Green Schools National Network (GSNN) are holding a webinar designed for PreK-12 educators. This interactive, 60-minute webinar highlights “best of the best” resources and curriculum that GSNN and its collaborators have curated for virtual and at-home learning.April...
‘What Does It Mean To Be A Citizen In The 21st Century? – Fostering Civic Engagement Among Youth in K-12 Schools’. “[T]he young are idealistic, have an underdeveloped sense of their own mortality, and are afflicted with an exaggerated thirst...
‘Celebrate diversity’ – This familiar phrase invites us to find joy in our uniqueness, inspiring many a workshop, T-shirt, poster, and bumper sticker. But there’s one thing diversity isn’t: a solution to educational inequities. That takes structural...
When talking about teaching environmental and sustainability literacy in schools, we mostly mean educating students to be environmentally responsible. But there is a bigger, deeper meaning here. In order for our future generations to be fluent in environmental and...
I first fell in love with biomimicry while attending a county-wide science leadership meeting in February 2017. I was there in my capacity as science department chair at Oak Park High School in California’s Oak Park Unified School District. It was toward the end of...
Across diverse contexts, I regularly meet students who are taking action to build a more sustainable future. Whether it’s first-graders designing a rain garden for their playground, middle schoolers educating adults about composting, or high school students advocating...
What is One Stone? One Stone launched in 2008 as a nonprofit supporting after school experiential service opportunities for high school students (grades 9-12) seeking deep involvement in sustainable outcomes to improve the greater Boise, Idaho community. Co-founders...
Every year an amazing group of people from across North America come together with the purpose of laying the foundation for the next strategic steps for the Green Schools National Network (GSNN). It is also a perfect time for us to break out of our day to day, deepen...
To build a more sustainable planet we need new perspectives. We need to reframe the global challenges of climate change, consumption, and waste, and develop ideas that can change the way the world functions. Design thinking is an incredible tool that anyone can use to...
This brief essay isn’t intended to reiterate the long history of design thinking as best expressed by the brilliant David Kelley, founder of IDEO and the Stanford d.school, as there are numerous resources readily available for educators. Instead, it’s meant to...
This is the second of two stories from GreenNotes part of the ‘Green Schools National Network’ – looking at some of the ways that educators are using literacy to deepen students’ understanding of sustainability and engage them in meaningful...
“Environmental and sustainability literacy is needed to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to create the future we want – one with economic opportunity for all, a fair and just society, thriving ecosystems, and healthy human and more than human...
International focus on resilience is surging as evidence mounts for a world endangered by climate change, armed conflict and terrorism, unprecedented flows of refugees, pandemics, educational and health disparities, and economic volatility. In addition, concern is...
The world is a big place, and for many of us it’s difficult to fathom how the Earth’s natural systems and cycles function on a global scale. What happens when environmental education becomes so broad it starts to become less relatable and comprehensible? Has...
As the green schools movement develops and gains notice, defining what is considered the third pillar of a green school (U.S. DOE, 2017), environmental and sustainability literacy, has gained steam in conversations at school board meetings, state departments of...
Envision a sustainable future marked by ecological integrity, shared prosperity, and social equity where individual and group choices are rooted in environmental and social responsibility (NAAEE, n.d.-a). Imagine a future where current environmental challenges –...
Educators face a daunting task—preparing the next generation with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to work toward a more sustainable way of life. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a collection of seventeen global goals set by the United Nations...
Public procurement is a complicated process. Adding an increased focus on environmentally friendly products only increases the complexity. This is something I know firsthand as Director of Custodial Services for Davis School District, located in Farmington, Utah....
Over the years, the sustainable procurement movement has helped us reduce our use of virgin material, shrink our carbon impact, and procure more goods and services from local organizations. One thing the movement hasn’t done enough of is remind us to focus on the end...
A movement cannot rely on just one person or organization to grow and create change in the world. It requires many helping hands, working together, lifting each other up. At the Green Schools National Network (GSNN), nurturing long-lasting, meaningful partnerships...