SMCOE Environmental Literacy and Sustainability Initiative

Climate Impact and Adaptation Resources

What is climate adaptation, and why do schools need a "climate ready" mindset?

In addition to the already existing challenges related to ecological overshoot, the evidence clearly shows that climate change, once considered a problem for future generations, is actually affecting humans globally and locally today. These impacts are a direct result of human enhanced global warming, which has accelerated since 1880, and in recent years has led to record-breaking heat waves, storms, flooding, sea level rise, wildfires, and drought. These events have proven to be extremely disruptive to the daily operations of schools and student learning. In this era of the climate crisis, it is critical that schools adopt both a sustainable AND climate ready mindset in order to ensure that students and school staff are protected, and that schools are able to fulfill their mission and responsibilities.

This page provides resources for school leaders and stakeholders to navigate building a shared understanding of how the impacts of climate change affect schools and advancing efforts to prepare schools to adapt to climate change.

Climate Ready Impacts Simulation for Students and School Leaders

Climate Ready Impacts Simulation: This simulation activity has been developed in partnership with the San Mateo County Office of Education's Environmental Literacy and Sustainability Initiative (ELSI), and the San Joaquin COE Environmental Department and Teachers College. It highlights the school years between 2025 and 2055 with a focus on the different climate change impacts in each round: 2025, 2035, 2045, 2055.

In each round participants will receive a “global narrative” which provides information on big picture trends for population, and projections about agriculture, human migration, and species extinction. Participants will also receive local climate data cards that capture data on four indicators: heat, wildfires, precipitation, and sea level rise.
Stakeholder Reflection Roles: Individuals will be representing a stakeholder in each round, and should consider the data and reflections through the eyes of that stakeholder.

Support materials for the simulation are below:

- - Facilitator Slide Decks: Adult Version and Youth Version

Please Note: These resources are still in draft mode, please make a copy and adapt for your own context.

Climate Impact Focus Areas for San Mateo County Communities and Schools

Climate Impact Focus Areas Overview and Analysis: This document supports educational leaders, school safety officers, and those involved in emergency planning for San Mateo County TK-12 Schools with data and strategies for preparing their school community to be climate resilient. The document includes both the imperative overview for how the climate crisis impacts K-12 schools, as well as an analysis of the climate impact focus areas - for example: Sea Level Rise, High Heat, Storm-based flooding, Wildfires, etc. Each focus area included in the document includes the following analysis: definitions, considerations for disruption to schools, data projections for San Mateo County, and adaptation strategy ideas.

Climate Ready Technology Overviews for San Mateo County Communities and Schools

These resources have been developed to help school leaders understand emerging technologies that support climate ready school campuses:

Local Hazard and Mitigation Plans

A Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP) assesses infrastructure vulnerabilities and identifies specific mitigation actions that organizations can implement in order to reduce the level of injury, property damage, and community disruption that is caused by environmental events.

In 2021, San Mateo County developed the 2021 Multi-jurisdictional Local Hazard Mitigation Plan, which was a large regional and cross-jurisdictional effort to plan for the reduction of risk from natural and man-made disasters. Within this plan San Mateo County schools are identified as Critical Facilities, which enable the continuous operation of critical business, government functions, and are critical to human health and safety within communities. SMCOE is also included as a fully annexed partner in this plan.

SMCOE has established emergency guidelines, as well as recent efforts to develop more school-specific climate action plans. For more location-specific information about the predicted effects of climate change, explore the Cal-Adapt tool to conduct research and develop your own climate action plan.

Key aspects of an action plan include developing a school that promotes environmental literacy and helps prepare school leaders to implement a sustainability plan and a climate-ready mindset across a school, community, curriculum, and culture.

San Mateo County Climate Action Plans

While climate adaptation is about responding to the effects of climate change, it is important to note that the more humans invest in sustainability and climate mitigation solutions the less they will have to do to invest in climate adaptations.

A climate action plan is a detailed and strategic framework for measuring, planning, and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and related climatic impacts. Climate action plans, at a minimum, include an inventory of existing emissions, reduction goals or targets, and analyzed and prioritized reduction actions, and implementation strategies. To learn more about climate action plans in San Mateo County visit:

Efforts Beyond San Mateo County

Nationwide, other significant plans have been recently released, including:

In 2021 The U.S. Department of Education’s published its first Climate Adaptation Plan, a framework for integrating climate adaptation and mitigation into school operations and facilities.
In March 2022 The White House released a toolkit to help schools and school districts identify and access available funding, as well as technical assistance opportunities and planning tools to help schools improve air quality, energy efficiency, and more. This Toolkit pairs with the federally funded Action Plan for Building Back Better School Infrastructure which activates funding programs in Energy, Indoor Air Quality, and Transportation. Schools should stay up to date with Federal funding programs as they will continue to have rolling application filling periods.

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