E3 Washington: Education, Environment, Economy

Link schools, campuses, and community resources for student achievement, lifelong learning, and a sustainable future.

• Support each student’s background and learning both in and out of school– from classroom to home and world and back again —by including community-based educators and programs in the curriculum.
• Expand opportunities for students from middle school through college to participate in field- and community-based learning through local sustainability initiatives, research, service projects, and internships with public and private organizations.
• With help from public and private sectors, align learning standards and curriculum with real-world issues.
• Coordinate non-formal education providers (outdoor learning centers, aquariums, zoos, museums, and other community programs) to align programs and resources with school curriculum and state learning standards.
• Promote partnerships between schools/school districts and nonformal providers of environmental and sustainability education.

Turn schools, campuses, businesses, and public places into models of sustainability.

• Create sustainability teams of site representatives (to include students, faculty, administrators, facility managers, board members, etc.) to develop programs for every body to learn and play a role in “greening up” their site.
• Empower teams to evaluate site design and operation from a seventh-generation perspective and make recommendations for renovations, new construction and maintenance.
• Partner schools with businesses, agencies, colleges and others by organizing teams of students and professionals to advance sustainability measures in schools, campuses and neighborhoods.
• Develop friendly E3 competitions with incentives and awards for localities involved in sustainability programs.
• Promote model sites and programs.

Help everybody explore and discover their place within the natural and social communities that sustain us.

• Develop early childhood environmental and sustainability education guidelines, programs, and professional development for providers/caregivers and licensors.
• Fund “No Child Left Inside” grants programs to help all children discover, explore and learn in the natural world.
• Expand opportunities for students from middle school through college in field- and community-based action and research projects dealing with real-world issues.
• Provide pre-service and on-going professional development, including field experience, to teachers, principals and superintendents.
• Through media and social marketing, introduce the public to quality outdoor experiences, service projects, and other ways to enjoy and sustain our communities and natural places.
• Create incentives through school, work, community, and media for students and adults to make healthy life-style choices for themselves, the economy, and the environment.

Garner funds to provide equitable, adequate coverage and meaningful impact of Education for Sustainable Communities.

• Quantify the amount of organizational capacity, training, and other program resources needed to provide lifelong environmental and sustainability learning to Washington residents.
• Develop consortium across the state to invest in regional leadership and develop local funding strategies in order to ensure implementation of E3 plans.
• Create a public/private program to fund priority recommendations in E3 state, sector , and regional plans, and expand environmental and sustainability education.
• Evaluate the impact of funded programs on student and adult learning as shown by changes in behavior that foster healthier, more sustainable economies, communities, and use of natural resources.
• Create a funding consortium for foundation, corporate, and individual donors to advance E3 goals and address needs unique to systemic-change programs.
  

Use networking and technology to create inclusive leadership and diverse partnerships to achieve Education for Sustainable Communities.

• Continue to demonstrate respect for diversity and commitment to our individual and collective well-being.
• Hold frequent statewide, regional, and sector meetings to further relationships and achievements of “learning communities” for E3 plan implementation, evaluation, and revision.
• Maintain a dynamic, state-of-the-art E3 website with interactive and searchable content; tools for project management and social networking; and links to increase outreach and promote partner resources.
• Make the E3 Resource Center the online destination for information on environmental and sustainability education and opportunities to participate.
• In all sectors and regions, support E3 coordinators who demonstrate cultural competency and management skills.
• Embark on a marketing campaign to promote E3 participation and support.