Webinar: Is the Future of Jobs Threatened by Heat and Climate Change?

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Teaching Difficult Subjects webinar series 2026

This webinar series will feature live Zoom interpretation in French

The Pulitzer Center’s Africa Education Program has launched "Teaching Difficult Subjects," a webinar series that brings educators from across the continent together to explore practical ways of teaching complex, sensitive, and sometimes challenging topics in the classroom.

Building on conversations around subjects such as corruption, the series creates space for educators to exchange experiences, consider different perspectives, and identify approaches that encourage critical thinking and informed discussion among students. We invite teachers from Africa to join us as we explore the intersections between journalism, classroom learning, and education.

Webinar: Is the Future of Jobs Threatened by Heat and Climate Change?

Extreme heat and other climate-related pressures can affect how people work, the conditions under which they earn a living, and the kinds of skills and protections workers may need. These questions are particularly important for people whose livelihoods depend on outdoor work or informal employment, including market vendors, street traders, construction workers, transport operators, and agricultural workers.

The proposed webinar will explore a question with growing relevance to young people, educators, workers, and communities across Africa: Is the future of jobs threatened by heat and climate change?

To ground the discussion in journalism, the webinar will draw on Red Alert, a solutions-focused, five-part reporting series supported by Pulitzer Center. Journalist Leonie Joubert in these reports examines extreme heat and the world of informal work in South Africa. The series offers an opportunity to explore how journalism can help educators connect environmental reporting with students’ everyday experiences, economic questions, and possible responses to climate-related challenges.

By bringing the journalist together with university educators and classroom teachers from across Africa, participants can examine the topic from different perspectives and consider how it can be taught across educational levels and national contexts.

Speakers: 

• Leonie Joubert: Journalist and author of Red Alert  
• Professor Olufemi Saibu: University of Lagos, Nigeria.  
• Professor Kennedy Kihangi: Vice Rector, Université Libre des Pays des Grands Lacs (ULPGL), DRC. 
• Patrick Ojara: High school teacher, Uganda. 
• Nganno Oumba Françoise: Primary school teacher, Cameroon 
• Dr Afua Amponsah (Moderator): coordinator of research and environmental protection programs for Perron Ghana

This webinar will:

• Explore how extreme heat affects people’s ability to work, earn an income, and safety
• Discuss which workers and livelihoods may be especially exposed to heat and climate-related risks, and why
• Examine how climate change may influence future prospects and job markets
• Explore climate challenges as well as solutions reported as part of the Red Alert series 
• Examine how teachers can help students investigate the connections between climate, employment, public health, inequality, and economic opportunity
• Explore how this topic can be adapted for primary school, secondary school, and university-level learning

Don’t miss out! Join our webinar series Teaching Difficult Subjects, where you get to hear from journalists, experts, and local voices as we explore innovative solutions and contribute to the conversation.