Solano County Office of Education

Environmental Education

Solano County has amazing natural resources, filled with many different ecosystems and environments. Whether you want to hike hills or explore a local watershed, Solano County is uniquely positioned to allow residents to engage with their environment in a variety of ways and on many levels. Solano County’s location allows for year round exploration of regional wildlife areas, local mountains, river systems and waterways, as well as the ability to interact with an expansive agricultural community. Now, more than ever, it is important for residents and visitors alike to understand the interactive nature of their environment, how they can engage with it, and how they can support and enrich environmental literacy in and out of their home. This page outlines the importance of strengthening our environmental literacy in our community, shares ways to explore and supplies resources and contact information from local providers, as well as curriculum available for instruction in and out of the classroom.

Why Environmental Education?

"Integrating subjects such as science, history–social science, health, social justice, and environmental justice provides a unique opportunity to equip our students with a relevant and meaningful appreciation for stewardship of the environment, while providing valuable real-world experiences." - Tony Thurmond, State Superintendent of Public Instruction

Why focus on environmental literacy in all classrooms?

From California’s Blueprint for Environmental Literacy “An environmentally literate person has the capacity to act individually and with others to support ecologically sound, economically prosperous, and equitable communities for present and future generations. Through lived experiences and education programs that include classroom-based lessons, experiential education, and outdoor learning, students will become environmentally literate, developing the knowledge, skills, and understanding of environmental principles to analyze environmental issues and make informed decisions.”

Definition of Environmental Literacy

From A Blueprint for Environmental Literacy- An environmentally literate person as one who “has the capacity to act individually and with others to support ecologically sound, economically prosperous, and equitable communities for present and future generations. Through lived experiences and education programs that include classroom-based lessons, experiential education, and outdoor learning, students will become environmentally literate, developing the knowledge, skills, and understanding of environmental principles to analyze environmental issues and make informed decisions.”

Timeline of Environmental Literacy in California

1976- California requires adoption of instructional materials that highlight the necessity of protecting the environment. (California Education Code Section 60041).
2004- State Board of Education approves the CA Environmental Principles and Concepts (EP&Cs)
2015- A Blueprint for Environmental Literacy published, focusing on the need for local, environmentally relevant instruction.
2018- Senate Bill 720 encourages school boards to support environmental literacy learning experiences that should be available on an equitable basis to all students in California.

Community Based Partnerships

Environmental literacy community-based partner (CBP) networks can play an important role in supporting the environmental literacy development of students, teachers, and administrators. CBP networks are a regional network of organizations with a common goal of supporting environmental literacy, environmental justice, and outdoor education by providing schools and districts with greater access to community resources and organizations that address local environmental issues.

Solano County Office of Education collaborates with State and local community organizations through committees and communities of practice (CoPs):

Solano Youth Outdoors

Solano Committee for Land and People

California Environmental Literacy Initiative (CAELI)

Solano Outserspatial Network

Through these partnerships, deeply-rooted organizations come together to collaborate and amplify mutual efforts to connect Solano County educators, students and families to local lands and resources.

Solano County Environmental Education Partners & Providers

Solano Land Trust -- The mission of Solano Land Trust is to protect land to ensure a healthy environment, keep ranching and farming families on their properties, and inspire a love of the land. The work goes beyond conserving land; it’s also about ensuring people’s relationship to the land remains strong. Solano Land Trust is committed to building a conservation and stewardship ethic in our community by supporting values based on common ground and engaging the future leaders and land stewards who will come after us to take care of this land.

California Regional Environmental Education Community -- (CREEC) The CREEC Network is a program of the California Department of Education. The CREEC Network fosters regional partnerships throughout the state of California to promote environmental education and environmental literacy by providing teachers with access to high quality professional learning opportunities and education resources.

Solano Resource Conservation District -- A non-regulatory special district to the State of California, the RCD was originally formed in 1956 to provide flood protection in the Ulatis watershed. Today we work closely with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and a wide variety of other partners throughout the County on a watershed scale.

Greenbelt Alliance -- Greenbelt Alliance's mission is to educate, advocate, and collaborate to ensure the Bay Area’s lands and communities are resilient to a changing climate. We envision a Bay Area of healthy, thriving, resilient communities made up of lands and people that are safe during climate disasters and recover quickly from wildfire, floods, and drought, where everyone is living with nature in new and powerful ways for generations to come.

Sustainable Solano -- Sustainable Solano is a grassroots, countywide movement uniting people through work that aims to serve the future of Solano County, to promote ecologically regenerative, economically and socially just communities in a world that works for everyone. Sustainable Solano has grown out of decades of dedicated community work that started with community gardens and has grown to include an emphasis on creating sustainable, regenerative environments, community capacity building, supporting local food systems and building workforce skills for a better future.

Slow Food -- Slow Food recognizes that our environment, culture and economy are profoundly affected by what we choose to eat. We believe that everyone should have access to high-quality food produced in a sustainable and equitable way.

Solano Open Space -- Solano Open Space started in an effort to effectively plan for the 10,000 acres of open space land between their three communities, the Cities of Benicia, Fairfield, and Vallejo and the County of Solano entered into a Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) in May 1992. Their shared goal was to plan for, manage, and maintain the land for open space preservation, conservation and enhancement uses, agricultural production, and regional parkland recreation.

Solano County’s School Water Education Program (SWEP) provides FREE resources for teaching water awareness and conservation. SWEP helps K-12 educators teach youth about conserving and protecting our water resources.