Weaving Climate, Environmental Justice and Civic Engagement into Your Courses

Short Description:
As the inequitable impacts of climate change become more evident and destructive, it is essential for climate and environmental justice, as well as methods of civic engagement, to be taught at a high-level to college-level students. This book provides real examples of how professors at the University of Washington integrated these critical issues into their teachings, both in targeted lessons and as throughlines across an entire course. These samples of how environmental and climate justice have been successfully integrated into higher-level education can serve as both a record of the UW's progress towards centering JEDI at the heart of all students, and as a model for future instructors to use as they work to incorporate more aspects of justice and engagement into their own material.

Long Description:
With the increased effect of anthropogenic climate change, the impact of environmental issues on human societies has never been more essential to understand. With science-backed research showcasing that human activities are actively worsening the effect of many environmental issues including severe temperatures, natural disasters, and biodiversity loss, there is severe need for all, whether we are scientists, activists, educators, or policy-makers, to take action. However, the global nature of both our society and the dangers we are facing necessitates careful consideration in analyzing and combatting environmental issues in a modern world. To properly adapt to and mitigate these issues, which may directly target specific communities or affect societies across the globe, not only do we need a proper grasp of environmental and climate science, but we need to ensure that solutions are mindful of the communities and ecosystems that are affected. We must not be content with climate and environmental solutions that fail to consider diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility as key tenets. In short, justice must be at the heart of our climate and environmental work going forward.

Yet, facilitating just solutions cannot be done while the institutions that teach the next generation fail to highlight climate and environmental justice in their teachings. Without a natural and focused inclusion of DEIA values in environmental courses in higher education, there is reduced capacity for students who wish to engage to garner an understanding of what just solutions look like and how to implement them. This book seeks to remedy that gap.

Throughout this book, we synthesize the current efforts towards including climate, environmental justice, and civic engagement in courses taught at the University of Washington – Seattle. These examples range from specific lessons on environmental injustice to course-long integration of climate justice values, and include course details, lesson plans, and other resources provided by course instructors in an easy-to-access format. The chapters in this book each constitute a real method of integrating climate and environmental justice into a course, and thus provide a bounty of instruction for increasing the inclusion of justice in course material for instructors across any discipline. Lessons will be regularly added to the book as they are implemented and adapted. The existence of this book marks not only the history of environmental justice in courses at the UW, but also the emphasis on the topic of justice that the college is placing in the current day, as well as serving as a guide or model for instructors to use as more courses begin to fully integrate justice into their curriculum. Through this work, we can be more reliably assured that the people we are training to practice civic engagement and climate and environmental action can not just protect the planet, but preserve the life of the people, communities, and ecosystems who depend on it.

This book has been created with support from the University of Washington Program on Climate Change, the UW Program on the Environment, and the University of Washington College of the Environment, especially from material created at our annual Climate and Environmental Justice Faculty Institute.

Word Count: 9944

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Environmental, Social, Local

Short Description:
Climate Lessons was co-authored by first-year undergraduate students at Worcester Polytechnic Institute while exploring the influences of Earth systems and human systems on climate change and the communities at most risk. The book highlights key interests and insights of current students in their quest to create a better world. Cover: Kris Krüg, World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth - Cochabamba, Bolivia, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Long Description:
Climate Lessons was co-authored by first-year undergraduate students at Worcester Polytechnic Institute while exploring the influences of Earth systems and human systems on climate change and the communities at most risk. The book highlights key interests and insights of current students in their quest to create a better world.

Cover: Kris Krüg, World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth – Cochabamba, Bolivia, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Word Count: 47609

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Earth's climate system is enormously complex, and scientists develop climate models to understand how climate change will play out in different parts of the world. Students play a climate resilience game, and then explore the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 5th Assessment Report to learn more about how climate scientists handle uncertainty in models. This guide is an extension of the TILclimate episode "TIL about uncertainty."

From weeks-long dry spells to extreme precipitation events, farmers face significant challenges in bringing crops to market. Here’s how one grower uses seasonal climate forecasts to increase his chances for success.

Short Description:
Each chapter focuses on a different current climate change topic, strong emphasis on using data to explore global, regional, and societal issues.

Long Description:
Modules, games and labs focused on teaching climate change. Developed by graduate students and faculty associated with the UW Program on Climate Change, a cross departmental collaboration to research, teach and communicate climate science. Updated regularly.

Word Count: 35823

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The Climate Toolkit is a resource manual designed to help the reader navigate the complex and perplexing issue of climate change by providing tools and strategies to explore the underlying science. As such it contains a collection of activities that make use of readily available on-line resources developed by research groups and public agencies. These include web-based climate models, climate data archives, interactive atlases, policy papers, and “solution” catalogs. Unlike a standard textbook, it is designed to help readers do their own climate research and devise their own perspective rather than providing them with a script to assimilate and repeat.

In this activity, students examine climate variability in the North Atlantic associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NOA) in a case study format.

This short video addresses the effects of heat waves on human populations, with Black residents of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the visual subjects. The narrative is done by a young spoken- word artist.

This static graph of changes in CO2 concentrations goes back 400,000 years, showing the dramatic spike in recent years.

