Campuses for Climate Action

K-12 Public, Private, and Independent Schools

Like the college/university sector, K-12 schools across the country are starting to respond to our mounting environmental and sustainability challenges.  K-12 schools have teaching, administrative, sports, dining, and sometimes residential facilities to power, heat and cool. They are also learning laboratories in which our next generation of leaders and innovators are nurtured. And they have a role to play in climate leadership!

The five-step framework outlined in CA-CP's Campus Climate Action Toolkit offers a roadmap for action at your institution. It includes our campus Campus Carbon Calculator, which allows you to measure the global warming "footprint" of your school.

Contact Jennifer Andrews to learn more about how CA-CP can help you make your school more climate-friendly.

Getting Involved

The Green Cup Challenge: Students at Phillips Exeter Academy, Northfield Mt. Hermon and the Lawrenceville School competed for a month to see who could cut energy use - and by extension, greenhouse gas emissions - the most. To learn about their very successful efforts, go to http://greencup.nmhschool.org/results.php.

Cool It Challenge: This competition for Connecticut middle and high-schoolers challenges student teams to come up with global warming solutions for their schools: www.coolitchallenge.org.

The Campus Climate Challenge: website

Sierra Youth Coalition: This Canadian youth organization works with students across Canada. And they've published an amazing guide to the intricacies of greenhouse gas reduction projects: Greenhouse Gas Reduction Planning Guide.

Resources

Sustainability on Campuses

The Jordan Institute

The Jordan Institute studies the effects of “high performance” schools on the academic performance of students. They offer resources and support for schools moving towards sustainability. www.nhphps.org or www.thejordaninstitute.org

Second Nature

Second Nature offers practical and strategic advice and services aimed at the implementation of sustainability on campus. www.secondnature.org

Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education

AASHE works to advance sustainability in colleges and universities in the US and Canada.   Of particular interest is their 2005 Digest, highlighting sustainability efforts in schools around the country. This website is a wealth of information. www.aashe.org

University Leaders for a Sustainable Future

The Association of University Leaders for a Sustainable Future (ULSF) strengthens the capacity of campuses to make sustainability and environmental literacy a major focus of teaching, research, service, and operations.  ULSF is the secretariat for signatories of the Talloires Declaration (1990). www.ulsf.org/

New Jersey Higher Education Partnership for Sustainability

The Campus Sustainability Selected Indicators Snapshot provides an alternative assessment tool for campuses. The partnership strives to transform education by providing a way to consistently practice sustainability, and effectively contribute to the world's emerging understanding of sustainability, through teaching, research, outreach, operations and community life. http://www.njheps.org/assessment/guide.htm

Campus Sustainability Assessment Project 

Addresses "gaps" among available resources for higher education campuses evaluating their social and environmental performance by providing an assortment of resources.  The resources include a database of 1,200 campus sustainability assessments (CSAs), a best practice evaluation, a guide to conducting CSAs, a searchable literature database, and more. http://csap.envs.wmich.edu/index.html

The Sustainability Assessment Questionnaire

This is a qualitative questionnaire designed to help assess the extent to which your college or university is sustainable. It aims to: raise consciousness and encourage debate about what sustainability means for higher education, practically and philosophically; give a snapshot of the state of sustainability on your campus; and to promote discussion on next steps for your institution. http://www.ulsf.org/programs_saq.html

Environment-based Education

National Environmental Education and Training Foundation

NEETF is a private non-profit organization dedicated to advancing environmental education in its many forms.  Resources for environment-based education and curricula are available under the “Publications” section. www.neetf.org

The Center for Environmental Education

CEE online covers a range of topics within the field of environmental education. “Green school” profiles, resources and teaching tools are found in the section entitled “Educating for Sustainability.” The site also offers a curriculum library for grades  K-12 that covers a wide range of environmental topics, including climate change. www.ceeonline.org

The Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education

An organization dedicated to providing products and services to educators teaching sustainability to K-12 schools.  From their website: “Inspiring young people to think about the world, their relationship to it, and their ability to influence it in an entirely new way.” www.sustainabilityed.org

Sustainable Oregon Schools Initiative

Read about Oregon’s Sustainable Oregon Schools (SOS) initiative to move Oregon’s K-12 school districts and their schools toward sustainability.  The goal of this program is to prepare the next generation to curtail and even reverse current unsustainable trends, like global climate change. www.zerowaste.org/schools

Creative Change Educational Solutions

Creative Change Educational Solutions (CCES) operates as a non-profit organization supplying curricula and professional development for sustainability education for K-12 teachers. www.creativechange.net

BOOKS

Sustainability on Campus

By Peggy F. Bartlett and Geoffrey W. Chase. 2004. ISBN: 0262524228

Sustainability on Campus is a series of case studies exploring the challenges and successes of implementing sustainable practices.   Penn State, Oberlin College, Stanford, and Middlebury College are among the institutions highlighted with subjects covering curriculum, student education, group decision-making and moving from ideas to action. The authors offer commentary interspersed by valuable information.

Greening the Ivory Tower: Improving the Environmental Track Record of Universities, Colleges, and Other Institutions

by Sarah Hammond Creighton. 1998. ISBN: 0262531518

This book highlights sustainability programs executed at Tufts University.  It summarizes lessons learned through the process and offers tips for starting sustainability initiatives at any school.