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The American Meteorological Society (AMS) Education Program is continuing its development and implementation of a highly innovative NOAA/AMS partnership built on the recognition that teachers are key to realizing NOAA's and AMS's shared vision of an environmentally literate public and a geoscience workforce that reflects the human diversity of American society. This proposed phase of the program focuses on the crucial professional development of pre-college teachers in the pedagogical content knowledge of the essential principles and fundamental concepts of the atmospheric and ocean sciences. Project Activities and Expected Outcomes: Central to the program is the offering of the AMS DataStreme Ocean and DataStreme Atmosphere courses for in-service teachers and the content-similar undergraduate AMS Online Weather Studies and Online Ocean Studies courses for pre-service teachers. All AMS courses include delivery of engaging inquiry-based investigations of the ocean and atmospheric environments employing Internet-delivered NOAA products and services. The proposed project will expand a cadre of pre-college teachers well trained in the essential principles and fundamental concepts, online data sources, and pedagogical issues related to the teaching of atmospheric and ocean sciences from an Earth system perspective. Participating in-service teachers are committed to changing the way they teach atmospheric or oceanographic topics, will serve as resource agents in their schools, and are expected to provide leadership in science curriculum reform at local, state, and national levels. During this proposed funding, AMS DataStreme courses will train 4,000 teachers via semester-long graduate courses at 50 or more sites nationally via Local Implementation Teams (LITs). Within two years of training, in-service teachers will directly impact 40,000 other teachers and 1,400,000 pre-college students. AMS undergraduate courses with similar pedagogical and content underpinnings will impact thousands of pre-service teachers on hundreds of campuses. Rationale: The AMS, working closely with NOAA line offices and personnel, outstanding pre-college teachers, and science educators around the country, is transforming Earth system science education across the pre-college curriculum by addressing what and how teachers teach. Trained content-competent teachers are essential to realizing a scientifically literate public and creating a high-quality geoscience workforce that reflects and benefits from the diversity of American society. The AMS recognizes that teachers must experience learning that incorporates an Earth system science perspective and develop pedagogical content knowledge if they are to more effectively deliver authentic inquiry-based instruction in their classrooms. Major Project Partners: All NOAA line offices have been and will continue to be partners as AMS assists NOAA in advancing its goals of environmental assessment and prediction, protection of life and property, and the fostering of global environmental stewardship. The State University of New York grants tuition-waived graduate-level credit for the DataStreme courses.

Project 2061, the science education reform initiative of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences (AAAS), proposes to identify and translate into classroom materials a range of real-world phenomena (e.g., objects, systems, events) and representations (e.g., models, diagrams, simulations) based largely on data from NOAA's Earth observation systems. These materials will be designed to help increase middle school students' understanding of essential ideas about weather and climate. Our objective is to provide a wide audience of teachers, curriculum developers, teacher education faculty, and professional development providers with online access to a set of high-quality and interrelated activities built around Earth, ocean, and atmospheric phenomena and representations that can supplement or enrich their existing lessons or be integrated into new curriculum materials. This collection of climate literacy materials will be carefully aligned to the learning goals in Climate Literacy: the Essential Principles of Climate Science and in national and state science content standards. By disseminating this online collection widely within the science education community, we also aim to expand the use of NOAA-related scientific data, simulations, animations, and other types of representations in middle school curriculum materials and instruction and to stimulate research on how these materials can be used most effectively.

This project will provide K-12 teacher professional development and focused student activities to promote environmental literacy using the essential principles of ocean and climate literacy. In partnerships with NOAA entities, school districts, and museums across the United States, we will provide: (1) high-energy face-to-face professional development workshops for teachers, facilitated by experienced educators; (2) ongoing support and interactions among teachers and students through an online collaborative website, or group-hub; and, (3) high-profile, focused events in which students interact with scientists and the public to share what they've learned, both locally and internationally. The primary goal of this project is to increase the environmental literacy of K-12 teachers and their students from school districts that are part of existing science museum networks. Each summer, we will work with 4 to 6 partner museums to invite 30 to 40 teachers from their local school districts to take part in a pair of workshops.

