Sustainable Neighborhood Inventory Protocol

Problem Statement: By what criteria can we determine how sustainable our neighborhood is? What’s working, what's not, and what actions can we contribute to improving sustainable conditions?

Why you should attend…

• You have a clear identity with your “neighborhood.” (if not, why not?)
• 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: This is a great entry point for authentic student problem-solving. Learn how to support students in systems thinking, skills of observation, and geographic literacy while conducting an inventory of the current sustainable conditions of a defined area surrounding the place where they live or go to school. Students infer historical, ecological, and economic patterns, including those related to the determinants of equity, to design needed improvements. Students will use voice-recording software to produce a narrated slide show of their investigation which will include their own photo documentation as well as screenshots of different GIS map layers. From this initial inquiry, students identify and prioritize a range of possible impact projects that will make a direct and measurable contribution to one or more policies, plans, or performance measures from city or county government. Learn how to facilitate this process and guide students in applying academic standards in context of local sustainability goals and climate action plans.

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

ANALYZE   City policies applied to neighborhood-scale improvements.

APPLY   Geographic literacy, observation, and intersectional systems thinking.

COACH   Student Impact Projects aligned with city sustainability goals.

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 King County Wastewater Treatment Division and The Russell Family Foundation