News and Events
First climate education lead
Appointing our first ever global director for climate education is another step forward in delivering on our commitment to sustainability. Christine Özden is dedicated to how we use education and engagement to achieve impact through our complete range of products, services and partnerships. She will work with colleagues across the organisation, the University of Cambridge and a wide range of education stakeholders.
We have appointed our first ever global director for climate education. Christine Özden is dedicated to how we use education and engagement to achieve impact through our range of products, services and partnerships, working with colleagues across Cambridge University Press & Assessment, the University of Cambridge and a wide range of education stakeholders around the world.
It is another step forward in delivering on our commitment to sustainability. Alongside reducing our environmental impact, we see education as the opportunity to support thinking and inform action around some of the world’s most pressing challenges, including climate change.
On her new role, Christine, said: “The climate emergency is one of the most important global issues of our time: we have a responsibility and the capability to be part of the solution.”
Christine took up the new global director, climate education role in September 2022 after almost four years as our chief executive of Cambridge Assessment International Education, successfully leading our team through its biggest ever exam series in 2022. She is a long-standing member of our environment governance board and also sponsors our colleague-run environment staff network.
As the largest global provider of international education programmes for 5-19 year olds (Cambridge International) and owner of the world’s leading English language online platform (Cambridge One, 50 million online sessions in 2021-22), we recognise our opportunity to spread knowledge, spark curiosity and aid understanding around the world.
Earlier this year, our UK exam board saw success in its campaign – alongside environmentalists and cross-party support from politicians – for a new GCSE in Natural History, the first new qualification of its type in a decade. A new Cambridge National in Sustainable Business and Communities is also being developed, helping transform options for vocational and technical students in England.
World-leading climate change policy and science is published through our books, journals and Elements, including articles and chapters that are open access. Our publishing includes the latest special reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), market-leading university-level textbooks such as Introduction to Modern Climate Change alongside popular science titles such as There is No Planet B by Mike Berners-Lee and practical guides such as the award winning Teaching in Challenging Circumstances by Chris Sowton. To encourage climate action, the Cambridge University Press climate collection includes free to access content.
Christine, continues: “I'm looking forward to working with schools, teachers, researchers, governments and learners around the world; to develop the knowledge, skills, understanding and attitudes with which we can confidently address the different climate change challenges that face our communities, prepare people with new skills for work and to build a more sustainable world.”
Christine has a wealth of experience in international education, having spent all her career in the sector, providing products and services to schools, universities and ministries of education, with a particular focus on publishing and assessment in international education. She has worked in different educational contexts in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, and lived in Vietnam, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and the UK. Christine has an MA in Classical Arabic and Turkish from the University of Edinburgh and a Masters in Business Administration from Warwick University.
Cambridge University Press & Assessment has made a series of public commitments to sustainability, including our participation in the UN Global Compact and as a signatory of the UK Publishing Association’s sustainability pledge Publishing Declares. We have earned recognition for our environmental performance of our UK operations which are certified to the international best practice standard ISO14001 and were shortlisted three years in a row for the UK Independent Publishers Guild’s annual sustainability award, winning twice.