The Lawrence Hall of Science (LHS) at the University of California, Berkeley, in partnership with the Rutgers University Institute of Marine & Coastal Sciences, and the Curriculum Division of Carolina Biological Supply Company (Carolina Biological) propose to create an Ocean Sciences Curriculum Sequence, Grades 6-8 that will provide a major step toward achieving a coherent, comprehensive, nationally disseminated K-12 ocean sciences curriculum with NOAA as the lead sponsor of the entire series. The Ocean Sciences Curriculum Sequence, Grades 6-8 will be a powerful companion to the Ocean Sciences Curriculum Sequence, Grades 3-5 already available, and the recently published, NASA-funded GEMS Space Science Curriculum Sequence, Grades 3-8 (see http://www.lhsgems.org/CurriculumSequences.htm). The Sequence will be built in part on repurposing and updating existing instructional materials from the LHS Marine Activities, Resources & Education (MARE) and Great Explorations in Math and Science (GEMS) programs. The materials will provide teachers with standards-based tools for teaching basic science using the ocean as an integrating context. This project will create instructional materials that have potential to become the most widely used middle school ocean sciences curriculum nationwide. The materials will be: (1) grounded in current research on teaching and learning, (2) aligned to the Ocean Literacy (OL) Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts, and national and state science standards, and (3) extensively field tested and evaluated to ensure their effectiveness and applicability nationwide. The Sequence will include print materials for teachers with inquiry-based learning activities, student readings and data sheets, pre-, post-, and embedded assessments, and readily available instructional materials "kits" that allow it to be adopted by whole school systems and/or states as part of their regular, mainstream science programs. The materials will provide classroom teachers with essential tools to advance ocean literacy and the discoveries of NOAA scientists. No comparable middle school ocean sciences curriculum is currently available.

The Earth System Science Education Alliance (ESSEA) is a successful teacher professional development program enhancing K-12 teachers' environmental literacy and ability to teach Earth System Science. The ESSEA 40+ educational institution consortium is supporting universities and other educational institutions in teacher preparation and professional development for pre-service and in-service K-12 teachers. This NOAA-funded project enhances and builds on this foundation by: 1) Using the ESSEA online courses as a model to introduce newly upgraded Earth system science undergraduate and graduate courses for teachers; 2) Introducing new Earth System Science data, analysis tools and educational resources to support the teacher courses; and 3) Disseminating model teaching practices and program success through annual conferences, continuing support, and presentations at geoscience and education conferences.

Angelo State University (ASU), in partnership with Texas borderlands school districts and the National Weather Service Office in San Angelo, Texas, are recipients of a NOAA Environmental Literacy Grant Priority 1 grant titled "Earth System Sciences for Elementary Teachers" (ESSET). This project will: 1) Increase the knowledge and skills level of 25 elementary in-service teachers regarding best practices for teaching integrated Earth System Science concepts in a learner-centered, outdoor environment; 2) Increase teachers' ability to align integrated science content with Texas standards-based curriculum and NOAA's Education Strategic Plan; and 3) Integrate concepts of environmental stewardship with teachers' newly acquired pedagogy and science content. Participants will receive nine semester-hours of ASU graduate credit, and a variety of tools and equipment for their classrooms following successful completion of this 18-month project. Anticipated results include increases in overall integrated science content knowledge, best practices, and self-efficacy for participating teachers. Scaling-up this proof-of-concept project to catalyze change across Texas will occur near the end of ESSET.

NatureBridge is expanding its highly successful, 41-year environmental education model through teacher engagement and service learning programs to empower the next diverse generation of climate and environmentally literate citizens. Through partnerships with schools, districts, and environmental organizations, service learning opportunities will be established for civic engagement in NatureBridge students' home communities. This engagement effort includes the creation of new climate literacy curriculum, the application of cutting-edge monitoring technology and online resources for public participation in scientific research, the exposure of youth to STEM career options, and the significant increase in diversity of students served by NatureBridge programming. This work will be informed by and benefit from NOAA assets across our service areas. By strengthening existing and creating new engagement programs throughout our organization, teachers will become fully versed in the principles of environmental and climate literacy. These programs will focus on increasing accessibility, diversifying our participants, and incorporating best practices and climate literacy content.

