COPE Disaster Champions

COPE books: a decade of empowering the next generation

Ruth Butterfield

Senior Research Fellow, SEI Oxford Centre January 22, 2026 · 4 min read

Introduction

COPE Disaster Champions is a global initiative targeting children aged 6–12, offering free illustrated children’s books on disaster preparedness, jingles, and a digital platform to teach disaster risk reduction across a wide range of hazards, including floods, heatwaves, cyclones, and earthquakes. Available in 23 languages, including the six official UN languages, COPE collaborates with partners such as UNDRR,WMO, and UNICEF to educate and empower children worldwide.

COPE’s mission is to educate children, enabling them to respond effectively to disasters and serve as role models in their communities. Through accessible resources, COPE encourages children to act as role models in their communities, sharing knowledge and taking action during emergencies.

As COPE celebrates ten years, please see below some exciting updates regarding a new interactive learning platform, a new COPE climate change book and the launch of train the trainers material.

New interactive learning platform

COPE Disaster Champions, in collaboration with the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS), announced the launch of a new interactive learning platform hosted on SUSS UniLEARN. This was launched during a side event “Empowering Women, Children, and Indigenous Peoples through Inclusive Early Warning Systems and Climate Services” at COP30 in Brazil on November 17^th, 2025.

This innovative partnership brings the COPE Disaster Series to life through a collection of animated, interactive eBooks, featuring rich animation, music, narration, and interactive quizzes designed to captivate young readers while deepening their understanding of disaster preparedness and climate resilience.

Explore the new platform

New COPE Climate Change book

A new book on climate change was also launched in late 2025 in celebration of World Environment Day. COPE Disaster Champions proudly launched its newest educational storybook: ‘Climate Change’.

COPE books for children: Climate Change

This beautifully illustrated book is the latest in the COPE series, equipping children with knowledge and tools to understand climate science, environmental risks, and the importance of taking action.

Access book

See below for links to other books in the series.

Train-the-trainers support material

COPE has developed new “Train-the-Trainers” materials available in Spanish and English. The materials are available for floods, landslides, heatwaves, volcanoes, earthquakes, wildfires and there also is a book with suggested activities.

Application of train-the-trainers materials for Emergency Preparedness Implementation in Schools

The Train the Trainers materials in Spanish have been successfully integrated into a programme led by the Red Cross of Costa Rica. Under the leadership of Shirley Blackshaw and her dedicated team, this initiative works closely with local schools to strengthen emergency preparedness and foster community resilience. Our specially developed training resources are a component of this broader resilience effort, taking place within the biodiverse and ecologically significant Pacuare Reserve.

The Train the Trainers programme has been very successful in implementing emergency preparedness guides across 11 schools, reaching 244 children in total in Costa Rica.

Teachers and students alike have found the activity booklets highly effective. Shirley Blackshaw highlights the program’s positive community impact, noting the enthusiastic involvement not only of the children but also of their families and neighbours, strengthening local awareness and preparedness.

Example of Train the Trainers material on heatwaves

COPE 10 year Anniversary

There was a joyful gathering of familiar faces, friends, collaborators, and supporters who have all been part of COPE’s journey in November 2025. Together, they looked back at how far COPE has come, from one storybook to a global initiative reaching children in 45 countries and 23 languages.

Watch the full recording of our anniversary event and enjoy the special 10-year video capturing COPE’s story, creativity, and impact around the world.

Short video describing COPE’s story and progress:

Access the COPE Books

We thank all our incredible collaborators who have made this journey possible, including weADAPT for their support in amplifying COPE’s messages over the years.

If you would like to translate COPE books into your language, use our materials in your programmes, or collaborate with us to bring these free resources to more communities, please get in touch. We’d love to hear from you! hello@cope-disaster-champions.com

Climate Adaptation Training

Training modules and other resources on climate analysis, vulnerability assessment and adaptation planning.

Disasters and Climate Change

Generating knowledge to integrate disaster risk reduction (DRR) with equitable, sustainable and resilient development, recognizing that development and DRR are interlinked.

Youth and Intergenerational Climate Justice

This is a dedicated space showcasing and supporting young people’s climate adaptation work. The Theme features content relevant to youth and intergenerational climate justice, as well as opportunities such as courses, trainings, events, fellowships, and funding to support their efforts.

Published: January 22, 2026