Education and schools have important connections to becoming more sustainable. Schools need to:
- Model sustainability in their facilities and operations, reducing greenhouse gas emissions [GHG] and minimizing environmental & health impacts.
- Teach about sustainable living and develop students who are ecoliterate by providing many rich opportunities for students to learn about ecology, energy & global warming, local economies, the precautionary principle, public health & sustainability, nonviolent communication and problem-solving, sustainable transportation, human rights, and related topics. (As part of this, they also need to teach about the dangers of fossil fuels, environmental contamination, industrial food production, militarism, discrimination, and other threats to a sustainable society.)
- Develop effective ways to increase and foster critical thinking, innovation, problem solving, participatory decision-making, and restorative justice — instead of adhering to a traditional curriculum and transmission model of education