I spent 3 days in Belgium a couple of weeks ago at the start of the EMO-GI project, with partners from two German universities, Romania, Belgium, Austria, the UK and Spain.
We have our new logo, and the website forwarding has also been set up, although our website will need to be updated before that will show the project area.
Here's our team photo.
This is ERASMUS+ funded, and will involve us in a lot of work over the next three years.
We had a lot of work to do in the opening meeting to identify some key questions and areas that we needed to prioritise, as well as plan the key meetings where we would explore the outputs. These will be a model of socio-emotional learning for climate change and mental health.
We will also be developing resources based on the idea of critical thinking about AI use when it comes to how young people may rely on ChatGPT and other chatbots as 'friends' or 'coaches' when it comes to navigating the world, and the threats that poses if the AI is not appropriately trained in the areas they are asking it questions about.
I used a small presentation to outline some of the key areas that we will be exploring. It can be found on Scribd on the link above, or viewed below:
It's worth reading Kit Marie Rackley's thoughts in this area as well in this blog post on the importance of exploring these themes when there is such an emotional response.
Kit has long talked about climate change as being a safeguarding issue.
Kit references three significant reports that have emerged in recent weeks in her blog post:
- A national security assessment formally identifying biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse as risks to UK security and prosperity (quietly released on 20 January 2026).
- The first sector‑wide statistical analysis of carbon emissions from schools in England, using real operational data rather than estimates.
- The latest Children’s People and Nature Survey from Natural England, offering population‑level insight into how children experience, value, and access nature
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