Meet ELSEE

Categories: What's Happening, Who We Are

The Environmental Laboratory for Sustainability and Ecological Education — ELSEE — is a childhood learning laboratory in an urban San Jose neighborhood that provides the citizens of tomorrow with the values and skills to develop and sustainably manage the City of Tomorrow. Tomorrow’s city prioritizes the protection and perpetuation of its local ecology, provides the production of local healthy foods, and instills a philosophy of stewardship rooted in the protection of our soils, water and air. Most inner city public schools sit in a sea of concrete. These under-utilized school lands provide unparalleled opportunities to bridge the environmental gap between the school and the neighborhood. By 2014, ecology-based curriculum will be required standards in California schools. Future generations will be taught their local ecology as they are now taught reading, writing, and arithmetic. ELSEE represents a change in the way we appraoch education and underscores the environmental imperative faced by our society as a whole. The design, construction, and management of ELSEE provide opportunities for students and adults to learn the technology and land use principles that will sustain them without compromising the needs of future generations. The range of demonstration technologies and landscaping techniques to provide intimate teaching venues that facilitate application-based learning and hands-on experience. ELSEE is a prototype for schools and communities everywhere

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