This August, the British Council, in partnership with the California Air Resources Board and the Will Steger Foundation, will launch the Climate Generation School Leadership Program. This is a school based competition connecting environmental curriculum with climate action projects. High Schools in California and Minnesota are eligible to participate in the program.

Why should we participate?

• Opportunity to work together as a team to do something positive for your school
• Gain exposure to international network of climate projects
• Be eligible to participate in the Student Leadership Program
• Be eligible to receive grant funding for your project
• Educator professional development opportunities in Climate Education**
• State-wide and national recognition
• Participate in publicity and media events
• For submitted projects, each student will receive a participation certificate
• Have access to:
  • Partner and project database of non-profit organizations and existing projects willing to assist with project implementation at your school
  • Project planning tools
  • International projects
  • Climate and environmental curriculum and lesson plans

How it works:

• Between August and December, schools or classrooms must register their intent to participate in the program on the Climate Generation website (launching in August 2010)
• There is no cost to participate
• Schools or classrooms will then engage in a climate action project related to one of these topics areas:
  • Energy Conservation
  • Renewable Energy
  • Water Conservation
  • Transportation
  • Purchasing
  • Facilities
  • Awareness/Communication
• Projects must be completed by April 1, 2011, when project reports must be submitted for judging
• The winning projects will be announced in May 2011
• Winning projects will have the opportunity to receive project funding and/or other awards (see below for additional awards and participation incentives)
• Must complete a project that benefits your school and the environment in order to be eligible for project grants

To qualify you must:

• Complete participation/registration form (available on-line in August 2010)
• Classroom or School in grades 9-12 (High School)
• School-affiliated groups are also eligible to participate (i.e. environmental clubs)
• Must have a teacher or school-affiliated mentor for each project

Awards and Participation Incentives:

• Up to $5,000 in Total Grants (per state) will be awarded to winning classrooms; grant size per winning classroom will depend on project scope and available prize funds.
• Certificates awarded to every student who is involved in a submitted project
• Plaque for each winning school/classroom
• Press event for winning classrooms with high profile individuals in attendance
• Educator professional development opportunities in Climate Education
• Youth Leadership Program
• Funding and partnership resources
• Donated trips
• International programs and networking with other schools and climate projects internationally
• Scholarships and internship opportunities for your students
• Highlights on partner organization websites/newsletters
• Other local/regional opportunities to be identified

Detailed information, including judging criteria, participation forms, and project partner database will be available on the Climate Generation website in August 2010.

Click here to sign up to receive news about this program.
We'll notify you via email the day the NEW! Climate Generation website goes live.

Watch the Summer Institute 2009 Recap Video

University of Minnesota Continuing Education and Conference Center, St. Paul, MN

The Will Steger Foundation was proud to launch the 4th Annual Summer Institute for Climate Change Education at the University of Minnesota Continuing Education & Conference Center, August 19th, 2009. A total of 85 participants joined us in person and via webinar for a day of dynamic programming on climate change education and solutions.

2009 Program in Review

Building on a successful history of educational programming, the 4th Annual Summer Institute for Climate Change Education featured a cadre of climate experts, including keynote speaker Bill McKibben, author, environmentalist, and founder of 350.org. Not only did Bill join us for a morning presentation at the Institute, he also spoke alongside Will Steger to an audience of 500 at a community forum in Edina, MN the previous evening.

We made a few significant changes to the Summer Institute this year, running a one-day program instead of our tradition three-day format, holding the event at the University of Minnesota's Center for Continuing Education in St Paul, and offering a full day of programming via webinar for a remote audience.

Our new Citizen Climate Curriculum, investigating global climate solutions for grades 9-12, framed the themes and program for the day. Each Summer Institute participant received a free copy of the curriculum and participated in a hands-on activity featured as one of the lesson plans. The curriculum was designed to directly compliment the international climate negotiations in Copenhagen this December, and provide educators with the necessary knowledge and tools to follow the Will Steger Foundation's Expedition Copenhagen online though the Will Steger Foundation website.

The Institute also featured six noteworthy climate experts on global climate solutions presenting on cap and trade, carbon cycle, equity in negotiations and climate technologies throughout the afternoon:

• Barbara Freese, Union of Concerned Scientists
  • Presentation Download (1.12MB ZIP file )
• John Farrell, Institute for Local Self-Reliance
• Peter Reich, University of Minnesota
  • Presentation Download (43.63MB ZIP file )
• Shalini Gupta, Bush Fellow, Institute for Agriculture Trade and Policy
• Rolf Nordstrom, Great Plains Institute for Sustainable Development
  • Presentation Download (2.89MB ZIP file )

Expedition Copenhagen 2009 Delegates Maia Dedrick and Reed Aranow

As we continue to grow and expand our education program and materials, we strive to find new and exciting ways to engage our audience on tradition and non-traditional educators. We are pleased with the changes we made to our Summer Institute program this year and hope to increase participation in the future, in particular growing our online audience via webinar. We will continue to bring the best and brightest minds on climate change education and solutions to engage with our audience, and look forward to recruiting exciting and dynamic speakers for next year's program. We are committed to equipping and empowering educators with the knowledge and tools necessary to bring climate change education into the mainstream classroom and in doing so, engage a new generation of leadership on this critical issue.

Events Sponsors:

Event Partners

Thanks to these companies for donating products!

School of Environmental Studies, Apple Valley, MN

In 2006, the Will Steger Foundation held its first annual Summer Institute for Climate Change Education, a five-day professional development seminar, attended by approximately 40 educators at the School of Environmental Studies.

The concept for the Institute came to life during through a series of brainstorming sessions with veteran teachers at the School of Environmental Studies (SES) in Apple Valley, MN during the spring of 2006. We had been searching for a way to create global warming curriculum for our website that would be convenient for teachers and experiential in nature. Out of these discussions came the idea to engage teachers in learning about global warming through writing activities for the website.

Goals for the 2006 Summer Institute

• To provide base knowledge on global warming and it's implications

• To provide an introduction to Inuit culture and the impact of global warming on the traditional way of life

• To provide a model(s) of best practices in curriculum writing

• To produce a cross-disciplinary activities catalog on global warming for grades 6-12

• To generate excitement for the 2007 expedition to Baffin Island

Keynote speakers include meteorologist Paul Douglas, Liesl Chapman from the Education Department at the Science Museum of Minnesota, and Inuit guide and expedition co-leader Theo Ikummaq. The Summer Institute provided WSF with an opportunity to cooperate with educators in writing supplemental activities for the website. Teachers were able to get the knowledge they needed to teach global warming and its implications and to follow the Baffin Island Expedition in their classrooms. In contributing at least one global warming activity to the Will Steger Foundation activities to supplement the original Global Warming 101 Lesson Plans for grades 6-12, they supported not only WSF but themselves through the experience of creating this new material.