As I pause to give thanks for the abundance around me, I reflect on both my privilege and my responsibility to work towards a safe, just, abundant future for all. Sometimes what inspires me to work a little harder towards that responsibility is to follow the progress at the international level. Exciting world events this fall include New York City Climate Week which occurred at the end of September, and the upcoming COP 16 on Biodiversity in Columbia, COP 29 on Climate Change in Azerbaijan, and the 5th meeting on the Global Plastics Treaty in the Republic of Korea, all happening in the next 2 months!
I am also inspired by great stories and opportunities much closer to home, many of which you will find in this edition of our newsletter.
Warm regards,
Michèle Andrews, Executive Director
DoorNumberOne.org is registering our fifth cohort in the Climate Action Accelerator Program (CAAP)! Schools around Canada and the U.S. will participate over 3 years, during which time they build and begin to implement a bold, whole-school climate and nature action plan. School teams work together, building a network and learning from each other, as well as from the experienced team of educators and experts. School teams include: Faculty, Operations & Facilities Staff, Senior Administrators, and at least 2 Student Leaders. Many schools add many other members to their team. Deadline to register with us: December 13th. Learn more here.
Announcing the Climate + Nature Leadership Pledge
This pledge was co-created with the founding schools in the Climate Action Accelerator Program.
We believe schools can be a healing force in our communities and lead us to a safe, healthy future for all. This pledge is another step for schools to take on that journey. It is free and open to any school, anywhere.
Read the pledge, see who has already signed, and request your copy here.
Inspiration from …
5 CAAP Schools sharing their Climate & Nature Action on their websites!
Check out some of our leading CAAP schools who are sharing their goals, plans and achievements on their websites: Appleby College, Hillfield Strathallan College, Mulgrave School, TFS – Canada’s International School, and Trinity College School. We celebrate all schools willing to be leaders and share their plans and experiences – we all benefit when we learn together! As more of our schools build their webpages we will add them.
The DoorNumberOne.org website is full of inspiring stories from organizations supporting climate and nature action in schools.
Watch a short video where Mulgrave School Grade 12 students Ulwiana and Ihsan talk about their climate action.
Greening the Gavel Climate Change Education Webinar
As the climate crisis escalates, schools are under pressure to make climate education more rigorous and justice-focused. Meanwhile, empowered youth all over the world are taking governments and corporations to court to demand action. Canadian educator Travis Fuchs will be co-hosting this University of Oxford webinar to explore how climate litigation can bolster climate change education. Learn the basics of climate lawsuits and their potential to energise teaching and learning across school subjects. Webinar will feature current lawsuits in Canada, Australia, and Aotearoa New Zealand.
Last April DoorNumberOne.org hosted our first Unconference of Hope and Bold School Climate Action, with students, educators, operations and facilities staff, administrators, board members, business and non-profit partners. Since then we’ve been introducing you to each of our sponsors. Meet Aquest Design. They make office and school furniture with a very impressive approach to quality and planet-friendly practices. Check out this slideshow to learn more about their approach to responsible design and manufacturing.
A Greener Hallowe’en
Our friends at Green Learning have some suggestions for a greener Hallowe’en. What other tips do you have? Tag us on Instagram with your ideas! @doornumberonenfp
Deepen Your Indigenous Learning
The Outdoor Learning School and Store is running this course: 4 Seasons of Indigenous Learning. DoorNumberOne.org would like to share this discount code CERT20. The Outdoor Learning School and Store is a Canadian charity providing a wide range of Indigenous Learning Resources.
Save the Dates – July 8 – 11, 2025 – Leading Beyond Green Leadership Institute
DoorNumberOne.org will once again be co-hosting a Leadership Institute for school and district leaders wanting to deepen their practice in leading aspirational climate and nature action. We are returning to the pastoral setting of The Ecology School at River Bend Farm in Maine. Set on over 300 acres, The Ecology School has an active agroecology farm, and has built its dining hall and dormitory to the standard of the Living Building Challenge, the most aspirational building standard in the world. It is an ideal setting for our work. Registration will open in November. Learn more here.
Voices of Inspiration
As we reflect on the abundance of our harvest, we thought we would share The Serviceberry, An Economy of Abundance, by Robin Wall Kimmerer published as an essay in Emergence Magazine in 2022. You can also listen to Robin narrating it at that same link. Robin’s long anticipated new book, The Serviceberry, Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World, is coming out in November. You can pre-order it with our friends at The Outdoor Learning School and Store – a Canadian charity providing a wide range of Indigenous Learning Resources. They should be shipping in time for the gift-giving season, and the book would make a wonderful donation to your school or local library!
Please share this newsletter with your students, friends and colleagues looking for practical inspiration for taking climate and nature action in schools and communities, and join us in building a movement too exciting to resist, and too powerful to ignore!
Connect with us!
DoorNumberOne.org is a Canadian charity proudly catalyzing bold climate and nature action in and through schools.
Climate Action Accelerator Program costs are covered by participating schools, but there is so much else we are doing to share our resources and learning for all. If you want to support this work, please donate here, with our sincere thanks.