Climate Change Adaptation and Community Schools - A Primer

Overview  

Beyond merely coping with climate change, we need to adapt to climate change. This requires a drastic shift in the way we build and maintain our communities. Schools are deeply interconnected with vibrant communities and need to align with community adaptation efforts at large. A new interpretation and evolution of community schools is about to happen.      

Community Schools

“Community” is a fascinating word. The vision of cooperation and collegiality it promotes is unique to everyone. Schools are particularly amenable. Everybody wants community schools but, for operational purposes, the concept requires policy and defined practice.

The scope of work required to address community climate adaptation is large, as articulated by many organizations including the Ontario Professional PIanners Institute. “Preparing for the unavoidable impacts of climate change requires a drastic shift in the way we build our communities and requires immediate and committed action at every level of government, society, and across all sectors.”[i]

To date, school districts have had limited engagement with climate change adaptation. Now is the time to engage adaptation through strong working relationship between students, staff and local populations; community schools.    

Physical and Social Adaptation

Climate change requires two types of community school adaptation; namely, physical and social adaptation.

Physical Adaptation involves school operations as they relate to structural upgrades, community shelter from extreme weather, and student transportation.

Ontario alone has a backlog of school facility upgrade needs of more than $15B. This infrastructure gap does not account for the physical adaptation needs of schools. At a minimum, school districts need to assess, plan and implement upgraded heating and cooling systems. They also need the capacity to provide community defense from extreme weather wherever possible.

With respect to student transportation, a shift to electrified vehicles would appear to be the obvious adaptation effort necessary. However, students do not regularly attend the school in their immediate vicinity. Student transportation operates in accordance with school program attendance boundaries. Inevitable changes to student transportation will require a reconsideration of the availability and location of school programs. Ensuring flexibility and equity of access, with support for other means such as cycling, walking, and public transportation, will be of key importance.

Social Adaptation involves bringing people together; to connect students with community services through data, staff development, and process improvements that promote equity.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is one of a number of institutions emphasizing that climate adaptation requires schools to “unite us around collective endeavours and provide the knowledge and innovation needed to shape sustainable and peaceful futures for all anchored in social, economic and environmental justice.” [ii]

Community schools connect educators with community partners based upon student interests and learning needs, supported by real-time data. They provide a range of personalized learning experiences that align with rapidly changing community needs.

Many social service organizations already work interdependently with schools. They are burdened, as are school districts, with increasing demand for social services, particularly student mental health. These demands will continue to increase with the impact of climate change. The challenge to be addressed is largely about procedure and practice. Social adaptation can promote a deeper connection between schools and community through informed processes framed by equity and student voice.

Together, physical and social adaptation can align community schools with climate adaptation planning and action through collaborative leadership, innovation, responsive funding, and measured success.

The Indigenous Connection

Adaptation is also an opportunity to make a stronger connection with Indigenous culture and peoples. This can happen through a more strategic and purposeful activation of existing frameworks.

Ontario, for example, has the 2007 Ontario First Nation, Métis, and Inuit (FNMI) Education Policy Framework which, based upon a sustainable, holistic and integrated approach to improving FNMI student outcomes, includes specific direction for school districts to:

·       facilitate intercultural dialogue throughout school communities (strategy 3.2, p.19),

·       foster school-community projects with appropriate cultural components (strategy 3.2, p.19).

·       develop creative strategies to encourage more FNMI parents to participate more actively and directly in the education of their children (strategy 3.3, p.20), and

·       increase involvement of FNMI parents, Elders, and other community resources (strategy 3.3, p.20).

Through the lens of climate change adaptation, community schools can bring new momentum to the already established need for Indigenous rights and values.

Awareness, Planning and Action

The need for climate adaptation is based upon scientific fact. Despite the increasing magnitude and frequency of heat, wildfires, atmospheric rivers and extreme weather events, most communities still need to raise awareness about the need for climate adaptation. It is necessary for school districts and local organizations to use every means available to start the dialogue.

Emergency response is important, but not enough. Climate change cannot remain a peripheral component of school district operations. It must be recognized as a primary driver of school district operations.

Raising awareness is the front end of a physical and social adaptation planning and action process that can be activated through community schools. Aligning all spectra of school district operations with climate adaptation through existing policies, procedures and adjustments to multi-year strategic and board improvement plans is a good place to start.

People want community schools. Let’s get this going, before it’s too late.

Phil Dawes, March 2024

[i] OPPI Statement on Climate Change Amid the COP 26 UN Climate Change Conference

[ii] UNESCO Reimagining Our Futures Together: A New Social Contract for Education