Organization Chart
Our Shared Leadership Model
The initiative will be university-based, assuming an ideal position to create, stimulate and draw upon faculty research in the areas of environmental and climate science, social sciences, STEM, pedagogy, trauma-informed practices, indigenous ways of knowing and being, and other essential fields, such as law, sustainability, and public policy.
The initiative will be led by the executive director at UCI through the School of Education, and in subsequent years support the connection to other UC and CSU campuses. In year 2, CSUDH will lead as the first CSU hub to work alongside UCI support teacher preparation, as well as regional and campus specific needs. Activities will be distributed across both university systems and partnering campuses/faculty at other campuses modeling collaborative approaches with use of technology, research, and respective development offices.
Roles and Responsibilities
In collaboration with the executive committee, the executive director sets strategic direction, collaborates with the three committee leads for coherence, enacts ECCLPs’ mission and strategic plans, ensures equity measures are met, leads fundraising efforts, and supports statewide Campus Hub Task Force groups.
Reports student, teacher, and community engagement data and updates to the executive committee.
We seek to leverage the resources of our institutions and our partners to advance accessible, inclusive, equity-centered, and culturally relevant climate and environmental justice literacy for all through committees focused on three key areas. These committees will determine gaps, create and meet goals and strategies, coordinate an annual virtual forum for PK–12 audiences to engage with constituents, and collaborate with the other two committees and ongoing statewide efforts to inform the projects.
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Serves as a highly visible service and research delivery hub for statewide educators and may produce focused science and social science research to develop evidence-based approaches to teaching climate change and environmental justice, pedagogy, and professional learning programs.
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Increases PK-12 educators' pedagogical capacity and expertise to teach climate and environmental justice issues and solutions by enhancing UC and CSU teacher preparation and continued in-service professional learning programming to reflect evidence-based approaches recommended by the research and CBP committees.
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Advances PK–12 school–civic partnerships so teachers can learn from climate and environmental justice educators, experts, and resources by possibly connecting schools, teacher preparation programs, and professional learning programs to community organizations and beyond. This committee also coordinates with the research and teaching and learning committees to enhance research capacity with community-based partners.
Watch this video to learn more about community organizations and how researchers and educators can leverage partnerships with them.
Groups That Provide Generative Input
Executive committee members represent educator preparation and sustainability from the UC Office of the President and the CSU Chancellor’s Office, UC and CSU campus faculty focused on education and science, and Ten Strands, California’s leading nonprofit focused on advancing PK–12 environmental literacy.
In collaboration with the executive director, sets strategic direction, provides oversight to drive and ensure vision, mission, and strategic plans.
Guides and refines processes with expertise and resources. Temporarily serves as an advisory board.
Steering committee members consists of leaders in PK–12, government, NGOs, CBPs, etc.
Informs, advises, and provides guidance and feedback on the work and scale of the three working committees depending on area of expertise. Connects relevant networks to committee leads as needed.
Housed at the UCI School of Education.
Provides academic leadership, guidance, research, and funding support to the executive director to support the activities and data collection/analyses of ECCLPs.
*Will begin June 2024
Working committees will identify and connect with relevant networks and ongoing statewide initiatives across UC, CSU, and community organizations for coherence, support, implementation, resources, and visibility. Examples:
UC–CSU networks: ECCLPs Task Force, ECCLPs PK–12 District Partners, ECCLPs Youth Ambassadors, California Subject Matter Project (CSMP), UC–CSU Knowledge Action Network (KAN), UC–CSU NXTerra
UC networks: UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR), UC Student Academic Preparation and Educational Partnerships (SAPEP)
CSU networks: Campus as a Living Lab programs, CSU Course Redesign with Technology program, CSU Mathematics and Science Teacher Initiative
Statewide networks: Ten Strands (through the California Environmental Literacy Initiative and Climate Change and Environmental Justice Program), California School Leadership Academy (CSLA), California Regional Environmental Education Collaborative (CREEC)
National networks: National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, United States Global Change Research Program, National Nanotechnology Coordination Office
ECCLPs-specific Networks
ECCLPs Campus Hubs
ECCLPs Campus Hubs are housed at UC and CSU campuses (Coordinated currently out of UC Irvine with the first SoCal CSU hub starting up at CSU Dominguez Hills) that:
Contributes significantly to ECCLPs leadership, e.g., UC Irvine designates an executive director and endowed chair and CSU Dominguez Hills designates a team member as the ECCLPs Teaching and Learning Committee Lead.
Advance ECCLPs mission on a regional level, e.g.; campus hubs coordinating a campus-wide Task Force consisting of faculty/staff from each school to work alongside a regional teacher workgroup to respond to local district needs.
Support sustainable funding efforts for the specific campus hubs, e.g., UC Irvine provided $3M in seed funding, CSUCO and ECCLPs supporting the CSUDH campus hub with initial seed funding.
ECCLPs Campus Task Force
Campus task forces leverage faculty and staff knowledge across departments to respond to regional needs of educators, districts, and CBPs, which includes connecting local districts to relevant ECCLPs partners, pilot opportunities, and research capacity.
The UC Irvine ECCLPs task force launched with the following structure in mind: one faculty or staff member from each school to meet monthly and discuss local climate and environmental PK-12 education needs and solutions. UCI Science Project represents local PK–12 school districts with insight on school and classroom needs and the UCI Sustainability Resource Center offers expertise and a network with all departments with support from undergraduate student leaders.
ECCLPs PK-12 Teacher Workgroup
Centers educator voices in the working committees’ goals and strategies. Educators in the workgroup are offered opportunities to implement and provide feedback on initiatives that flow out of the committees, across the state, grade levels, and disciplines to support school districts and students in addressing climate and environmental literacy, justice, and action. The workgroup will also strategize on developing the ECCLPs Youth Ambassador Network.
ECCLPs Youth Ambassadors Network (to be launched)
ECCLPs Youth Ambassadors will be led by students with key opportunities to connect with UC and CSU undergraduate students in climate, sustainability, and environmental related majors to lead regional responses to community issues. The students will have opportunities in local leadership roles to also connect with other chapters across the state and community-based partners. The committees may access youth voices through this youth group to inform ECCLPs initiatives and projects.
ECCLPs PK–12 District Partners
The task force creates a network of school district partners local to the task force university campuses. The PK–12 district partners may:
Connect to relevant ECCLPs partners for in-classroom support or learning experiences beyond the classroom.
Serve as piloting sites for ECCLPs’ and partner initiatives, such as testing the new statewide climate change and environmental justice curriculum (currently under development).
Build research capacity (e.g., piloting impact for the ECCLPs Research Committee to measure impact over time).
Coordinate support for youth ambassador chapters with local universities and CBPs.
Several superintendents have passed board resolutions to formalize a partnership with ECCLPs in Orange County because of UC Irvine’s ECCLPs campus hub status and we intend to build a network of districts across the state.
All Other Constituents
Constituents who would like to participate in ECCLPs, but are not included in the above categories are invited to engage in the annual forum symposiums hosted by each committee and join the upcoming statewide call to action campaign.