Anticipating increasing demand as well as changes in the timing and amount of future water supply, state agencies and researchers are gathering information to help decision makers plan for Colorado's water future.

Short Description:
This online course will introduce various climatic and ecological modelling tools and guide the students to practical applications of scale-free climate models and niche-based ecological models in forest and ecological (such as birds, fish and animals) resource management to increase the resilience and viability of forest ecosystems.

Long Description:
This online course will introduce various climatic and ecological modelling tools and guide the students to practical applications of scale-free climate models and niche-based ecological models in forest and ecological (such as birds, fish and animals) resource management to increase the resilience and viability of forest ecosystems. By the end of the course, students will master skills and techniques to, 1) use climatic models to generate spatial climate data; 2) understand niche-based ecological models; and 3) interpret and apply model output to forest management practice.

The course is designed for forest professionals who are interested in professional forestry and forest adaptation to climate change.

This course is part of the Adaptation Learning Network led by the Resilience by Design Lab at Royal Roads University. The project is supported by the Climate Action Secretariat of the BC Ministry of Environment & Climate Change Strategy and Natural Resources Canada through its Building Regional Adaptation Capacity and Expertise (BRACE) program. The BRACE program works with Canadian provinces to support training activities that help build skills and expertise on climate adaptation and resilience.

Word Count: 23770

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How do clouds form? How are clouds affected by (and how do they affect) climate change? Students create a cloud in the classroom, and then investigate climate models and real-time cloud observation data. This guide is an extension of the TILclimate episode "TIL about clouds."

Climate change poses a threat to the traditional livelihoods and the sustainably managed forestlands of the Menominee Nation. However, climate change also presents an opportunity—a chance to apply indigenous knowledge to adapt and sustain native communities, and for the Menominee Nation to share its understandings with others seeking to address this global issue. 

This visualization shows the molecular interaction of infrared radiation with various gases in the atmosphere. Focus is on the interaction with C02 molecules and resultant warming of the troposphere.

AE 868 examines the theories and design practices of solar electric systems in the context of utility and commercial-scale applications. An important goal of the course is to equip solar professionals with skills to follow the impact of hardware trends in industry on feasibility, design, and the commissioning of such systems. Students will learn how to design solar electric systems as well as the processes required for permitting, construction, and commissioning. Topics include conceptual design of solar electric systems, solar electric technologies, inverter and power management technologies, design theory and economic analysis tools, system design processes for grid-tied and off-grid systems, integration of energy storage and demand response systems, construction project management, permitting, safety and commissioning, system monitoring, and maintenance.

This course focuses on the complexities associated with security and sustainability of states in international relations. Covering aspects of theory, methods and empirical analysis, the course is in three parts, and each consists of seminar sessions focusing on specific topics.

Each winter, massive waves attract surfers and visitors to the North Shore of O‘ahu in Hawai‘i. Some years, the waves cause severe erosion, and continuing sea level rise will accelerate this issue. Residents and the state are taking steps to preserve homes and beaches.

Rapid, unprecedented climate warming is occurring because of increased concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases due to the use of fossil fuels. As Earth’s climate warms, extreme heat events will increase, sea levels will rise, freshwater resources will become more scarce and infectious diseases will spread. Despite imminent threats from climate change and the need for people from all sectors, backgrounds, and disciplines to contribute to solutions, we avoid taking actions necessary for mitigation. We created Connecting for Climate Change Action, aimed at community and Post-Secondary learners from a range of disciplines. The course combines Western and Indigenous Sciences to educate and encourage discussions on climate change. We provide innovative, experiential, online learning opportunities to engage and stimulate student action to mitigate climate change and leave Earth a sustainable place for future generations. The course contains approximately eight weeks of materials and is packaged in four modules: 1) Ways of Knowing the Climate is Changing, which provides an introduction to euro-western Science and Indigenous Knowledge, and explores positionality; 2) The Earth, Climate and Connections, which provides a basic understanding of the Earth and its climate system, and examines various views of human's role in the Earth system; 3) Why is the Earth's Climate Changing?, which provides an overview of the knowledge we have of climate change, 4) Emissions, Responsibility, and Reimagining Economies, which shows the complexities of responsibility for our current situation reflect on Indigenous economies that emphasize respect and reciprocity.

Using multi-media and basic atmospheric physics, students investigate contrails and chemtrails. Students apply previous learning about pseudoscience, and couple that with an understanding of the atmosphere to reach a decision about chemtrails. Students write an analysis paper on the issue of chemtrails, followed by a decision paper about whether society should be concerned about chemtrails.

Think science has all the answers? Think again. This course will use real, authentic data to explore and investigate modern controversies in Earth Sciences. Use tide gauge records to understand how countries around the world attempt to protect themselves from tsunami events. Process seismic data to predict earthquake recurrence in the New Madrid seismic zone, right here in the breadbasket of the US. Sort through the millions of years of the geologic timeline to shed some light on what actually did, and did not, kill the dinosaurs. Finally, use global atmospheric data to understand how misrepresentation of data can be used to paint a distorted view of past, present, and future climate.