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Stewardship of Nature

Ecoliteracy for Resilient Futures

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biome building and science-art based analysis in preK classrooms

The Environmental Innovations Initiative’s Ecoliteracy for Resilient Futures research community, in partnership with a local school, develops and evaluates hands-on approaches to early childhood climate education with a focus on sustainability, health, and environmental stewardship.

Laia Mogas-Soldevila, an assistant professor of architecture at the Weitzman School of Design, together with an interdisciplinary team of experts, is incorporating climate education and regenerative design into the K-2 curriculum. Their effort builds on a local partnership with Comegys Elementary School, part of the Philadelphia School District, located in the Kingsessing neighborhood of West Philadelphia. Comegys is vulnerable to extreme heat events exacerbated by climate change. In addition to warming temperatures, widespread concrete surfaces and a lack of shade contribute to the “urban heat island” effect, which makes the school and its surroundings uncomfortably hot during the summer months. To address this challenge, teachers and researchers in the community are collaborating to co-develop project-based learning experiences that empower young students to create solutions. These solutions include using natural fibers, aggregates, and living systems as alternatives to unsustainable building materials. Mogas-Soldevila and her colleagues will evaluate their approach to determine its effectiveness for implementation in other schools, with potential partnerships in Chile, Indonesia, Ghana, and Bangladesh.

Penn collaborators: 

  • Emily Hannum, professor, Department of Sociology, School of Arts & Sciences
  • Sharon Wolf, associate professor, Human Development and Quantitative Methods Division, Graduate School of Education
  • Jere Behrman, professor, Department of Economics, School of Arts & Sciences 

External collaborators: 

  • Sara Karlen, Senior Lead Elementary Teacher on Nature Art & Ecoliteracy
  • Principal Rauchaun DuPree, PhilaSD Benjamin B. Comegys Elementary
  • Jennifer Adams, Johns Hopkins University, Education, Director International Teaching and Global Leadership
  • Hunter Gehlbach, Johns Hopkins University, Education, Education Co-Director the Institute for Planetary Health
Project Type:
Current Communities
Topics:
Climate
Infrastructure
Philadelphia
Sustainability
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biome building and science-art based analysis in preK classrooms

Recent work on biome building and science-art based analysis in pre-K classrooms led by DumoLab’s Sharlene Yulita with teacher Sara Karlen and visiting researcher Camilla Cantadori (Image: Courtesy of Laia Mogas-Soldevila)

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“We respond to UNESCO’s education for a sustainability roadmap, ensuring that all learners have opportunities to acquire the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes needed for promoting sustainable development.” 

- Laia Mogas-Soldevila, Weitzman School of Design