The International Coalition of Girls’ Schools Global Forum is this week in Toronto. It brings 600+ educators and partners from across the globe. The highlight of the week for me will be when DoorNumberOne.org facilitates a conversation between the Honourable Catherine McKenna and a group of students in grades 10 through 12 on Friday afternoon. No doubt these rising leaders will take home new encouragement and inspiration from Ms. McKenna. We will be interested to follow how this experience impacts their schools and beyond.
We look forward to sharing more about the workshop, discussions, and our time with Ms McKenna after the Forum.
Ms. McKenna’s message will undoubtedly include emphasis on how we all exercise agency. Individual agency has been the topic in two global podcasts I follow. Outrage and Optimism co-hosts Tom Rivet-Carnac and Christiana Figueres discussed the despair being felt around the world by all ages. Christiana reminds us of other significant, historic social transformations, and how people persevere long before success seems likely. Think women’s suffrage or anti-apartheid. Amongst many resonant points was this one from Tom: “…if this moment requires anything from us, it is precisely the ability to act before success is guaranteed. To lead before we know where everyone else stands.”
In the second podcast, Two Inconvenient Women co-hosts Rachel Musson and Holly Everett consider systems change and what that looks like ‘from the inside out’ (Episode #82). They remind us of the work of Adrienne Maree Brown in Emergent Strategy, in which she says: “How we are at the small scale is how we are at the large scale. The patterns of the universe repeat at scale. There is a structural echo that suggests two things: one, that there are shapes and patterns fundamental to our universe, and two, that what we practice at a small scale can reverberate to the largest scale.”
I am taking this wisdom forward into my own summer reflections and planning for the upcoming school year: we need to lead and act without guarantees of success, and we need to know in our hearts that the patterns we create will ripple out in our homes, communities, schools, and beyond.
Our stories in this newsletter feature different ways that schools and organizations are working with students to take climate and Nature action. I hope they will inspire you to consider, in your own summer reflections and planning for next year, how your school might engage with your students for greater impact and results.
Happy Summer from all of us at DoorNumberOne.org.
Michele Andrews, Executive Director
Appleby College in Oakville, has long been committed to environmental stewardship, and in 2020 the school took a significant step forward. Following a whole-school sustainability audit, Appleby set out to ensure climate action would become a lasting part of school culture and operations. They created two Directors of Sustainability and Regeneration, and a Sustainability and Regeneration Prefect role. And they joined the pilot cohort of our Climate Action Accelerator Program – CAAP.
Empowering students with agency has been a priority, and one recent highlight has been WasteZero, a student-led campaign to reduce food waste. Between September 2023 and June 2024, students cut monthly food waste by 57%, preventing nearly 700 kilograms of greenhouse gas emissions. The initiative has since been shared with other schools, extending its impact beyond Appleby’s campus.
Student leadership is also on display in the school’s Sustainability Hub, a central gathering place where students collaborate on projects and showcase climate and Nature action initiatives. More recently, students helped create the Go Wild Friendship Garden, featuring native Canadian plants and honouring Indigenous knowledge and traditions. Appleby co-hosted the student-led Youth Action Summit that has become a rotating event at Toronto area schools. DoorNumberOne.org has been proud to be part of Appleby’s journey, and delighted to see how the students have embraced their ability to lead, at their own school and beyond.
Ashbury College in Ottawa is another school showing what’s possible when climate leadership becomes part of school culture. To conclude Earth Month this spring, Ashbury College welcomed Green Party leader and lifelong environmental advocate Elizabeth May for a conversation with students about environmental stewardship, climate action, and the role young people can play in shaping a healthy, thriving future.
Our Executive Director, Michèle Andrews was invited to attend this school event, along with several other community partners. Elizabeth May’s visit was a fitting reflection of Ashbury’s ongoing commitment to whole-school climate and Nature action. What made the event particularly inspiring was the enthusiastic response and thoughtful, informed questions from the students.
Schools send a clear message through the speakers they invite to campus. Bravo to Ashbury leadership for creating this special opportunity for their students to hear from one of our country’s leaders. After the visit, we heard from the incoming student Sustainability Prefect who is already working on plans for next year’s goals to lead a new food waste reduction initiative in the fall.
We continue to see that when schools create space for student leadership connected to the administration and operations of their schools, young people respond with creativity, determination, and impact.
“Sometimes, I feel like the attitude towards supporting youth climate initiatives is that ‘Oh, you’re facing this with foolish hope’, but in my mind, as kids, what we have is more of a relentless hope. Even though we understand the state of our climate and our environment, and there is a lot of eco-anxiety, despite that, as we’ve seen with the cohort of kids in this film, we are still relentlessly hopeful.” – Olivia Cheng, rising grade 11 student at Havergal College
In June, our friends at the Centre for Global Education brought this spirit of relentless hope to Toronto Climate Week through a special presentation featuring a screening of Future Council, the inspiring film by director Damon Gameau.
Following the screening, three students took the stage to share their reflections on youth empowerment, environmental advocacy, and the importance of ensuring that children’s voices are heard in conversations about our collective future.
Their message was clear: young people understand the challenges facing our world, but they are choosing hope, action, and leadership. As Olivia reminded the audience, hope is not naïve – it is relentless. As we say: students are building a movement too powerful to ignore!
Our friends at the Outdoor Learning School & Store are offering a fantastic lineup of online professional learning opportunities for educators this year. Courses include Connecting Children to Nature through Indigenous Teachings Online Course, Indigenous Scientific Principles and Applications Online Course, Nature Journaling through the Seasons (Educator Focused), and Walking Together: Two-Eyed Seeing for Educators Online Course. These engaging programs offer practical tools and fresh perspectives for educators looking to deepen connections with Nature, Indigenous knowledge, and outdoor learning.
What climate and Nature books are inspiring you this summer? Our Regeneration, Climate & Nature Action page features a growing collection of books for children, youth, educators, and anyone interested in creating a more regenerative future.
Among our favourites are: What If We Get It Right? by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, and The Good Ancestor by Roman Krznaric. These books offer a powerful blend of imagination, wisdom, practical action, and hope.
These titles are just the beginning. You’ll find many more recommendations on our Resources & Inspiration page and in the Climate Action Accelerator Program’s Suggested Reading & Listening List. Whether you’re seeking inspiration, deeper understanding, or fresh perspectives, there’s something there for every stage of your climate action journey.