Sustainability In Schools
Sustainability in Oregon’s K-12 schools
K-12 schools have been dabbling to varying degrees with issues such as resource conservation and green building design for some time now. They are only beginning to consider the larger overarching concept of sustainability. It’s imperative that they do so because it’s the best business decision, because it supports academic performance, because our children’s health must be protected and because they owe it to their students to contribute only positively to a healthy environment and global society. Sustainability encompasses everything that a school district does, both within the instructional program and business and facility operations.
Oregon’s K-12 school districts and schools play a critical role in the global sustainability effort.
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Sustainability Education: They provide the only program that reaches ALL of the state’s children on their way to becoming tomorrow’s workforce and leaders. Sustainability concepts must be integrated into all academic subjects. To learn more about Education for a Sustainable Future, click here.
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Impact of operations: They have an infrastructure large enough to support nearly 20% of Oregon’s total population every day, which can have a large impact on global sustainability. It also provides an operations model that our children will emulate. Let’s make it a sustainable model.
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Human health: Our children spend about half of their waking day inside our schools. We must ensure that these indoor environments are healthy and allow all students to reach their potential.
Imagine…
- Oregon schools on the leading edge of environmental stewardship
- Students learning to care for our precious, interconnected
environment and global community
- A future workforce prepared to meet the demands of businesses in a sustainable world
National overview: Sustainability in K-12 schools
There are a several other states with various efforts around sustainability in K-12 schools. In some cases the state’s “sustainable schools program” is solely addressing school facility design and construction. A common national understanding of sustainability in a K-12 schools context is lacking.
California:
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A sustainable schools program related just to school facilities.
Minnesota
Alliance for Sustainability, click on left side menu for their sustainable schools program, and right side for Minnesota Healthy Sustainable Schools:
New Jersey:
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Global Learning, a non-profit organization, coordinates a sustainable schools network and several other school sustainability programs.
Vermont:
Vermont has integrated some aspects of sustainability into their state education standards and have several active programs.
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Sustainability Education in Vermont (PowerPoint file)
Washington State:
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Washington’s Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) now has an Education for Environment and Sustainability (EES) Program;
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High Performance School Buildings Program:
New public school buildings are required to meet certain standards.
Wisconsin:
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Wisconsin Green and Healthy Schools Program is fairly comprehensive but doesn’t cover the concept of sustainability:
National Organizations:
The United Nations: Education for Sustainable Development
Agenda 21, the plan developed at the Rio Earth Summit, included a section outlining various means to its implementation. These included Chapter 36, “Promoting Education, Public Awareness and Training”, which delves into education for sustainability.
Chapter 36
United Nations Decade for Education for Sustainable Development
(2005-2014)
Education was considered to be so important that it was the only means that was singled out for a United Nations Decade for Education for Sustainable Development. In December 2002, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring a "Decade of Education for Sustainable Development" to begin on January 1, 2005. The UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is serving as the lead agency of this Decade, and nations are being encouraged to establish their own Decade-oriented initiatives.
The Decade encompasses the four major thrusts of education for sustainability first articulated in Chapter 36 of Agenda 21:
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Improve access to quality education
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Reorient existing education programs
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Develop public understanding and awareness of sustainability; and
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Provide practical training.
The International Implementation plan for the Decade asserts that Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) should not be equated with environmental education, but rather encompass it and go beyond it, or that ESD cannot be taught as an independent subject, but should be infused throughout the curriculum and the disciplines.
They define Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) as being about learning to:
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Respect, value and preserve the achievements of the past;
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Appreciate the wonders and the peoples of the Earth;
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Live in a world where all people have sufficient food for a healthy and productive life;
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Assess, care for and restore the state of our Planet;
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Create and enjoy a better, safer, more just world;
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Be caring citizens who exercise their rights and responsibilities locally, nationally and globally.
UN Decade for Education for Sustainable Development
The U.S. Partnership for the UN Decade
The US initiative for the Decade, called the Partnership for the Decade of ESD, was founded in 2003. It is a cross-sectoral network of individuals, educational institutions, NGOs, and others with a common interest in making ESD a U.S. priority. It is a grass roots movement working outside of federal government policy and priorities. The US Partnership is managed by an executive team, and built on the work of action teams (including marketing, outreach, fundraising, etc.), sector teams (including higher education, K12, faith community, youth, and living institutions), and U.S. regional teams.
Webpage for the K-12 sector team
International overview: Sustainability in K-12 schools
North American Association of Environmental Educators (NAAEE)
NAAEE has a sustainability commission, and education for sustainability is an element of their annual conference. http://www.naaee.org/
Australia:
Japan:
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Council on the UN Decade of ESD (ESD-J), which was founded in 2003, is a networking organization committed to promoting education for a sustainable society.
United Kingdom:
Sustainability in Higher Education
Community colleges, colleges and universities across the United States are now rapidly developing sustainability programs. Those leading the way have hired sustainability coordinators and have programs that address both their own campus operations as well as the content of their curriculum.
To learn more about sustainability programs in Oregon’s higher education institutions click here.
A number of national organizations provide support for higher education efforts, (and have resources that may be helpful for K-12 efforts). These include:
The Talloires Declaration
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An historic attempt to define and promote sustainability in higher education was made in October 1990 with the creation of the Talloires Declaration. Jean Mayer, the President of Tufts University, convened twenty-two university presidents and chancellors in Talloires, France, to voice their concerns about the state of the world and create a document that spelled out key actions institutions of higher education must take to create a sustainable future.
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Recognizing the shortage of specialists in environmental management and related fields, as well as the lack of comprehension by professionals in all fields of their effect on the environment and public health, this gathering defined the role of the university in the following way: "Universities educate most of the people who develop and manage society's institutions. For this reason, universities bear profound responsibilities to increase the awareness, knowledge, technologies, and tools to create an environmentally sustainable future".
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The conference concluded with the creation of the Talloires Declaration, a ten-point action plan for colleges and universities committed to promoting education for sustainability and environmental literacy. It has now been signed by hundreds of university presidents and chancellors in over 40 countries, including some from Oregon.
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The above text and additional details are available here