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Climate change disproportionately impacts low-income and otherwise marginalized communities that typically have the fewest resources to adapt. Furthermore, the very communities that feel the effects of climate change most acutely have been historically underrepresented in the fields of sustainability and green building. The Building a Green Texas (BGT) project helps address these concerns by giving high school students opportunities to develop the knowledge, skills, and confidence to tackle challenges posed by climate change. In the process, students gain valuable green career skills and credentials and become part of a green building school-to-job pipeline that will help contribute to a more diverse workforce. Texas-based nonprofit EcoRise, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Texas Marine Science Institute/National Estuarine Reserve System of NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management will lead this robust, three-year project beginning in Central Texas in Year 1 and expanding into Houston and Texas Gulf Coast communities in Year 2. Through school-year field experiences and paid summer internships, students in the program will use established scientific evidence, citizen science, and an understanding of location-specific socioeconomic and ecological factors to explore current and future extreme weather phenomena and other environmental hazards facing their communities. They will gain real-world learning experiences and career exposure by directly engaging with scientists, civic leaders, green building professionals, and NOAA data and staff. As students help design community-based green building projects, they will consider scientific uncertainty, cultural knowledge, and social equity, in the real-world context of improving community resilience.

With support from NOAA, Groundwork Ohio River Valley (GWORV) and Green Umbrella (GU) seek to bridge environmental education and policy efforts to increase youth, frontline resident, and local government environmental literacy, engagement, and dialogue across Greater Cincinnati. The partnership will achieve the following goals through the establishment of five climate advisory groups in underserved communities 1) raise awareness that climate change and racial injustice share roots and must be addressed together, 2) empower youth and frontline communities to participate in civic processes and build climate careers, and 3) co-create climate planning and implementation approaches that incorporate science, historical and cultural knowledge, and youth vision. Climate resiliency plans, developed by climate advisory groups, will emphasize adaptation to Greater Cincinnati climate impacts including extreme heat, extreme precipitation and flooding, and air quality impairment. A green youth workforce will bring climate advisory group climate resiliency plans to life through tree plantings and green infrastructure installments. To achieve this vision, the partnership will implement a systematic approach to informing and engaging communities: innovative strategies to activate the voice of residents and youth in local government decision making, a regionally developed community engagement strategy (Climate Safe Neighborhoods), a proven national model (Regional Climate Collaborative), and green workforce pipeline opportunities.

Solar One and The Newark Office of Sustainability are launching the Newark Resilient Solar Initiative, which utilizes the construction and deployment of resilient solar systems as a catalyst for education—both in the classroom and in the most vulnerable communities in Newark. The Initiative responds to the need for high quality career and technical education and work-based learning opportunities in Newark Public Schools and community engagement around climate resilience for people in low-income, largely immigrant, and predominantly Black and Latino communities in Newark who are highly vulnerable to flooding and extreme heat. Resilient solar systems, including solar plus battery storage, build community resilience to climate hazards by enabling Newarkers to access electricity during a power outage. The systems will be housed at accessible locations such as community gardens and are built by up to 52 Newark high school interns who receive solar workforce training, strengthening their career readiness and leadership skills. Each resilient solar system is unveiled at a community engagement event that features NOAA assets to build collective environmental literacy, emergency preparedness, and social cohesion in alignment with local resilience goals—reaching up to 200 community members. In addition, The Initiative trains 9 teachers and 800 Newark Public School students in climate literacy and solar workforce training, which can jumpstart a lifelong career in renewable energy, a field with high income potential. The Initiative is guided by an advisory committee composed of community members, community-based organization partners, and environmental justice leaders.