Environmental Education

Bending the Curve

The UCI School of Education leads an effort in environmental science education and pedagogy with the relaunch of a UC-CSU environmental and climate change literacy partnership and its first endowed chair.

As the world confronts rapid climate change, the UCI School of Education is working toward curtailing the crisis in the classroom and in the community.

In its commitment to advancing environmental science education, pedagogy and access, the School relaunched the statewide higher education initiative known as Environmental and Climate Change Literacy Projects (ECCLPs) and established a new endowed chair in environmental education, the Stacey Nicholas Endowed Chair in Environmental Education. Both were made possible by a transformational $3 million gift from School of Education supporter and UCI Foundation Trustee Stacey Nicholas.

ECCLPs serves as a University of California and California State University partnership focused on advancing prekindergarten to 12th grade environmental and climate change literacy, justice and action. The new chairholder will work with the School and ECCLPs to ensure environmental and climate education is incorporated into teacher professional development, the education sciences and interdisciplinary majors. They will also provide expertise to move environmental and climate research, teaching and service goals forward.

“While we have begun to make progress nationally and globally to address this existential problem, the pace of change is too slow and our children unfortunately will inherit, confront and have to struggle with these challenges. At a minimum, we have to prepare the next generation of citizens to understand the multifaceted and complex environmental issues they will be facing,” says Richard Arum, UCI professor of education and sociology and ECCLPs executive committee member, who established the School’s efforts to relaunch the initiative during his time as School of Education dean.

The ECCLPs initiative, which was relaunched by a School-hosted event on Sept. 15, 2022, aims to graduate all California high school students to be literate and informed decision-makers about climate change and environmental justice issues and solutions with the hope that they will be the drivers to combat, mitigate and adapt to the effects of the climate crisis.

“[ECCLPs] is the first program in the nation to connect public universities to climate change education in primary and secondary schools. Its systemic and concerted approach will ensure understanding and awareness among the next generation of students of one of the most fundamental challenges facing them and the entire world,” shares UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman. “We are proud that UCI will serve as the hub of this effort, putting our amazing School of Education and our university at the center of climate change education and action.”

The ECCLPS initiative serves as an educational ecosystem for local prekindergarten through 12th-grade teachers, higher education institutions and community partners. It provides a connection for educators to the UC-CSU systems, relevant cutting-edge research and community partners to help inform prekindergarten to 12th-grade learning experiences.

“Moving out of a siloed approach to working in community with one another is essential to advance our collective capacity to address the urgent and large-scale crisis,” says Kelley Lê, UCI Science Project director and ECCLPs executive director.

ECCLPs provides support for California teachers to learn about climate change and nuanced ways to effectively teach about the politically controversial topic. The initiative’s comprehensive efforts also center on exciting the next generation of youth about science and nature; collaborating with local researchers to elevate teaching and learning to align with 21st century instruction; and outreach and engagement of regional community partners to create student-focused, culturally relevant and responsive solutions.

“For this work to be successful, we have to cut through the divisive politics confronting our nation. We have to work to bring together diverse stakeholders – including not just educators, but business leaders, workers and citizens – to promote increased understanding of the complex environmental challenges we are facing and how to promote innovative solutions that can garner collective community support,” Arum says.

“While the pandemic generated significant societal challenges that we are still working to overcome, a silver lining is that it made clear that society can change how we organize ourselves in fundamental ways.”