Blue Peter Icon Konnie Huq wants better environmental education for kids
Former Blue Peter Presenter Konnie Huq is calling for better environmental education for children in their early years.
“Planet Over Profit”: Young Environmental Activist
It comes after a survey by the Noah’s Ark Foundation found that 9 in 10 parents said their kids have a good understanding of the environment.
Konnie believes teaching children about the environment from an early age creates an awareness they then carry into adulthood.
“When kids learn something, when it goes to their core they take it with them through life”, she told Latest TV.
“They’re growing up in a time when climate emergency is what is present in consciousness.”
“We need a world with people full of empathy”.
The study also found that more time in science lessons should be spent outdoors and exploring nature.
This is something the Noah’s Ark Foundation, who commissioned the study, aims to encourage.
“We need a world with people full of emphathy” – Konnie Huq told Latest TV
The foundation has begun a landmark project in South Africa.
They are building a Jurrasic Park-style domed city to protect the world’s wildlife and ecology.
A television series will document the construction and progress of the project.
Hein Prinsloo Curson, the co-founder of the Noah’s Ark Foundation, told Latest TV that the project will reach children in Brighton.
“Children and grown-ups included we are stuck to our screens and we want to utilise that for a positive”.
“This is why we are doing the television series because we think we will be able to positively contribute and educate people.”
Almost half of the kids surveyed have learnt their environmental knowledge from the TV.
“You’ll die of old age, we’ll die of climate change”.
Konnie told Latest TV that this due to more news coverage, including Extinction Rebellion protests and influential figures like Greta Thunberg.
“I feel that things only come to the forefront when a combination of factors all align in the same position”.
“It needs people to pave the way and say oh look it is cool to recycle, or you don’t need 15 million handbags”.
“It will spread and people will catch on”.
Environmental campaigners from Extinction Rebellion held a recent march in Brighton.
Three women were arrested for climbing onto a seafront cafe.
For Latest TV coverage of the recent Extinction Rebellion protest in Brighton click here.
Report by Olivia Marshall, Latest TV
