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Funders and Partners
Our funders and partners give us their support, their knowledge, their skills and their habits of mind, their time, their advice, their contacts, and they give us hope. Funders We gratefully acknowledge the individuals and organizations who have supported The Cloud Institute. Recent funders include:
In-kind Donations
Strategic Partners We use a model (see diagram) to describe the framework for education for sustainability that depicts a set of nested systems. In the center is the learner (1), and then the habits of mind of a whole systems thinker (2), then the core content and congruent pedagogy (3), the organization that learns (4), the physical plant, procurement etc.(5) and finally in the outer most circle, the community that learns (6). At the Cloud Institute, we concentrate most on curriculum and instruction and organizational learning, areas 1-4 on the model. To do that well requires the expertise of a great range of fields including education, economics, systems thinking/system dynamics, social science, geography, psychology, entrepreneurship, civics and participatory democracy, many science disciplines (biology, physics, ecology, etc.) and tens of others. This is one key place where our partnerships are vital. The other critical place is in areas 5-6. In these areas our partners range from architects and regenerative design professionals to folks whose expertise is in sustainable food systems and procurement including “Farm to Cafeteria” specialists. We also work with the Ecological Footprint accountants and energy auditors, green cleaning and building product procurement specialists and investment consultants. We team up with a core group of partners on a regular basis and others work with us on a project by project basis. Entry Points To begin the process of educating for a sustainable future, each school/school system has to start somewhere. Some begin with their physical plant (s) and operations and move to curriculum and instruction and relationship to community. Others begin with curriculum and instruction and then move to the other parts of the “whole system” of EFS. Still others begin with the food that is grown and/or served in the school cafeteria and then move to the other aspects of EFS. Some of the new schools have had the opportunity to start up with the whole system in mind, and are elegantly designed so that all the parts of the system are mutually beneficial to one another. This is rare—but it is happening already. No matter where you begin it is clear to us that in light of the interdependence of all the parts of the system of EFS, if they are serious about educating for sustainability, schools, school systems and their communities will eventually need to engage all aspects of EFS over time. Our Case Study We have carefully selected our partners because of their knowledge, expertise and experience in their particular part of the system, and their respect for and sensitivity to the other parts. Our list of partners will grow very slowly, as it is the quality, not the quantity, that is vital to our work. Teaching and Learning All our curriculum materials and our professional development protocols are informed by, and in many cases co-written by the master teachers, professional developers, curriculum and assessment professionals of Learner Centered Initiatives, Ltd. (LCI) and the Center for the Study of Expertise in Teaching and Learning (CSETL). These organizations are dedicated to the design of rich, student centered instruction K-12 that is assessment driven, standards based, differentiated for multiple intelligences and multi and inter-disciplinary. The purpose of their pedagogy is to develop in students higher order, critical and systemic thinking, applied learning, questioning, and transference. Learner Centered Initiatives Center for the Study of Expertise in Teaching and Learning Principal, Giselle Martin-Kniep New York City/Long Island Physical Plant, Site and Regional Context We use “the place as curriculum” in classroom instruction regularly, and we work with the professionals who research the sites, develop the plans, design the buildings and the landscapes, construct the wetlands, and work with the operations personnel to maintain the places over time. Regenesis Principals, Pamela Mang, Tim Murphy and Ben Haggard Santa Fe, NM Integrative Design Collaborative Principal, Bill Reed Boston, MA Hone and Associates Principal, Keith Hone Pennington, NJ New Civic Works Principal, Hilary Brown New York (212-217-1558) Global Footprint Network Principals, Mathis Wackernagel and Susan Burns Schools that Learn, Organizational Change and Systems Thinking/System Dynamics We know that in order to move toward a sustainable future, we will need to have “schools that learn in communities that learn” for sustainability. That means that schools and their communities must work and change together over time. That means that everyone is encouraged to keep thinking, innovating, collaborating, talking candidly, improving capabilities, self correcting and making personal commitments to a shared future. It also means that they will need to become “systems thinkers” and “systems actors”. This will require education, and in some cases, re-education of all concerned, from the kindergarteners to the elders. For this aspect of our work we have co-founded the Sol Education Partnership with Peter Senge and the Society for Organizational Learning including Linda Booth Sweeney, Bea Mah Holland, Rita Cleary and Lees Stuntz and the Creative Learning Exchange.
Society for Organizational Learning (SOL) Boston, MA Creative Learning Exchange Sustainable Food Systems and Schools We are what we eat. Many schools and school systems are serving healthy, regional seasonal and even organic foods in their cafeterias. Some have integrated the study of sustainable food systems into the curriculum. Some are growing their own. We all celebrate the inclusion of a new program to bring locally-grown food into school meals in the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act, passed in 2004 by Congress. "Access to Local Foods and School Gardens" builds on the success of over 300 farm to cafeteria programs in 22 states that not only feed children fresh, local food, but gets them excited about it. "Access to Local Food and School Gardens" is based on earlier legislation known as the Farm to Cafeteria Projects Act. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) championed this legislation in the Senate, as did Representatives Fred Upton (R-MI) and Ron Kind (D-WI) in the House.
President Sustainable Food Systems, LLC 7 Ryan Drive Wallingford, CT 06492 Office: 203-294-9683 Fax: 203-294-1234 Cell: 203-314-7689 jturenne@sustainablefoodsystems.com Toni Liquori Food Education Every Day Center for Eco-Literacy
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Play the Sustainability Game!Can you catch enough fish to support your family, with all your neighbors trying to do the same? Play the game. |
