This paper uses Gramsci's concept of "interregnum" alongside contemporary research on Britain's former coalfields to critically consider the 'condition' of coalfield communities 40 years after the Great Strike of 1984-85 and the rapid demise of the coal industry thereafter. It focuses particularly on the former central coalfield, once…

This paper draws on an oral history project which focuses on former coalminers' experiences of education and training. It presents the stories of five participants, all of whom undertook significant programmes of post-compulsory education during or immediately after leaving the coal industry and achieved a degree of social mobility over the course…

Place-based education (PBE) will be explored while weaving in my own experiences with place growing up in West Virginia surrounded by the coal industry. PBE is a teaching method that provides meaningful instruction for students by transforming their community or place into their classroom. PBE can teach students how to truly inhabit their places…

This case study research examines informal adult learning in the Lock the Gate Alliance, a campaign against mining for coal seam gas in Central Gippsland, Australia. In the field of the campaign, circumstantial activists learn to think critically about the environment, they learn informally and incidentally, through socialization with experienced…

From a tradition of fieldwork-based teaching in geography, we consider the intersections of fieldwork sites and their social and spatial relationships for implications for non-placement work integrated learning (NPWIL). As the skills agenda gathers pace in universities it is critical to understand forms of NPWIL and their development. As a form of…

This paper outlines adult learning in a rural campaign to prevent mining for coal seam gas in Victoria. In central Gippsland, largely known as the food bowl in the State of Victoria in Australia, a campaign against fracking for coal seam gas has managed to gain a permanent ban on fracking. This policy change would not have been possible without…

Environmental and sustainability initiatives seek to respond to the challenges of ecological crises and ongoing environmental degradation by supporting students to develop knowledge and dispositions to respond to the challenges of and live in a climate changed world. However, these initiatives are often marginalised in curriculum and hamstrung by…

A necessary condition for a functioning democracy is the participation of its citizens, including its youth. This is particularly true for political participation in environmental decisions, because these decisions can have intergenerational consequences. In this article we examine young people's beliefs about one form of political…

This paper examines the intergenerational effects of deindustrialisation on the processes and experiences of education at 'Lillydown Primary', a state primary school in a former mining community in the north of England. Complicating Avery Gordon's notion of 'haunting', and drawing on conceptualisations of affect and community 'being-ness', it…

"An Overview of Coal and the Economy in Appalachia," a report commissioned by the Appalachian Regional Commission, details major trends in coal employment and production in the Appalachian Region over the past two decades. The report examines where employment and production losses have been concentrated within the Region, and also what…

Hydraulic fracturing is a major process for oil and natural gas production in the United States, and sand mines in Western Wisconsin provide highly desirable sand for the fracturing industry. After being mined, sand is wet-sieved to isolate economical-size fractions. Polyacrylamide is used as a flocculant to settle out the fine particles,…

This is the first of two reports exploring the relationship between coal activity and funding for elementary and secondary education in the Appalachian Region. In this first report, patterns in funding for elementary and secondary education are explored using annual data from 1995 to 2016. Counties that had some level of coal employment over this…

This report is the second of two reports exploring the relationship between coal activity and funding for elementary and secondary education. The first report provided a descriptive analysis while this report examines the impact of changes in coal employment or production on local revenues for education using an econometric analysis. Coal…

This study explores the integration of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) within the Projek Penguatan Profil "Pelajar Pancasila" (P5) under "Kurikulum Merdeka," involving 54 early childhood educators from 21 early childhood education centers in a coal-mining region of South Kalimantan, Indonesia. Following a 20-day,…

The use of hydraulic fracturing ('fracking') to extract oil or gas from shales is a subject of controversy. There are many scientific questions about the risks associated with the technique, and much research remains to be done. ReFINE (Researching Fracking In Europe) is a research consortium led by Newcastle University and Durham University in…