“The planetary emergency unfolding around us is, first and foremost a crisis of thought, values, perception, ideas and judgment. In other words, it is a crisis of mind, which makes it a crisis of those institutions which purport to improve minds.”
– David Orr, Professor of Environmental Studies, Oberlin College
This website is meant to be a useful tool for sustainability changemakers in education to drive sustainable and climate transformation across their school communities, and create a paradigm shift across K-12 education. The sites provide educators and community based partners with the “educators case for sustainability,” which includes the imperative for sustainability and climate resiliency in education, foundational frameworks and philosophies, and a plethora of whole school resources (campus, curriculum, and community/culture) for getting started.
SUSTAINABILITY IMPERATIVE FOR EDUCATORS
Great for Administrators, Teachers, Parent Advocates, Community Partners, and Youth LeadersThis part of the site lays out the case for why K-12 schools have the opportunity to serve as a catalyst for accelerating transformative change within school communities, minimizing ongoing disruptions to learning from climate-related disasters, and providing equitable access to safe and healthy spaces for children, youth, and adults to learn and play.
This part of the site provides an overview to the vision and philosophies that guide Sustainable and Climate Resilient Schools practices, as well as an overview to the 4Cs Whole School Sustainability and Climate Resiliency Framework, which describes how to operationalize these practices across a schools campus, curriculum, community and culture.
CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION RESOURCES
Great for Administrators,Teachers, and community partners that are Environmental Education ProvidersThis part of the site provides a ton of resources for integrating environmental sustainability education (ESE) - a.k.a. environmental literacy - into curriculum and instruction. Included is a curriculum integration framework, Solutionary Teaching and Learning resources, and a significant amount of supplemental resources for environmental justice, case studies, field research, and much more! There is also a special page dedicated to climate literacy.
CAMPUS (GREEN FACILITIES AND OPERATIONS) RESOURCES
Great for Administrators,Teachers, Parent Advocates, Student Leaders, and Community Based PartnersThis part of the site provides access to resources for greening a school community's facilities and operational practices (i.e. reducing ecological footprint and GHG emissions). This section also has resources on how to leverage these campus changes as a laboratory for student learning.
COMMUNITY AND CULTURE RESOURCES
Great for Administrators, Teachers, Parent Advocates, Community Partners, and Youth LeadersThis part of the site provides access resources that support engaging the entire community in a shift towards a sustainable future. Resource examples include: board resolutions, climate movement, student engagement for civic and collective action, sustainability aligned networks and organizations, and resources for awards and recognition etc.
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AND CLIMATE MITIGATION FOCUS AREA TOOLKIT
Great for all changemakers to lead environmental and climate action initiatives!This part of the site provides access to resources for different environmental and climate action focus areas (i.e. energy, waste, water, food, land-based ecosystems, etc.). Each focus area page has: Goals and Strategies, Project Management and Curriculum Resources, and Solutionary Examples.
The lead content developer for this site is Andra Yeghoian, MBA. Andra has over 15 years of experience in education across public and private school systems, nationally and internationally, and has served in a variety of roles, including: Chief Innovation Officer (Ten Strands), Environmental Literacy and Sustainability Coordinator (San Mateo County Office of Education), Director of Sustainability, (Bishop O'Dowd High School), Secondary Humanities Teacher, Project Manager, Professional Development Facilitator, Adjunct Faculty, and Organizational Consultant. She holds a B.A. in International Relations and a Teaching Credential from UC Davis, and an MBA in Sustainable Systems from Presidio Graduate School (formerly Bainbridge Graduate Institute). Additionally, Andra has supported school sites, districts, and county offices in achieving honors such as U.S. Department of Education and California Green Ribbon Award, Bay Area Green Business Certification, and LEED Platinum Certification for New Buildings.
Disclaimer: The content, views, information, or opinions expressed on this site and in these resources are solely those of the individuals involved in developing the resources. They do not necessarily represent the current or past employers of those individuals.