka introduced the idea of student activism by explaining systems thinking. It can be overwhelming to think about putting an end to everything that causes climate change. Systems thinking allows us to look at the parts of a whole system, see how they interact with each other, then choose leverage points, or places within the system where you can intervene to initiate change. Students can identify and exploit leverage points through learning, protest, creating art, and even journalism!

How can students use journalistic storytelling to make others aware of climate justice?

Maria explained the process of journalistic storytelling to students, who then worked in groups to write articles.

The process begins with a pitch – what do we think our readers need to know, and do others agree with us? Maria reminded students that it’s always better to pitch a narrow, refined topic than something too broad.

Next comes reporting – what do we need to find out to tell the story people need to read? Students were encouraged to think about who in their personal networks they might contact to conduct their reporting, and how those people might be able to connect them with experts who could strengthen their research.

After gathering all the research and information, it’s time to write a draft – how will we present our reporting clearly and effectively?

And all good journalists revise – what modifications should we make to our story to get it ready for publication?

During the workshop, Maria introduced students to the tenants of good journalism:

·      curiosity – ask good questions;

·      trustworthiness – verify all information and sources;

·      empathy – listen deeply to the story’s protagonists and during interviews;

·      clarity – communicate simply;

·      objectivity – journalism is not about publishing personal opinions.

What next, now that students are trained in climate storytelling?

The Lab School newspaper is on the way – students are excited to finish the stories they started and to publish them for a wider audience.

Teachers present at the workshop are eager to use journalism in their lessons, especially journalism skills that will help students narrow topics into questions that they can research, answer, and turn into stories.