The Great Lakes Science and Service Learning Initiative (GLSSLI) is a collaborative effort to take Earth Force's proven science-based service learning approach to scale in Michigan by institutionalizing the model within Michigan school districts. By working with the Michigan Community Service Commission's Learn & Serve program and the Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative we are able to leverage statewide structures to make grants directly to school districts, support school districts as they institutionalize the programs and provide on-going professional development to educators. Scaling the GREEN model will deepen student understanding of science by working directly on the environmental problems facing their communities and develop the skills and personal commitment inherent in environmental literacy.

Queens College’s Into the Woods (ITW) project is an environmental literacy program for New York City Elementary School Teachers enhancing content knowledge about the Earth System and extending their classrooms outdoors into Nature. The classrooms continue to evolve into school stewardship and service learning in partnerships with parks and environmental organizations. The ITW project starts with five Elementary Globe books that link science, math and literacy. Fiction becomes reality during field training that uses GLOBE books as blueprints for how teachers can guide their students to conduct their own research to enhance understanding of the environment. The project trains teachers to design and supervise grade-appropriate research projects using GLOBE protocols in local parks; support them during those projects; and host annual research symposia during which students present their results. The project's template of immersing teachers and students in environmental research is becoming a national model for improving environmental literacy in all school systems. The NYU Wallerstein Collaborative for Urban Environmental Education works in partnership with Into the Woods to connect teachers to the resources, materials, and strategies required to successfully implement environmental education, outdoor learning, service learning and hands-on experiences across all grade levels and curriculum areas.

The Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago (MSI) offers teacher professional development courses geared toward 4-8th grade teachers in high needs schools and with limited experience in science content. Through the Great Lakes Revealed (GLR) education course, teachers explored the interconnectedness of the Earth’s systems through the unique lens of the Great Lakes region, and learned how climate has changed through time. Through hands-on and inquiry-based activities, MSI Senior Educators guided teacher through lessons and other resources, modeling content and pedagogy best practices, and encouraging knowledge building through a combination of experience, critical thinking and reflection. Participants also interacted with NOAA’s Science on a Sphere, with educators at Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, and with scientists from Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. Formal evaluation shows that GLR teachers complete the program with substantially improved content knowledge, teaching skills, and confidence in science teaching, many becoming teacher leaders at their schools. The second stage of the GLR program involves a select group of teachers from the first year’s cohort who will deepen their understanding of climate change in the Great Lakes region by engaging in data-driven problem-based activities. Building on teachers’ content knowledge, this program will help teachers develop mechanisms to search, access, and use high quality tabular, graphical, and visual data to support effective climate change education. NOAA’s Science on a Sphere datasets will play a central role as teachers explore and then develop their own problem-based lessons to deliver to their own students during a Student Summit at MSI.

