Oregon Educators for Climate Education (OECE) is a statewide group of educators working toward PK-12 climate education integration for Oregon students across all the core subject areas.   

CURRENT EVENTS & OPPORTUNITIES

Oregon Climate Education Thought Leaders Advisory Group

Background

To support Oregon classroom teachers across all grade levels and subjects, Oregon Educators for Climate Education partnered with SubjectToClimate to create the Oregon Climate Education Hub, which launched on August 29, 2023. The Oregon Climate Education Hub (www.oregonclimateeducation.org) is an online website that provides Oregon educators with comprehensive resources to integrate climate change across all grade levels and subjects.


About the Advisory Committee

Our aim is to create a community of practice toward the goal of making it easier for Oregon educators of all grade levels and subjects to integrate climate change education into their existing lessons and teaching practices so their students will have access to powerful climate education throughout their lives.


We invite you to join the Oregon Climate Education Thought Leaders Committee to:



Join us on the third Thursday of each month!

Register in advance for this meeting by filling out this Google Form.

 

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting (a Zoom link and Google Calendar Invite).


Thank you!

IN THE NEWS

Oregon Education Association (OEA) 

Supports Climate Education Legislation!

OEA Representative Assembly Votes YES! 

A sea of green cards showing  a resounding YES vote from educators all around the State of Oregon.  

A Call For Comprehensive Climate Education

By Bhavika Buddi, Our Climate, Student Westview High School    

"With climate education, youth can be exposed to the role humans play in causing climate change, how to adapt to the ever-changing world, and ways to take action in their communities. Climate education can give them hope for the future by providing them with the resources and knowledge they need to bring about change.Read More...

By Gavin Jones, Reuters    

"International bodies and pressure groups are calling for climate change studies to become a standard part of the school curriculum worldwide, saying the step is vital to reach targets on cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organisation, UNESCO, said this month that environmental studies should be standard teaching in all countries by 2025."

However, as is clear from what students have told us (example, see page 37) almost no explicit attention is given in their education experiences to climate change, climate justice, or associated topics of sustainable agriculture and natural resource use/reciprocity.  Even so, empirical data (example) supports the notion that such efforts not only facilitate students' lower-emission decision-making, but also their willingness to promote related structural changes (further reading).


It's time for Oregon

Oregonians LOVE Oregon

No matter what region of the State, Oregonians love Oregon. Known for its wildly diverse environments and ecosystems, the impacts of a changing climate will affect us all. We and our students care deeply for the health of our state, and we suspect that you do too. 

(click links below to see some impacts per region) 

Coastal Oregon

Western Oregon

Eastern Oregon

What Are Other States Doing?

New Jersey

New Jersey has already implemented Climate-Focused Teaching and Learning Standards (they're embedded in all the content areas listed)

Washington

"The UW Institute for Science + Math Education has partnered with ClimeTime, a Washington public schools initiative for climate science education, to put a $4 million science education grant to work, educating teachers and providing equitable access to STEM education."

Minnesota

"While some educators already teach about humans' impact on the climate, they say writing it into state standards would be added muscle if they face pushback from students or parents. And it would help ensure the topic gets taught." -MPR News

Frameworks for Enacting Climate-Focused Education

Climate-focused education resources and leadership

Several solid frameworks for enacting climate-focused education exist (example a; example b), and such teaching and learning is essential for virtually all aspects of quality of life, and even life itself for many species. Colleges and universities are key, as are primary and secondary settings.

Brookings Institute

A New Green Learning Agenda:  Approaches to Quality Education for Climate (BE)

University World News

Universities "Essential" to Climate Action, Says UN Chief (UWN)

Join Us

Interested in joining our statewide coalition?

Please join this discussion to create and refine concrete ideas for climate change/climate justice teaching and learning objectives that could be supported across K-12 (and beyond) in developmentally appropriate ways in virtually all content areas. We are actively drafting legislation ideas, but wish to do so in partnership with as broad a coalition of Oregon students and educators as possible ahead of teaming with many other stakeholders. We believe teacher voice on these objectives, as informed by our students and our professional expertise, is essential to the success of well-rounded policy implementation. Please invite other Oregon students and educators to this opportunity.

With sincerity and solidarity,

Oregon  Educators for Climate Education (OECE)

Full Summary

As Reuters' Gavin Jones recently reported, "International bodies and pressure groups are calling for climate change studies to become a standard part of the school curriculum worldwide, saying the step is vital to reach targets on cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organisation, UNESCO, said this month that environmental studies should be standard teaching in all countries by 2025."

However, as is clear from what students have told us (example, see page 37), almost no explicit attention is given in their education experiences to climate change, climate justice, or associated topics of sustainable agriculture and natural resource use/reciprocity. Even so, empirical data (example) supports the notion that such efforts not only facilitate students' lower-emission decision-making, but also their willingness to promote related structural changes (further reading).

New Jersey has already implemented climate-focused teaching and learning standards (they're embedded in all the content areas listed), and the states of Washington and Minnesota are developing their own. For so many reasons, Oregon should be next. Our state is bigger than Uganda, Cambodia, or Great Britain, and has wildly diverse environments and ecosystems. We and our students care deeply for the health of our state, and we suspect that you do too. Several solid frameworks for enacting climate-focused education exist (example a; example b), and such teaching and learning is essential for virtually all aspects of quality of life, and even life itself for many species. Colleges and universities are key, as are primary and secondary settings.

Please join this discussion to create and refine concrete ideas for climate change/climate justice teaching and learning objectives that could be supported across K-12 (and beyond) in developmentally appropriate ways in virtually all content areas. We are actively drafting legislation ideas, but wish to do so in partnership with as broad a coalition of Oregon students and educators as possible ahead of teaming with many other stakeholders. We believe teacher voice on these objectives, as informed by our students and our professional expertise, is essential to the success of well-rounded policy implementation. Please invite other Oregon students and educators to this opportunity.

To join or express legislation ideas, please complete this brief survey (tinyurl.com/oeces, if you want to share it!). 

With sincerity and solidarity,

Oregon  Educators for Climate Education (OECE)