Sustainability Education and Sustainable Schools

By Louis Pugliese

Though this looks promising and innovative on the surface, merely installing skylights and low-flush toilets is not enough. The LAUSD policy simply fails to address the fact that responsibility for sustainability and environmental stewardship must necessarily be linked to the students and community.

In contrast to this top-down, contract-driven building policy, I advocate the following as a way to provide both effective, sustainable schools and meaningful, relevant learning and student participation;

• Integrate student participation in the management of school resources and grounds (energy, recycling, water, biodiversity, landscape design, etc.) into existing curriculum and daily running of the school.
• Ensure that students have an understanding of, and concern for, stewardship of the natural environment, and the knowledge and skills to contribute to ecologically sustainable development.
• Development of all schools as models for sustainability within the local community, with innovative design, alternative energy systems, expanded green areas, playgrounds, and community food gardens.