Tools, resources, and lessons-learned from districts leading on climate resilience
In Spring 2024, UndauntedK12, Ten Strands, and the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE) launched a new partnership to help district and county leaders navigate the impacts of climate change and build climate resilience. The partnership provides resources and tools for adapting to a changing climate through “Open Door Learning Session” webinars and “Spotlight Story” articles that showcase best practices, strategies, and lessons learned from school districts across California.
Open Door Webinars
Preparing for a New Normal: Climate Emergencies and Their Impact on Schools
This first Open Door Learning Session focused on the importance of adopting a “climate-ready mindset” to prepare for and adapt to a changing climate. This session laid the groundwork for future conversations. Check out the resources, slides, and video from Open Door 1.
Energy and Grid Resilience: Mitigating Risk through Climate Adaptation
In this session, districts leaders from Yolo County Office of Education, Santa Barbara Unified School District, and Modesto City Schools shared climate adaptation strategies that boost resilience and deliver significant cost savings. Check out the slides and video from Open Door 2.
Mitigating outdoor extreme heat: how schoolyard greening is critical for resilience
This session focused on the impact of extreme heat on school playgrounds and highlighted how Pasadena Unified School District and Long Beach Unified School District have greened their schoolyards to reduce surface temperatures and create safer, more resilient outdoor environments for students. Check out the slides and video from Open Door 3.
Spotlight Stories
San Mateo County Office of Education has integrated climate adaptation into their emergency planning and response protocols to help schools navigate the unprecedented impacts of climate change on student health, learning and wellbeing. Their tools and resources offer a model for other education agencies.
Santa Barbara Unified School District is situated in a region frequently impacted by power outages from extreme weather. SBUSD developed a solar-powered microgrid across 14 campuses as a way to power the entire district during an outage, and deliver electricity savings of $14 million over the next 28 years.
San Carlos School District’s Resilient San Carlos Schoolyards Project addresses storm-based flooding head on through leveraging local expertise, state funding, community engagement. The district has piloted greening efforts across its schools to inform decision-making and gain community buy in for a comprehensive district-wide stormwater management plan.
