Amid the growing global discussion on the escalating climate crisis, one fundamental question is often overlooked: who will bear the greatest long-term consequences of environmental degradation? The answer is clear: our children. Unfortunately, environmental issues often remain confined to discussions outside the classroom or are treated as occasional activities without being meaningfully embedded in the learning process. Yet education plays a crucial role in fostering critical awareness from an early age.

Responding to this urgency, Yayasan SHEEP Indonesia (YSI), through the Climate Justice for Children’s Protection (KIPHA) Program, has taken concrete steps to integrate climate justice and children’s rights into school learning. The program has been supporting 12 partner schools across Yogyakarta City and Sleman Regency, covering various levels of education from elementary schools, junior high schools and Islamic junior high schools, to senior high schools and Islamic senior high schools.

The 12 partner schools are SD Sanjaya Tritis, SD BOPKRI Gondolayu, SD BOPKRI Sidomulyo 1, SD LHI Juara, SMP BOPKRI 3 Yogyakarta, SMP Bumi Cendekia, SMP IT Abu Bakar, MTs Masyithoh, SMA Bumi Cendekia, MA Nur Iman, SMA BOPKRI 2, and MA Masyithoh.

A Long Journey from Concept to Classroom Practice

Integrating climate change issues into learning spaces is not an instant process. Before reaching the implementation stage, teachers from the partner schools went through a series of capacity-building activities. These included strengthening their understanding, sharing experiences, observing practices, and exploring relevant references and field experiences that could inspire learning approaches.

From 20 to 22 July 2026, the teachers participated in a refreshment workshop to strengthen a shared understanding, explore climate trends in the Special Region of Yogyakarta with the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency (BMKG), and develop strategies for integrating KIPHA issues into the curriculum.

The learning process did not stop in the classroom. From 21 to 22 August 2026, the teachers continued their learning through a field visit to Timbulsloko Hamlet, Sayung Subdistrict, Demak Regency. In this coastal community, they directly observed how residents’ living spaces have continued to shrink due to land subsidence, mangrove loss, and rising sea levels.

Direct encounters with communities experiencing the impacts of the climate crisis provided a strong qualitative learning experience. They showed that climate change is no longer an abstract concept on paper, but a real threat to the future of the spaces where children live, learn, and grow.

Towards a Contextual and Sustainable Curriculum

To ensure that the knowledge and experiences gained from the field did not remain merely as personal reflections, Yayasan SHEEP Indonesia supported schools in integrating climate justice into their learning processes and school activities.

This process continued through the Workshop on Finalizing Integrated Learning Plans on Climate Justice for Children’s Rights Protection, held on Wednesday, 23 September 2026, at Grand Kangen Hotel, Yogyakarta. The workshop was attended by 30 participants, consisting of teachers and school principals from the partner schools.

During the workshop, each school presented its learning project based on eight required components:

1. Learning integration setting, including subjects, student profile strengthening projects, co-curricular activities, or school routines.

2. Theme and topic of the integrated learning.

3. Target students, including grade level and estimated number of students.

4. Teacher responsible for implementation.

5. Implementation schedule and duration.

6. Success indicators and assessment methods.

7. Opportunities for active child participation.

8. Support required from the KIPHA Program.

With the active involvement of school principals and teacher representatives from each institution, the workshop resulted in concrete plans to integrate climate justice into learning and school activities. Climate justice values can now be incorporated systematically, realistically, and contextually into everyday school activities without creating excessive administrative burdens.

Each school also developed indicators for different stages of the curriculum, school projects, and learning activities. The process resulted in 12 climate justice integration plans within school curricula and children’s learning activities. In addition, a children’s learning module was developed as a shared reference to support implementation.

When schools are able to connect environmental awareness with an understanding of climate injustice in their surrounding communities, they can help children develop critical thinking and apply what they learn to everyday life. This awareness and sensitivity can then become part of the learning process.

It is within these learning spaces that the seeds of climate justice begin to grow, preparing a generation of young people in Yogyakarta who are not only academically capable, but also resilient, critical, and committed to protecting the future of the planet they call home.