May 22, 2024

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to express my deepest gratitude for your support in advocating for the inclusion of education in the upcoming Sixth National Climate Assessment (NCA) report. The NCA serves as a critical component of the U.S. government's efforts to understand, mitigate, and adapt to climate change, and your commitment is invaluable as we collectively strive to integrate educational perspectives into this critical document. With the help of incredible partners across the country, we were able to secure 776 signatures!

There are many purposes of the NCA report, but two primary ones include informing policy and decision-making, with another centering on public awareness and education. This brings us to the next step in our collective call to action, which is to provide the NCA6 team with meaningful inputs and feedback that will facilitate the effective and successful incorporation of education into the report. What might the end result look like? Education could be represented throughout each chapter with dedicated callouts, within a specific chapter with dedicated authors to contribute in substantive ways, as a standalone chapter, or as a special report.

To achieve this, we need to remember that the NCA reports generally focus on assessing available and emerging strategies, developments, impacts, and solutions related to climate change within a set timeframe. We strongly encourage you to contribute literature, reports, papers, literature reviews, and other creative methods of documenting or sharing knowledge on education at the intersection of climate. Additionally, r ecommendations on specific areas for national assessment that would benefit schools, communities, students, and educators are crucial.

Such contributions will help position the NCA reports as valuable teaching tools for educators and practical guides for school leaders. These reports could assist in future planning by addressing regional climate risks and opportunities, decarbonization efforts, and the development of sustainable and resilient school infrastructures and systems.

*Image credit: U.S. GCRP National Climate Assessment

The urgent deadline to submit your input to the NCA6 team is June 7th, 2024. Your timely contributions will demonstrate our collective strength and support the NCA6 team to integrate education in meaningful ways. A gentle reminder that the NCA primarily focuses on scientific content, with social science beginning to be incorporated. There might not yet be a vision for how education can be incorporated, so it’s our collective responsibility to provide clear, and actionable pathways for them rooted in information and data that is currently available or emerging in this field.

Watch this video recording from NCA for more info on how to register and provide input.

Thank you all for your on-going commitment and dedication! Together, we can ensure that education plays a pivotal role in the nation's climate assessment, paving the way for a more informed, just, and resilient future.

In community,

Kelley Lê, Ed.D.

Executive Director, UC-CSU Environmental and Climate Change Literacy Projects

Thank you once again to the following incredible leaders and organizational partners for their support in this call to action!

Amanda L. Townley

Executive Director, National Center for Science Education

Anne Gold

Director CIRES Center for Education, Engagement and Evaluation & Principal Investigator Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN)

Bryce Coon

Director of Education, EARTHDAY.ORG 

Christina Kwauk

Research Director, Unbounded Associates & Co-Founder, Unbounded Alliance

Christine Whitcraft

Professor, Biological Sciences & Director, Environmental Science and Policy at California State University Long Beach

David Blockstein, Ph.D.

Co-Director, Worldwide Climate and Justice Education Week at Bard College Center for Environmental Policy

Emily A. Fano, MA

Senior Manager, Climate & Resilience Education, National Wildlife Federation

Estefanía Pihen

Program Director, Climate Action Pathway for Schools

Fred Uy

Director, Educator & Leadership Programs and Co-Director, Center for the Advancement of Instruction in Quantitative Reasoning at California State University Office of the Chancellor

Joana Tavares

Director, California Center for Climate Change Education at West Los Angeles College

Karen Cowe

CEO, Ten Strands

Kevin Coyle

Senior Associate, Campaign for Environmental Literacy

Margaret Wang

COO and Co-Founder, SubjectToClimate

Sarah Bodor

Senior Director of Capacity Building, NAAEE

Seth Spencer

Teach Climate Network Coordinator, Climate Generation

Tamara Wallace

Senior Manager of Systemwide Energy, Sustainability, and Transportation

Department of Capital Planning, Design, and Construction at California State University Office of the Chancellor