Many schools want to teach environmental conservation and digital skills, but struggle to move beyond theory due to limited resources, low connectivity, and insufficient teacher support. At the same time, children are often taught coding as an abstract skill, disconnected from real-world challenges.
We created this innovation to bridge these gaps by combining creative coding, environmental learning, and teacher professional development. Using Scratch, children explore issues such as waste management, biodiversity loss, and sustainability through projects they design themselves. Teachers are supported through blended CPD to integrate coding and environmental themes into everyday classroom practice.
The innovation responds to the need for locally grounded, low-cost, and scalable approaches that build foundational digital literacy while nurturing environmental stewardship—especially in low-resource school contexts.
In practice, the innovation operates through a blended classroom and teacher learning model supported by a Moodle Branded Mobile App (BMA) designed for low-connectivity contexts.
Teachers engage in continuous professional development through the Moodle app, where they access short courses, lesson ideas, and facilitation guides—with offline access to ensure continuity in schools with limited or unreliable internet. Teachers then design and facilitate Scratch-based, project-driven lessons in their classrooms.
Learners work individually or in groups to create animations and simple games addressing local environmental issues such as waste management, pollution, biodiversity loss, and recycling. Teachers guide inquiry, scaffold coding tasks, and support reflection on environmental action.
Ongoing teacher support is strengthened through Communities of Practice hosted on WhatsApp, where teachers share learner work, troubleshoot challenges, exchange ideas, and reflect on classroom practice in real time.
The innovation is currently being implemented in 15 public primary schools, reaching over 165 (35 teachers attended workshops, and each of them is supporting 5 teachers in their respective schools) teachers and approximately 2,500 learners through school-based partnerships and an ongoing Solutions Challenge that supports teachers to apply what they learn directly in their classrooms.
This work builds on the Equitable Creative Coding Resource (ECCR) initiative(2024-2025), through which teachers were previously supported to integrate Scratch-based coding into classroom practice. The current innovation extends ECCR by explicitly embedding environmental conservation and planetary health themes into creative coding projects.
The approach spreads through:
Structured teacher professional development cohorts delivered via blended and offline-friendly models
Peer learning and Communities of Practice, where teachers share lesson designs, learner projects, and classroom reflections
School-level demonstrations and learner showcases, making practice visible within and across schools
Partnerships with education and conservation organisations, including support from the National Geographic Society
Schools adapt the approach to their local environmental context—such as waste management, biodiversity, or pollution—while maintaining a shared, project-based structure grounded in creative coding and teacher-led facilitation.
Over time, the innovation has shifted from stand-alone training to a practice-based CPD model anchored in classroom implementation. We introduced the Moodle Branded Mobile App to address connectivity barriers, enabling teachers to download learning materials and continue professional learning offline.
We also formalised Communities of Practice via WhatsApp, recognising peer support as critical for sustained teacher engagement. More recently, we strengthened links between creative coding and place-based environmental learning, including optional integration with the Home River BioBlitz by EduTab Africa (https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/projects/home-river-bioblitz-by-edutab-africa), allowing learners to translate real-world environmental observations into Scratch projects.
Select 2–5 teachers who teach upper primary or foundational digital skills and are willing to try project-based learning. No prior coding experience is required.
Enroll the teachers on existing open source content (there are multiple organizations offering this), where they download short CPD modules, sample Scratch projects, and facilitation guides. Content can be accessed offline once downloaded.
Run a first classroom project (2–3 weeks):
Teachers guide learners to create a simple Scratch animation or game focused on a local issue such as waste management, pollution, or tree protection.
Join the WhatsApp Community of Practice:
Teachers share screenshots or short videos of learner projects, ask questions, and receive peer and facilitator support during implementation.
Participate in the Solutions Challenge:
Schools submit selected learner projects and brief teacher reflections, using a shared structure that encourages iteration, feedback, and improvement.
Extend beyond the classroom (optional):
Schools can link projects to real-world observation through the Home River BioBlitz, where learners document local biodiversity or environmental conditions and translate their findings into Scratch projects.
