As part of Brown University’s first-ever Climate Week, a panel titled “Where Climate Meets Education Policy and Practice: Perspectives from the Field in Rhode Island” brought together practitioners working across education leadership, environmental nonprofits, and public infrastructure. Moderated by Matthew Kraft, a Professor of Education and Economics at Brown University and the founder of SustainableED, the discussion explored how climate pressures intersect with education policy.
The panel featured Joseph da Silva, Director of the HEAL program at the Rhode Island School Building Authority; Jeanine Silversmith, Executive Director of the Rhode Island Environmental Education Association (RIEEA); and Kerry Tuttlebee, Head of School at The Greene School.
Together, the speakers reflected on how their work, from building greener schools to supporting teachers and students, fits into a broader effort to make climate education more accessible, equitable, and embedded within everyday learning.
Designing Schools for a Changing Climate
From the perspective of school infrastructure, Joseph da Silva highlighted how dramatically sustainable school construction has evolved.
Thirty years ago, sustainability was often treated as an afterthought in building design. Today, da Silva described a growing shift toward healthier, energy-efficient school facilities through programs like HEAL (Healthy Environments Advance Learning), which supports Rhode Island districts in developing modernized school buildings.
da Silva advocates for the collaboration between educators, policymakers, and building professionals to advance healthier learning environments. Especially considering many school construction projects in Rhode Island rely on voter-approved bonds.
He noted the progress has been significant, but the work still requires persistence and public engagement.
Expanding Environmental Education Opportunities
Jeanine Silversmith discussed the role of RIEEA in strengthening environmental education across Rhode Island.
RIEEA is a collaborative network of individuals and organizations working to promote environmental education. Silversmith has been with the organization since 2012 and became its first Executive Director in 2020.
The organization works to connect educators with resources and organizations that can support experiential learning, from local environmental groups to field-based programs. Yet she emphasized that environmental education often sits in a gray area between sectors.
She explained how decision makers within education sometimes see it as an environmental issue, while decision makers within the environmental space sometimes see it as an education issue.
As a result, environmental learning opportunities can vary widely between schools. In Rhode Island, environmental science is not a required course, and climate education may appear only as an elective, or not at all, depending on a school’s culture or a teacher’s interests.
Silversmith also pointed to practical barriers teachers face when trying to incorporate outdoor learning. Something as simple as organizing a field trip can be costly.
Despite these challenges, she emphasized that environmental education can happen in neighborhoods, parks, and schoolyards, and helping students build a relationship with their environment is a necessary first step.
Learning Sustainability Through Experience
The Greene School, where Kerry Tuttlebee serves as Head of School, is a statewide public charter high school that aims to educate leaders who can address global sustainability challenges.
Students walk between buildings outdoors and frequently engage in projects that connect academic subjects with environmental issues. Students might examine how green space differs across Providence neighborhoods, exploring how environmental resources vary between communities and connecting these differences to questions of equity and urban planning.
Tuttlebee previously served as the founding principal of 360 High School in Providence. She noted that experiential learning helps students engage more deeply with sustainability and develop a sense of responsibility for both their communities and the planet.
Ultimately, she said, schools should aim to graduate students who are not simply aware of environmental challenges but feel empowered to address them. She wants her students to not just be passive consumers, but people who create change in the world.
Building Relationships Across Sectors
Across the conversation, one theme emerged repeatedly: the importance of collaboration.
Organizations like RIEEA, Save The Bay, and the Audubon Society often partner with schools to provide outdoor learning experiences and educational programming that teachers might struggle to organize on their own. These partnerships help bridge the gap between environmental expertise and classroom instruction.
At the same time, panelists emphasized that climate education should not exist only in science classrooms. Environmental themes can be woven across disciplines, from math and statistics to poetry and civics, allowing students to explore sustainability from multiple perspectives.
For Brown students interested in climate work, the panelists advised them to build relationships, listen to practitioners already working in the field, and approach challenges with persistence and courage.
Preparing the Next Generation
The discussion centered on how education systems can prepare students to navigate an increasingly complex environmental future.
From advancing research on schools and climate change through SustainableED to pioneering hands-on learning at The Greene School, new models are transforming sustainability in education. These initiatives integrate environmental focus into everything from curriculum design and policy influence to creating learning spaces that reconnect students with the natural world.
As climate challenges continue to intensify, panelists suggested that education systems will play a critical role in shaping how the next generation understands, and responds to, the changing environment.
Teaching students to care for one another and for the planet, they emphasized, is not simply an environmental goal but a civic one as well.