Climate Action Education

Climate education is climate action. 

Recent studies show its potential: If only 16 percent of high school students in high- and middle-income countries received climate change education, we could see a nearly 19 gigaton reduction of carbon dioxide by 2050, more carbon dioxide than the world’s forests absorb each year (Cordero et al, 2020). When students are empowered to develop personal connections to climate solutions, it can impact their decision making over a lifetime. We’ve long believed education is the key to change for a healthier, more sustainable future. Shelburne Farms is acting on that belief by supporting climate change education in schools, communities, and on our home campus. Here are a few of the ways we’re inspiring climate action to accelerate positive change.

With Educators and Schools

The Shelburne Farms Institute for Sustainable Schools offers professional learning programs and resources for PreK-12 educators with an integrated focus on climate change.  Two of those programs are:

• The Climate Resiliency Fellowship 
• Cultivating Pathways to Sustainability 

In Communities

To catalyze change, we work with formal and informal educators across the globe to share knowledge and best practices relevant to their place, including:

• The Northeast Climate Change Education Collaborative
• Park for Every Classroom

On Our Campus for Learning

Our 1,400-acre campus is a living classroom where we talk about the big ideas of climate change with learners of all ages – from patterns and seasons to conservation and the effects of a warming world on forests, crops, and animals. We offer immersive programs for early learners, youth, and adults year-round.  Visitors can also see our carbon drawdown plan in progress, from the ways we’re developing healthy soil and forests for increased carbon sequestration, to increasing the efficiency of our buildings, to reducing food waste. 

Download printable PDF of our Climate Change Education work.