Impact Project Design: Youth Agency and Voice! PBL at its core!

Problem Statement: How can I apply my academic knowledge and skills to design a project that would measurably improve sustainable conditions at home, school, or in my community?

Why you should attend…

• You want to do more than grade another brochure, PowerPoint, or poster.
• You love it when your students are authentically engaged.
• You find it messy but thrilling to guide students without knowing all the answers.
• You value a sustainable future.

About the Lab: PBL at is core! This Lab follows a project design protocol not unlike work plans and project scopes that happen in the real-world. Learn how to support students in defining the problem and intended impact, researching background and identifying stakeholders, aligning with local policies, plans, and performance measures, implementation, data collection and reporting outcomes to those who need to know. The elements of this lesson can be dispersed throughout the arc of a larger unit or throughout an entire quarter or semester. When we educate for sustainability, we focus authentic problem solving on measurably improving sustainable community conditions. The more local and personal the better. Students want to feel agency in applying academic skills to create impact valued by their community. This means that from the very beginning of the project design process, students need to know who is already working on the problem and what performance measures are being used to assess progress in their community. Learn how in this Lab!

PRACTICE  The fundamentals of problem-based, place-based learning

ANALYZE   Current conditions, community needs, and stakeholders perspectives

APPLY   Systems thinking to identify solutions, track impact, report outcomes

COACH   Student Impact Projects aligned with city climate action plans

DESIGN   Lessons for application in your classroom

EXPLORE   Career profiles of people who are working on solving this problem

Associated Standards and Frameworks

• OSPI - Environmental Sustainability Standards
• NGSS - High School Human Sustainability Standards 
• OSPI - Social Studies Standards for Civics, Economics, Geography, History,
• College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies
• Common Core State Standards - English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics

Funded in part by Cascade Water Alliance, King County Wastewater Treatment Division, and The Russell Family Foundation