As a southern city, Raleigh, North Carolina is no stranger to heat, humidity and heavy rains. But as the climate changes, and as Raleigh grows, these environmental conditions have come to have greater impacts on human health and economic security. Extreme heat and flooding disproportionately effect low-income and Black and brown populations in Raleigh as these communities are more likely to live in low-lying, flood-prone neighborhoods and urban heat islands. To build resilience among climate and socially vulnerable communities, the City of Raleigh and Partners for Environmental Justice (PEJ), a community-based environmental education and advocacy organization, are working together to implement the Community Climate Education for a Resilient Raleigh (CCERR) project. The purpose of this project is to give climate-vulnerable Raleigh residents the data and resources necessary to build their resilience, engage with decision makers, and build connections within their community. The CCERR Project has three activities. In activity one, the project will host six cohorts of a watershed learning network (two in Spanish) and three cohorts of a heat island learning network (one in Spanish). Each member of these cohorts will receive a stipend to implement a resilience project of their own. The primary service area of the watershed learning networks are flood-sensitive communities within the Walnut Creek Watershed. The primary service areas of the heat island learning teams will be in areas of the City identified as urban heat islands and disadvantaged communities. These learning networks will provide educational opportunities about watershed improvement, climate resiliency and environmental justice, and connect these issues to residents’ daily lives. Learning network participants will use their knowledge, skills and resources to become more engaged in protecting the integrity of their communities. These networks will be informed by PEJ’s experience and best practices developed by nonprofit organizations in Atlanta, GA and Durham, NH. The CCERR project will also convene these organizations to develop guidance on how to develop and program learning networks.In activity two, the CCERR project will produce an emergency preparedness meeting-in-a-box, a toolkit of print and digital resources for community meetings to help neighborhoods plan, prepare for, and recover from extreme weather events and other emergency situations. City of Raleigh staff will use the meeting-in-a-box to host workshops prioritizing climate vulnerable communities. These tools will also be available for use by any City Department, neighborhood groups, or Raleigh residents who wish to host a preparedness event. Finally, in activity three, the CCERR project will collaborate with NOAA’s Carolinas Climate Adaptation Partnership to identify neighborhood priorities for climate resilience and begin to integrate them into city planning processes. These projects and approaches will offer concrete resources, science-based data, engagement with experts and connections to City and County staff and decision-makers to give voice for Raleigh residents’ resilience priorities and the know-how and tools to take action. Each of these activities give Raleigh residents tools, resources and connections to scientific data, while supporting City and State climate action efforts.

Community Resilience from the Youth Up addresses the urgent need to increase resilience in Detroit and southeast Michigan by partnering high school students and teachers with place-based educators, climate scientists, adaptation professionals, municipalities, and community organizations. Using a Place-Based Education (PBE) process and the Climate Resilience from the Youth Up curriculum, students and teachers will explore local climate impacts and develop resilience strategies that protect vulnerable school campuses, households, and neighborhoods from the increased occurrence and intensity of heat waves, storm events, and flooding. Through their involvement in this project, students will increase their climate and civic literacy, actively contribute to broader sustainability initiatives, increase their awareness of and interest in climate adaptation careers, and engage in solution-focused work that inspires hope in their communities. Students will share their work locally and regionally, and teachers and project partners will contribute to regional and national conversations about community resilience education and creating communities of belonging for both educators and youth. Using an ecojustice approach to PBE, this project locates community and climate resilience within a broader vision of youth and adult health and well-being and is grounded in the belief that issues of social and ecological justice are inseparable. It builds on the relationships, partnerships, and educational strategies that were developed and refined in the previous project, Climate resilience from the youth up: A place-based strategy uniting high school students, educators, residents, community organizations, and municipalities in southeast Michigan, and will use them to solidify a community resilience education framework. Building teacher and student capacity to engage in resiliency-focused place-based learning while fostering their identities as change-agents in their communities reflects NOAA’s education mission and goals. This project is led by the Southeast Michigan Stewardship Coalition (SEMIS), housed at Eastern Michigan University and part of the Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative (GLSI), a statewide PBE network. Project partners include GLISA, the American Society of Adaptation Professionals (ASAP), Izzie, LLC, Detroit City Council Green Task Force, Ypsilanti Sustainability Commission, NOAA’s Climate Program Office, Great Lakes B-WET, Michigan Sea Grant, and schools throughout southeast Michigan.

