Teacher: Manon van Mil
Meet the teacher
Manon van Mil
Manon has worked on transformative education as a teacher, mentor, researcher, or leader in several countries: Canada, the USA, South Korea, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. Inspired by younger and wiser people, she co-founded and co-facilitated Climate Club at the International School of The Hague between 2019 and 2023.
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Overview
Teachers Manon van Mil and Robin van Wageningen co-founded Climate Club after they were approached by primary students who were too young to strike on Fridays (according to Dutch law). Other students around the world were striking on Fridays to demand action on climate change. Several other students expressed an interest in learning more about the climate and ecological crises. Teachers and interested students collaboratively set the agenda for Climate Club (after school 1x per week), taking meaningful action in their school community and host country.
Theory of Change
Learning about a problem without having the opportunity to act in a meaningful way can lead to helplessness. Climate Club, therefore, helps learners to develop a habit of taking action alongside their fact-based understandings of the climate and ecological crises. In this way, Manon and Robin hope to protect and promote learners’ agency, belongingness, and well-being.
Approach and Actions
Climate Club is an extracurricular club which uses participatory decision-making and other high-agency, high-community practices to empower students. Climate Club members have organized repair shops, clothing exchanges and slow fashion shows at the school. They have cleaned up The Hague’s coastline, up-cycling plastic pollution to build large-scale sculptures. They have participated in citizen science projects (e.g., monitoring air pollution), protected local species (e.g., aquatic birds), and helped to rewild the local area (e.g., by creating ‘exploding seed balls’ with clay, compost, and native seeds). They have planned events such as Warm Sweater Day and finally they have baked cricket cookies in their DIY solar ovens.
Impact
Well over one hundred 8- to 12-year-olds have been involved since Climate Club was founded in 2019. Each of these students has learned more about intersecting crises, the local environment, and the Sustainable Development Goals in a hands-on way. Additionally, Climate Club students shared their projects (as well as their enthusiasm) with their classes and the wider school community. This likely increased others’ climate knowledge, skills, and understanding as well.