Climate Change Education

Cassie Xu is the former director of K-12 and continuing education at the Columbia Climate School, where she led efforts to establish the Office of Education and Outreach.Radhika Iyengar is a research scholar and the director of education at the Columbia Climate School’s Center for Sustainable Development.

• Foreword, by Alex HallidayAcknowledgmentsIntroductionPart I. Why Climate Education Needs Systems Thinking1. Defining Systems Thinking and Climate ChangePart II. Climate Change Education and Future Workforces2. Systems Thinking Skills and Outcomes3. Strategies in Instructional DesignPart III. Examples and Case Studies of Climate Change Education in Practice4. Climate Change in Formal Learning Environments5. Community-Based (Informal) Education6. Teaching Climate Change in Nonformal SettingsPart IV. The Future of Climate Education7. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access as a Tool for Addressing Social and Environmental Justice8. Role of the Columbia Climate School in Climate EducationConclusion NotesIndex

Climate Change Education is more than an emergency call. It is a direct challenge – an all-hands-on-deck strategy – for scientists, policymakers, educators, and the broader community to mobilize forces in response to the climate crisis. Our survival depends on our capacity to work together to center ecological literacy and justice across the curriculum, while transforming cultures and institutions toward more sustainable futures.