OUR CHANGING PLANET
“We cannot think about the environment without considering the people who are there (or were there or will be there). Our Changing Planet helped me begin to widen my thinking around the intersections of people and places.”
“The people invested in the Our Changing Planet are willing to take risks and try out new ideas in education which are needed more now than ever.”
“When I start to feel overwhelmed, I fall back on the lessons and practices that were modeled with us. Using the Our Changing Planet as a lens is grounding and reminds me about what is essential and foundational in all I teach.”
Read about Our Changing Planet featured on Ten Strands
Written by Constance Moore & Trena Noval | September 15, 2020
OCP work was featured in an episode of the podcast CHLL: Teachers Preparing Students As Changemakers of Our Changing Planet. Learn more by listening here!
Our Changing Planet (OCP) supports teachers, students, and their communities to understand the value of their local ecosystems, and points them towards their ability to creatively develop solutions that can collaboratively strengthen their community’s climate resilience. At the core of this program are the visual and performing arts that serve as creative hands-on, minds-on experiences for engaging teachers and their students to become their community voice for collective solutions. OCP combines constructivist learning theories grounded in research from Harvard’s Project Zero research institute with culturally responsive teaching practices and the arts and creativity at its core. Through sharing models and stories from contemporary artists, designers, scientists, activists and Indigenous practitioners, OCP inspires and informs ongoing practices that develop environmental awareness and advocacy in classrooms, school communities and across learning organizations. Our Changing Planet centers learning through environmental literacy, social justice, and creativity to engage learners as change-makers for climate justice, igniting imaginations and the creative brilliance of teachers and students towards creating a healthy future.
OCP is led by IDEAL co-founders Indi McCasey and Trena Noval and Alameda Unified School District teachers leaders Constance Moore and Lindsey Shepard. We offer Our Changing Planet Professional Learning both through online sessions and in-person.
LIGHT AWARD 2023-2025
In 2023, Our Changing Planet in collaboration with teacher leaders Constance Moore, Emily Roberts, Lindsey Shepard, Marci Nettles, Heidi Guibord and Amy Haines received the prestigious Light Award from the Intrepid Philanthropy Foundation. We are so honored and excited to work with these educational leaders to dive deeply into our local communities and connect with activists, scientists, environmentalists, artists and designers and organizations from across the bay area who are supporting a regenerative approach to climate change.
