Whole School Approach (WSA) provides a framework for re-orienting and redesigning education considering emerging global sustainability challenges4. It invites a holistic, systemic, co-creative and reflexive effort by all stakeholders involved in education to meaningfully engage students in complex sustainability challenges.
Read MoreGwinnett Students Vigilance Keeps Lots Of Food Out Of Trash Can by Arlinda Smith Broady
Gwinnett County schools were participants in a nationwide initiative on food waste and its impact on the planet. Students’ findings have led to changes that mean a lot less food ends up in the garbage.
At Mason Elementary, one of 13 Gwinnett schools in the Food Waste Warriors Project the 3rd grade class took on the task of determining how much food is wasted, why it’s wasted and finding ways to turn those numbers around. The students succeeded in reducing food waste by 53% over 12 weeks.
Read MoreCelebrating Big Ideas
EfS Benchmarks for Individual and Social Learning
Big Ideas are also known as “Enduring Understandings”. They operate at the level of principles that are transferable. They describe the concepts that students will understand, and that will have lasting value in the real world over time.
The EfS Benchmarks for Individual and Social Learning recognizes the processes that include a whole system of dynamic and interconnected elements considered essential to educating for a sustainable future. The Big Ideas collectively frame the other essential elements of EfS and distinguish EfS from other fields of study.
Read MoreUsing Online Curriculum Mapping tools, a procedure for documenting, mapping, viewing, reviewing, analyzing and evolving the operational curriculum in a classroom, school and/or district [a departure from the old paper binder days] was introduced in the mid 1990’s by Heidi Hayes Jacobs. Several companies have created mapping software and google drive is home for the curriculum maps of many schools. The benefits of curriculum mapping include increased student achievement, optimized collaboration among teachers, vertical articulation and continuity of curriculum, lateral interdisciplinary cohesiveness, and an innovative, flexible approach to teaching and learning.
Read MoreWe educators are responsible for preparing young people with the knowledge, skills and habits of mind that will build their capability to thrive over time. It is our role to understand and facilitate learning that equips us all to navigate the unique challenges that define our era — reversing global warming and adapting to climate change; regenerating the integrity of ecosystems; achieving social justice; developing sustainable, just and humane food systems; revitalizing the health of our oceans; improving the well-being of people; protecting biodiversity; and accelerating the shift toward a green economy and clean, renewable energy.
Read MoreWith support from GreenFutures, a program of the School District of Philadelphia (SDP), the Fairmount Water Works, the educational outreach arm of the Philadelphia Water Department, the Cloud Institute and a cohort of elementary faculty from the SDP developed and piloted two new Units of Study for the 4th and 5th grades to expand FWW’s 6-UNIT Middle School Curriculum (grades 6-8 ) Understanding the Urban Watershed Curriculum. These 4th Grade and 5th Grade Units provide an opportunity for upper elementary school teachers to connect their students to the community and to the environment outside of their classroom, and to one of the most fundamental elements of all living things-water. Together, teachers and students explore their role and responsibility to individually and collectively protect and sustain this shared resource for today, for tomorrow and for future generations.
Read MoreCheck out the Climate Change Education Resource Guide for Schools produced by the team at the Center for Sustainability and Climate Education at the Dutchess County BOCES. Find ideas, resources and activities to start the conversation about our climate and the actions that we, our students and colleagues can take as global citizens.
Read MoreWe don’t know too many schools and districts that are teaching about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Sustainable Development Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked global goals designed to be a "blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all". The SDGs were set up in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly and are intended to be achieved by the year 2030.
Read MoreLiving and Breathing Education for Sustainability - Sequoia Group Singapore EfS Podcast. In this podcast Jaimie discusses creating awareness, fostering commitment and guiding actions towards a healthy, secure and sustainable future.
Read MoreJaimie Cloud, of the Cloud Institute for Sustainable Education and Jenny Schinella of Dutchess BOCES join the Green Radio Hour with Jon Bowermaster to talk about just how important it is today to introduce 'sustainability' into every crevice of our education system. Click here to listen to the radio show
Read MoreThis is a great webinar that was hosted by the Center for Universal Education and Education International to discuss the path forward for education and climate action, and the recent Brookings policy brief “Unleashing the creativity of teachers and students to combat climate change: An opportunity for global leadership.”
Read MoreThanks to all of you who supported the upgrade of The Fish Game Online and to the team at Funatomic - educational game developers extraordinaire. The new Fish Game is now live! There are many new features to play with, including the ability to choose the number of fisher folk with whom you are fishing in each game; the ability to announce your intentions or not, and the ability to do or not do what you promised. You’ll see that everything you do and don’t do makes a difference. Let us know what you think!!!
Read MoreClient Spotlight
We are excited to announce The Cloud Institute’s new long term collaboration and partnership with the Sustainability Institute at Sequoia Group in Singapore. “We have been planning this for eleven years” said Jaqueline Wong, Executive Director of Sequoia Group and Co-Director of the Sustainability Institute, about our new work together. “The conditions are finally favorable in Singapore for this to happen.” The Singapore Green Plan 2030 has launched and takes Education and Schools seriously as leverage points for sustainability.
The EfS Reservoir is a multi-media repository of exemplars aligned to the EfS Benchmarks. The exemplars include quality curriculum units, courses, assessments, performance criteria, student work samples and eventually stories, interviews, discussions, images, narration and film that will illustrate the contexts and the impact of this work in schools and communities. Register for free to access the collection.
Read MoreLessons in Ocean Stewardship, Sustainability, and Responsible Consumer Habits
Washed Ashore Artwork features giant sea life sculptures made entirely of marine debris collected from beaches to graphically illustrate the tragedy of plastic pollution in our ocean and waterways.
Since 2010, thousands of volunteers have worked together with the non-profit organization Washed Ashore under the guidance of Founder and Artistic Director Angela Haseltine Pozzi to create these powerful art pieces.
Read MoreWhat do Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) and Educating for Sustainability (EfS) have to do with one another?
Where are the “twofers”—the power standards that are rich enough to do both? What does it look like to deliver instruction that honors DEI and also prepares students to participate in, and lead with us, the shift toward a sustainable future? In this webinar, we explored these and other questions about the intersection of EfS and DEI and discussed unit exemplars that honor both.
Twenty-five years of engaging educators and inspiring young people to think about the world, their relationship to it, and their ability to influence it in an entirely new way. In our opinion, there is nothing more important than learning and working together for the future we want. We believe that a healthy and sustainable future is possible.
Thank you to all who have participated in, and contributed to, this important work. Here’s to the next 25!
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