Manomet will use NOAA funding to boost climate resilience and environmental stewardship in Brockton, Massachusetts, an incredibly diverse but impoverished city and designated Environmental Justice community with a rich history. Brockton is highly vulnerable to flooding, pollution, and water supply disruptions related to climate change. Brockton is also a city with a long history of resilience in the face of economic challenges and a thirst for empowerment and opportunity. Brockton schools were hard-hit by COVID-19, and are facing a critical need for support, resources, and academic enrichment. Manomet believes education is one of the best tools to create long-term change. By increasing access to nature, encouraging students to become environmental stewards through outdoor learning, and building climate resilience literacy, Manomet aims to empower the next generation of conservationists to help solve today’s complex challenges. In partnership with Wildlands Trust, Connecticut Sea Grant, and TERC, Manomet will: 1) develop environmental stewardship by creating outdoor learning spaces on school grounds and providing teachers with curricular tools and training for use; 2) empower elementary students and teachers through outdoor environmental education, engaging in stewardship action to build green infrastructure, and civic engagement, and; 3) build climate resilience literacy in elementary school children, teachers, and community members through education, civic engagement, and collaboration. Brockton Kids Lead the Way envisions elementary students and their teachers as community leaders and ambassadors for environmental stewardship, during a time of increased civic investment and interest across Brockton in green spaces, public health, and community resilience.

Climate Resilient Flint seeks to develop climate resilience literacy in Flint, Michigan through neighborhood placemaking projects and green workforce education and training. High urban blight and low climate literacy are expected to leave many of the city’s residents susceptible to anticipated rises in regional summer temperatures and heavy precipitation events. Building on evidence illustrating that social cohesion, education, and a sense of place are key factors in communities’ abilities to adapt to outside shocks or stressors, this project aims to foster climate resilience by engaging underserved and vulnerable neighborhoods in a three-year science-to-civics learning program. Priority neighborhoods will participate in organized deliberative forums to discuss regional climate changes and local impacts before developing plans to repurpose vacant neighborhood lots into spaces that use passive cooling and stormwater management strategies to reduce vulnerability to heat and precipitation. As community members become aware of the connections among climate impacts, climate resilience, and community wellbeing, they will develop the knowledge to further their civic engagement in local social, sustainability, environmental, and climate issues. Additionally, Climate Resilient Flint will develop and teach an environmental literacy and job readiness curriculum for returning citizens with barriers to employment. The Empowerment Through Innovation and Knowledge (EPIK) education program will help participants build a holistic job-seeker profile by complimenting hands-on learning of green infrastructure skills with place-based environmental literacy education embedded within local and regional climate contexts. Through the EPIK curriculum, participants will develop the skills and credentials to advance their competitiveness in Michigan’s green infrastructure job market. With the goal of reducing differential access to education, knowledge, and resources, this project reflects NOAA’s education mission to further equitable environmental literacy and climate resilience capacity by employing active learning and knowledge co-production. Climate Resilient Flint is a collaborative effort between Kettering University, Environmental Transformation Movement of Flint, M.A.D.E. Institute, Neighborhood Engagement Hub, Genesee Conservation District, and NOAA’s Office of Education and Climate Program Office.

Creation Justice Ministries is partnering with Interfaith Power & Light chapters in Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina on the project “Participatory Education in Faith Communities for Climate Resilience.” Coastal faith communities can be key assets to building resilience in their communities, but often do not have the resources or investment from resilience agencies to build the necessary environmental literacy. The goal of this project is to create networks of faith communities that are educated on the realities of climate change and able to serve as hubs of social and physical resilience for their communities – helping them better weather the physical, social, and spiritual storms of the climate crisis. This project will engage faith communities in social learning on the connections between their experience of extreme weather and the science of climate change; facilitate a series of workshops in which faith communities engage with local scientists, planners, and decision-makers around climate resilience to extreme weather and climate change; and guide congregations through a resilience implementation and educational project. The project team will work with predominantly Black, Indigenous, and other faith communities of color in Mathews County, VA, Wicomico County, MD, and Beaufort and Pamlico Counties, NC. The outcomes of this project are (1) increased social cohesion and networks of accountability between local faith communities, planners, and decision-makers, (2) faith community members educated with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to reason about the interaction of human and natural systems globally and locally, with a specific focus on the inequities of climate change vulnerabilities, (3) faith community members empowered and prepared to educate their communities about climate impacts, participate in civic processes around climate adaptation, mitigation, and resilience, and serve as trusted community leaders when climate disasters occur, and (4) congregations with the infrastructure to continue integrating resilience and climate change education in the life of their church and local community. This project is integrally connected to NOAA’s mission of science, service, and stewardship. By intersecting the service- and stewardship-oriented work of faith communities with the science of resilience agencies and local universities, members of faith communities can be more resilient and adaptive to the risks and hazards associated with climate change. Other project partners include NOAA Regional Climate Services Center, NOAA Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments program, North Carolina Division of Coastal Management, North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resilience, Mathews County Board of Supervisors, Maryland CoastSmart Communities, Duke University Marine Lab’s (DUML) Community Science Initiative, Environmental Finance Center (EFC) at the University of Maryland, and Virginia Institute of Marine Science (William & Mary).

