By Sarah Ranney
2021 will be remembered as a year of historic drought, wildfire, and other signs of a rapidly changing climate, not to mention the ongoing pandemic. But, on a hopeful note, it was a promising year for climate literacy. In May, the Fremont Unified School District unanimously passed a student-led Educational Response to the Climate Emergency. And in November, the Berkeley Unified School District passed a comprehensive Climate Literacy Resolution, becoming the first district in the nation to do so with funding. They join the Oakland Unified School District, which passed a School Board Policy on Environmental and Climate Change Literacy in 2019. Together, these represent a meaningful commitment to climate education that will reach more than 80,000 students a year.
The successes in Oakland, Fremont, and Berkeley are thanks in no small part to the hard work of a small group of students, parents, educators, activists, and organizers — all united under the banner of the Sierra Club San Francisco Bay Chapter’s Climate Literacy Committee.
Since 2016, the Climate Literacy Committee has been committed to executing Sierra Club California’s goal of making California high school students climate literate. Climate literacy, as defined by the Sierra Club California, means understanding:
- The causes of climate change;
- Its potential for harm;
- What is required to avoid significant climate destabilization;
- Actions needed to ensure a livable future; and
- The key people and institutions involved in those actions.
To accomplish this, the Climate Literacy Committee has taken a school district approach, organizing and working within to pass comprehensive commitments to create and implement climate change curricula. Through our efforts, we’ve seen several truths about community organizing and impact planning:
- Student involvement is an essential part of any school approach. Ensure they’re given a seat at the table and a chance to lead. As the generation that will be most impacted by the climate crisis, students have particular authority.
- Build a robust, multigenerational coalition. Teachers are a critical constituency, but their time is valuable and already stretched thin by the pandemic. Who else can help? Retired teachers, parents, and community members may have more time for organizing, and add important perspective, connections, and experience.
- There are a lot of environmentally oriented curriculum providers in the Bay Area. Make connections. Don’t reinvent the wheel. Be open to working with anyone who is willing to help.
- Climate literacy must be student-centered, solutions-focused, and go beyond science classes. Whether through art, civics, geography, economics, history, or other subjects, teachers have a better chance of discovering what will resonate most with students. And when it comes to learning about the “solutions” to climate change, students will be much better prepared if they recognize its broad impacts on society, economics, the environment, and politics.
- Implementation is not easy and teachers are already overworked. It’s important to give teachers a framework of support. And they need to be paid to take this on.
The Climate Literacy Committee is taking what we’ve learned from our district efforts to start advocating for climate literacy at the state level. We are partnering with other organizations to develop a multi-pronged effort to execute a climate literacy implementation strategy scaled to meet the climate emergency. The lessons we’ve learned in our district organizing are holding true at the state level as well.
There are many ways members of the Bay Chapter can support or get involved in our local or state-wide work:
- Sign a letter calling for state support at tinyurl.com/CA4ClimateLiteracy.
- Support the climate literacy implementation efforts in Oakland, Fremont, and Berkeley by volunteering your time or connections.
- Join our monthly committee meetings, typically the first Saturday of each month by Zoom. You can find meeting details on the Activities and Events calendar.
Our animating force is the knowledge that our future generations will bear the greatest burdens in this climate emergency. Transformative change and solutions must begin with our students in their classrooms.
Sarah Ranney is the chair of the Sierra Club SF Bay Chapter Climate Literacy Committee.
Photo by Natalie Chitwood for The Luupe, theluupe.com.