California’s Environmental Literacy Initiative

TreePeople is proud to be a part of the California Environmental Literacy Initiative. In partnership with the nonprofit Ten Strands, TreePeople and other stakeholders work statewide together to ensure that every student in California develops the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to make sound informed decisions about environmental issues facing their communities and society.

TreePeople participates on the leadership council of the Initiative. The main goal of the council is to achieve environmental literacy for all of California’s 6.2 million K–12 students through the following goals:

• Identifying ways to enhance the cultural relevance of environmental literacy while ensuring equity and inclusion in program initiatives
• Ensuring the State’s Environmental Principles and Concepts are fully represented in new instructional materials, professional learning programs, and assessments
• Scaling the California Regional Environmental Education Community Network to forge meaningful connections between program providers, community-based organizations, schools, and school districts
• Working with select districts around the state to model how to identify strategies and resources to weave environmental literacy work into standards-based coursework linked to Local Control Accountability Plans and other local funding sources
• Communicating success stories and best practices to establish support for environmental literacy as a driver for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education, career technical education, and the Governor’s climate action goals
• Continuing to raise private money and secure public money to drive implementation priorities