The FH Faunteroy Community Enrichment Center will lead intergenerational efforts to build climate resilience and address complex environmental problems with Ward 7 residents through a model built on self-determination and collaboration with public and private partners. The project’s geographic focus is on Ward 7, home to not only the majority of single-family homes in Washington, DC’s 100-year floodplain, but also a predominantly Black population that faces increased climate vulnerability due to socio-economic stressors and legacies of systemic racism. The Ward 7 Resilience Hub Community Committee is the lead project partner, with collaborators including the DC Department of Energy and Environment, Harrison Institute for Public Law at Georgetown University Law Center, NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office, and additional support from NOAA Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments Program. Project goals, centered around Ward 7 residents, are to: (1) reshape workforce development programs and initiatives; (2) increase environmental literacy and civic participation; and (3) create community-driven decision-making processes and structures that guide the development of resilience hubs in the District. The full project title is “Nothing Without Us: Building Environmental Literacy, Resilience, and Sustainability in DC through a Multi-Partner, Community-Led Approach.” Activities will include workforce development programming, environmental education, and convenings for and with the partner organizations to develop promising practices for community resilience hubs. This collaboration will build a climate-ready workforce among Ward 7 residents, support community action and advocacy, and position residents to be leaders in the implementation of the District’s sustainability and climate plans, including Climate Ready DC, Resilient DC, and Sustainable DC 2.0.

Minnesota and Wisconsin communities are facing multiple climate hazards including wildfires, drought, pollution, severe storms, flooding, health emergencies, and habitat and species loss. Climate Youth Labs (CY-Labs) is designed to build youth participation in local and state climate resiliency efforts. The goal is to support place-based climate change learning for youth (ages 11 to 15) who are Black, Indigenous, or from underserved populations, providing them with critical knowledge and experiences needed to ensure the resiliency of their communities in the face of climate hazards, and sharing their stories of discovery and action through public media podcasts. Educators will learn to use NOAA educational resources including Climate.gov, Teaching Climate, the Global Climate Dashboard, Climate Explorer and the U.S Climate Resilience Toolkit to help youth learn about climate change. Educators will help youth ensure the resiliency and protection of their communities in the face of climate hazards, create meaningful change within their communities, and advocate for climate resiliency solutions aligned with state resiliency plans. CY-Labs draws on recent research that shows that effective climate change education programs are personally relevant, encourage discussion to navigate controversial issues, engage in the scientific process, address misconceptions, and incorporate youth action projects. At the annual Youth Climate Justice Summit in St. Paul, MN and at Superior Days in Madison, WI students will share their solutions with state legislators. CY-Labs is a partnership between the University of Wisconsin-Superior (UWS) Center for Continuing Education, UWS Department of Communicating Arts, the University of Minnesota’s Hennepin County 4-H program in Minneapolis, Native Sun’s Solar Cub program in the Red Lake Nation, and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research.

