“The CELF program exceeded my highest expectations. You have inspired, challenged and equipped us for a tremendous school year filled with sustainability education programs for our students. Your knowledge, energy, commitment and teaching skills are unbelievable. You helped our teachers develop appropriate curriculum and lessons and have given them the knowledge and tools to be successful.”
Dr. Steven Frantz
District Sustainability Coordinator Former Principal Scarsdale School District, NY
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“In the coming decades, the survival of humanity will depend on our ecological literacy — our ability to understand the basic principles of ecology and to live accordingly. This means that ecoliteracy must become a critical skill… and should be the most important part of education at all levels…” – Fritjof Capra, PhD
Preparing Future Citizens and Leaders
Education not only informs, it can stretch and reshape minds with new ideas. It has the power to transform students themselves into agents of change, helping to create a sustainable future for us all.
Education for sustainability is essential for today’s students to make wise decisions for their own well-being and for the good of the planet and all its inhabitants. CELF provides sustainability education programs to prepare students with the critical thinking skills and intellectual framework to face the most critical issues of the 21st century.
At the college level, many traditional fields of study have evolved to offer students the knowledge they’ll need to become part of the sustainability revolution. CELF believes sustainability education must begin earlier in students’ academic life. We focus on K-12 as formative years for shaping thinking, attitudes, values and behaviors.
CELF’s Goal and Commitment: Educating for Sustainability
CELF’s goal is to make sustainability education an integral part of every school’s curricula and culture, from kindergarten through high school. Our approach is comprehensive, engaging students, teachers and administrators, parents, communities and businesses through professional development, consulting services, and experiential programs.
We believe that it is as important for students to recognize the interconnectedness of natural and human-built systems as to learn reading, writing and arithmetic. Once students grasp the connections between a stable economy, a healthy environment and equitable social systems, and their role as global citizens, they are successfully launched into an already more sustainable world – a world that they are empowered to protect and enjoy.
CELF News and Upcoming Events
2010 CELF NY & Boston Summer Institutes
CELF Newsletter
CELF EXPO'10 & GSCW Conference:
Achievements
The CELF-Sustaining Sustainability Program: Reframing a district’s curriculum and culture through sustainability»
Capturing Learning Opportunities from a Green Building: Student engagement and knowledge are increased through authentic learning using the school building as a learning tool»
A Smaller Footprint: School in Rye, NY reduces its footprint by 11% as a result of the Action Plan developed through CELF’s School Eco-Footprint program»
2009 Summer Institute Review: School teams from across NY and AR develop K-12 curriculum units and frameworks for sustainabilty educuation.

