The preparedness of schools in responding to emerging climate change impacts and risks in Bhutan

Climate change events are becoming more frequent and severe, threatening children’s lives, learning, and education in numerous ways. How school communities in Bhutan are dealing with issues related to climate change is largely uncharted. This study examined how Bhutanese schools have been affected by changing climate and how they were responding to it. The data sources included interviews with school principals, teachers, and District Education Officers, as well as observations, and document analysis. Bourdieu’s field analysis, along with the global Comprehensive School Safety Framework (CSSF) framed the results of this study. Findings included that schools experienced multiple climate impacts and shocks affecting their children’s health, education, and the school system itself. Adaptation and mitigation measures including climate change education have yet to gain traction at the sector and school’s level. Schools, however, have attempted some actions such as through disaster management, and participatory environmental conservation and green school initiatives. Social capital was critical in filling the resource gap for initiating environmental and climate change actions, carried out through collective school, community, and student-based activities. Human capacities, policy and institutional structures, technical capacities, and capital (cultural & economic) constraints as well as slow mainstreaming into local development processes impeded efforts to build climate-resilient schools, including practices to contribute to greenhouse gases reduction. This study not only sheds light on how climate change was affecting schools and children but also provided strong evidence for policymakers and relevant agencies to scale up interventions to enhance adaptation and mitigation practices.