A Virtual Policy Forum on Climate-Resilient California Schools

The Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research and the Stanford Center for Innovation in Global Health, Action Lab for Human and Planetary Health, in collaboration with UC Berkeley Center for Cities and Schools, Undaunted K12, and Ten Strands, invite you to join us for a policy forum on how California can create climate-resilient schools for all TK-12 school children.

As the earth warms, Californians are confronting unprecedented heat, drought, wildfire, and flooding—among other impacts of climate change. For children growing up in California today, the impacts of climate change are as close as the air they breathe. And yet, the places where young people spend the majority of their days—California’s public school buildings and campuses—remain woefully under-prepared for heat, smoke, drought, wildfire, and other extreme weather events that have become increasingly frequent in California’s changing climate.

In this urgent context, a statewide coalition (including doctors, medical and environmental health researchers, educators, youth and community groups, and others) convened to examine the challenges climate change will present for children's health and education and developed the first report of its kind on how to mitigate the causes of climate change while centering climate resilience in the mission of 21st-century public schools. 

During this forum we'll discuss the recommendations outlined in the report, and be joined by State Senator Nancy Skinner, State Senator Lena Gonzalez, Dr. Mary A. Dewan (Santa Clara County Superintendent), Kim Patillo Brownson (State Board of Education), Leah Stokes (Rewiring America), Dr. Lisa Patel (Stanford University), Jeff Vincent (UC Berkeley Center for Cities and School), Jonathan Klein (Undaunted K12), and Andra Yeghoian (Ten Strands) to discuss the policy landscape and the path ahead to achieve climate-resilient schools in California. Policy-makers and their staff will learn about opportunities for state leaders to prioritize climate-resilient schools in this legislative cycle. Education leaders will learn about specific actions they can take in their schools by leveraging existing state and local dollars.