What Schools Can Do to Tackle Climate Change (Hint: More than You Think)

This commentary from Education Week offers a starting-place for anyone who wonders how schools can foster resilience to climate-driven hazards. Acknowledging the challenges are daunting, the article touches on perceived barriers and ways to start small, access resources, and grow leadership to scale solutions over time.

Slightly more than a third of the 960 teachers, district leaders, and principals who answered a nationally representative EdWeek Research Center survey in February 2022 said more funding would be necessary to improve schools’ ability to confront the effects of climate change. The article points to the searchable Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency, maintained by NC Clean Energy Technology Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, which includes hundreds of clean energy incentives for which schools may be eligible.

The Decarbonization Roadmap Guide for School Building Decision Makers from New Buildings Institute, based in Portland, Oregon, is highlighted in a section on planning. Recognizing that new school facilities take years to go from design to construction, the article advises “If you can’t make a big change happen overnight, have a plan for what you’ll do to improve energy efficiency when key systems eventually break down or need to be replaced.”

Finally, the article urges districts to designate or hire someone to take charge of gathering information and communicating about opportunities to increase the resilience and sustainability of local school facilities. Among the examples cited is the Salt Lake City school district, which has created manager positions to coordinate the work of its departments in alignment with its long-term sustainability plan.