Communities in WV are acutely vulnerable to flooding and are woefully unprepared for their current climate reality, let alone for a future where rainfall and floods are more frequent and intense. Meeting the challenge of building equitable and resilient communities in marginalized and under-resourced areas like West Virginia requires a transformative approach to learning, knowledge production, and action - an approach where communities build skills, confidence, and capacity to assess vulnerabilities, create resilience plans, and participate in planning and decision making. To meet this need, West Virginia University (WVU), WVU Extension, and the WV State Resiliency Office will be engaging with high school-aged youth, their teachers, and communities through the Preparing Agents of Change for Tomorrow (PACT): Building Youth Confidence and Capacity for Climate Resilient Futures in Appalachia project. This three-year project informed by NOAA’s Community Resilience Theory of Change and Climate Resilience Toolkit will cultivate the next generation of problem solvers through a dynamic social and active learning curriculum focused on the fundamentals of disaster and resilience literacy and community resilience planning that is theoretically grounded in intergenerational learning - the transfer of knowledge, attitudes, and behavior from children to parents - where youth can foster collective concern, behavior, and action amongst themselves, their parents, and communities. By increasing the participation of youth in community resilience planning and decision-making, PACT will not only cultivate the next generation of community leaders, problem solvers, and decision-makers but also draw critical attention to much needed community preparedness critical to creating a safer, healthier, more hopeful, and equitable future in West Virginia. The specific objective of PACT is to create a data-driven, evidence-based education and planning program that 1. Guides youth, teachers, families, and communities through a spectrum of disaster and resilience literacy and household preparedness activities, 2. Mentors youth through the process of community flood resilience planning and plan development, and 3. Develops a network of youth resilience ambassadors that participate in resilience planning throughout the state while positively impacting their communities. Through three levels of engagement, PACT will 1. Engage with 35 classrooms and 875 youth across five of West Virginia’s most flood-prone counties through a school enrichment program that provides disaster and resilience literacy lessons and activities; 2. Host three Youth Resilience Ambassador camps that will train 175 youth on assessing community vulnerability and developing community resilience plans; and 3. Host three Youth Resilience Leadership Summits with 140 youth that will present their resilience plans and engage with peers, community, professionals, and elected decision makers. Furthermore, PACT will submit annually updated Youth Resilience Ambassador community resilience plans to the WV State Resiliency Office. Through the PACT project, we anticipate youth driving action in their communities to reduce flood vulnerability and strengthen resilience through participation, becoming the agents of change needed to move the region through an uncertain 21st century.

The Academy of Natural Sciences (ANS) of Drexel University is integrating multi-modal environmental education into a participatory research program with the goal of enhancing local resilience to climate change in Philadelphia neighborhoods impacted by environmental racism. Established in the Netherlands in the 1970s, the “Science Shop” is a model for community-based participatory research now found widely throughout the European Union. Science Shops are not “shops” in the traditional sense of the word; they represent the institutionalization—typically within universities—of spaces to help create novel applied knowledge in equal partnership with organizations that lack the capacity, resources, or expertise to carry out such research independently. SS4CR will adopt this model to connect community leaders and residents in Philadelphia with the educational, scientific, technical, and legal resources of NOAA, ANS, Drexel, City of Philadelphia, and other regional, state, and federal experts, as needed, in order build capacity among communities in carrying out impactful climate education, research, and policy advocacy. SS4CR will initiate collaboration with three Philadelphia-based community organizations (CBO) to undertake a deep exploration of local climate and environmental quality issues through co-designed, year-long programming that focuses on the exchange of local and “expert” knowledges and the creation of trusting relationships. Facilitated knowledge sharing activities may include, among others: “serious games,” asset mapping, deliberative forums, and hand-on, kit-based workshops. Over the 2nd and 3rd program year, SS4CR will build on this foundation to frame and articulate a unique research request with each CBO that includes methods, timeline, distribution plan, and expected outcomes, to be undertaken in partnership with community leaders and residents. SS4CR is focused on locally tailored, community driven climate solutions and building community capacity to enact those solutions. Through SS4CR, all parties should increase their knowledge of local climate hazards and their impacts on Philadelphia’s most disadvantaged neighborhoods; improve their ability to reason about and conduct research into the ways that human and natural systems interact; increase their awareness of the effectiveness and potential trade-offs of different resilience interventions for Philadelphia communities; and build capacity in effectively translating knowledge into action.

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.