Teaching about desertification in the classroom is an important contribution to raising awareness and leveraging knowledge related to sustainable land management.
To support the teachers in this, the UNCCD secretariat is engaged in various activities to help build their capacity.
On this page we offer an overview of various resources available for educators. These provide you with materials to use in your classrooms, and links to training courses that help you develop your professional skills as an educator.
Learning kit about desertification
Coping with Desertification Project (CODEP)
The kit is an illustrated compilation of information relevant to major factors leading to desertification.
UNESCO Teachers guide to desertification
UNESCO Course for Secondary Teachers on Climate Change Education for Sustainable Development (CCESD).
Six-day online course, designed to give teachers confidence in helping young people understand the causes and consequences of climate change today.
Teachers Guide on desertification
This kit, developed by UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme and the UNCCD Secretariat, provides teachers with background information and teachers materials to understand and combat desertification. It contains books, hand-outs, and examples of classroom activities
Kids who care: deserts
To help increase Canadians' knowledge of and support for international development work, Plan Canada, with the support of the Canadian International Development Agency, has developed a global educational program.
Educators: How to Be the Effective Communicator You Think You Are
This site gives tips on how to enhance online classes through effective communication with students. Educators play a key role in guiding students on their academic journey and in modeling good communication for future professionals. With that in mind, the text provides four tips for making sure that you are the effective communicator you would want to be.
Cartoon: There is no rug big enough
The cartoon booklet "There is no rug big enough to sweep the desert under" by cartoonist Lupo Alberto, tells the story of drought on an animal farm, and gives examples on how to conserve water, preserve forest cover and promote sustainable agriculture.
Drought for Kids
The National Drought Mitigation Center offers a section on its Website for kids with basic information related to drought, so that they can explore the problematic of drought and land degradation in an easy way. The Website covers relevant topics on: Weather and Climate, the Water Cycle, Causes of Drought, and Droughts and Floods.
Publications relevant for educators
Teaching desertification: An investigation of teacher and classroom attributes, instructional strategies, locus of control, attitudes, and self-efficacy of Namibian junior secondary school teachers
The purpose of this study was to investigate the direct and indirect effects of teacher attributes (teaching experience, age, and science content preparation), classroom attributes (grade level, class size, and teaching resources), and instructional strategies on Namibian junior secondary school teachers' locus of control, attitudes toward desertification, and self-efficacy.
Overview of educational materials on UNESCO website
Environmental education is key for respecting nature and for achieving international agendas, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD); the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD); and the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD, 2005-2014).
Camel Climate Change Education website
A free, comprehensive, interdisciplinary, multi media resource for educators, offering various courses. The food and climate change course considers the reciprocal relationship between Earth's changing climate and the human production and consumption of food.