Free ecology education resources developed at St Mary’s University are being re-released for Laudato Si’ Week after supporting schools and organisations across the world.
A 2022 survey found that 67% of Catholic secondary students had never heard of Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’s landmark encyclical on ecology. In response, the Laudato Si’ Champions project at St Mary’s University, Twickenham was developed to help young people engage with Catholic teaching on sustainability and care for our common home.
Originally piloted with 225 students in the Diocese of Salford, the project has since expanded internationally. Over the last year, the free educational resources have been downloaded by almost 300 organisations across 37 countries and every continent.
For Laudato Si’ Week (17–24 May), St Mary’s University is re-releasing the free Laudato Si’ Champions toolkit for schools, colleges, parishes, and youth groups.
The toolkit includes ready-to-use materials for six sessions on Catholicism and ecology, including presentations, worksheets, teacher guidance, student workbooks, key term sheets, and certificates.
Designed specifically for busy educators, the resources have been trialled across all school age groups in religious education classes and adapted for use in a wide range of settings worldwide - from Laudato Si’ events in Kenya, to prayer services in the United States, to catechism classes in Malaysia.
Dr Sean Whittle, Senior Lecturer in Catholic Education at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, said: “For busy teachers this toolkit is a gift because it is, in effect, an ‘off the shelf’ ready-to-use set of lesson resources.”
The project has also demonstrated strong impact among students. After engaging with the materials:
One participating student said: “I always thought because there's billions of people on earth, it's not really my problem, I'm only one person… I didn't really realise how much of a difference I would make.”
Another added: “The project gave me a lot of hope.”
The Laudato Si’ Champions project forms part of the wider Guardians of Creation Project at St Mary’s University, ensuring the materials are grounded in interdisciplinary research and developed with both pedagogical and theological expertise.
Dr Roland Daw, Research Lead for the Guardians of Creation Project, said: “This evidence-based approach to helping young people make the connection between their own agency and the environment will be instrumental in building hope and resilience around the ecological crisis.”
For educators in England and Wales, the resources align with the Religious Education Directory (RED) learning outcomes and are referenced in the Catholic Schools Inspectorate Inspection Handbook as examples of schools’ commitment to the environment and care for our common home.
The free Laudato Si’ Champions toolkit can be downloaded at: www.stmarys.ac.uk/lsc