The Morecambe Bay Curriculum : Bringing about culture change through education

Garrett, Beth and Nelkon, Carys (2024) The Morecambe Bay Curriculum : Bringing about culture change through education. In: Civic partners in net zero : Innovative approaches to universities working with their places to achieve net zero targets. Key Cities Innovation Network, pp. 47-64. ISBN 9780993415630

Abstract

Inspired by news of the Eden Project Morecambe, a collective of educators launched the Morecambe Bay Curriculum (MBC) to explore how themes of environment, sustainability and place could be weaved into everyday teaching across all phases of education. The MBC is an educator-led movement, supported by Lancaster University and Lancaster and Morecambe College, which seeks to improve the educational outcomes of local people. As a collective, we aim to support the move towards net zero by empowering teachers to develop innovative approaches to education which explore local environmental challenges. By encouraging young people to develop the environmental behaviours needed to become future change-makers, teachers are developing a culture in the area where sustainable and pro-ecological practices are the norm. This paper reports on the groundwork for the MBC and how this has led to an innovative curriculum design project. Collectively teachers and Lancaster University academics are designing content to support local educators, drawing on themes of place and sustainability. Whilst this work is still in its early stages, we share our reflections on the importance of prioritising community voices and communal ownership of the initiative, showing how this contributes towards cultural change.