Recruiting Volunteers for a PSB Climate & Sustainability Task Force

Posted: 5/18/2023 5:45 pm

https://www.smore.com/rg2ap

The Public Schools of Brookline is calling for volunteer experts to serve on a Climate and Sustainability Community Task Force to support the implementation of the PSB Sustainability Policy.

Volunteers will serve in one of four groups designated by the Sustainability Policy:

1. Education and Engagement;
2. Energy, Buildings, and Outdoor Spaces;
3. Food Services and Waste; and
4. Transportation.

PSB approved a Sustainability Policy in October 2022 after a series of presentations and petitions, by students and educators, on the topic of climate change and youth. In a survey taken by Brookline High School teacher Roger Grande in 2019, more than one-third of students surveyed reported “feelings about climate change that negatively impact [their] mental health or emotional well-being, or cause anxiety or depression,” and 14% reported that those feelings interfered with their ability to function normally in school. Others presented school-based initiatives in areas such as composting, gardening, and farm-to-table cafeteria programs.

The Climate and Sustainability Task Force will operate over a year-long period, beginning in the summer of 2023. Each panel will accomplish three tasks:

1. Inventory town assets (initiatives, organizations, activities, investments, funded positions) already working in this area, identifying those that PSB can partner with, leverage, or scale to achieve relevant objectives of the Sustainability Policy;
2. Issue recommendations for PSB actions (such as further policies, coordination mechanisms, or investments) to achieve relevant objectives of the Sustainability Policy; and
3. Present these inventories and recommendations to the School Committee and other interested stakeholders for possible action.

We are looking for community members with expertise and experience working in the intersection of climate change/justice or environmental education and learning, equity, wellness, resilience, or mental health, as well as specific expertise in:

1. Group 1 (Education and Engagement): climate science; curriculum; out-of-school learning; non-formal/informal learning; pedagogy; student leadership; youth voice; parent engagement; and community engagement;
2. Group 2 (Energy, Buildings, and Outdoor Spaces): energy conservation and efficiency; renewable and alternative energy; electrification; high-performance buildings; green building standards; outdoor learning; and green schoolyards and recreational spaces;
3. Group 3 (Food Services and Waste): farm-to-school initiatives; zero waste/waste management; composting; school gardening; recycling and reuse; water use efficiency; and organic foods;
4. Group 4 (Transportation): green transportation, public transportation, electric vehicles, fuel efficiency, cycling, alternative fuels, greenhouse gas emissions.

If you have expertise relevant to one or more of these groups, please send an email to the Brookline School Committee, c/o Betsy Fitzpatrick (betsy_fitzpatrick@psbma.org) by Friday, June 2 at 5:00 p.m. Please indicate your areas of relevant expertise and the group to which you feel best suited to contribute. The expected time commitment will be 4-5 hours/month of meeting time, supplemented by additional research or activities, through September 2024. Volunteers will be expected to attend biweekly meetings and work towards completing group deliverables. Meetings will comply with the Open Meeting Law.

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