At the Green Schools National Network (GSNN), we believe in sharing the knowledge, tools, and resources needed to make every school a green, healthy, and sustainable school. One way we have been doing this has been through our monthly, topic-driven newsletter, GreenNotes. However, we wanted to go even deeper and publish original content that not only promotes evidence-based best practices, but highlights emergent ideas and trends, as well as qualitative and quantitative research. Enter the Green Schools Catalyst Quarterly.
The Green Schools Catalyst Quarterly (the Catalyst) will be published four times a year (spring, summer, fall, and winter) and focus on a single theme. The inaugural issue (and each fall issue), set for publication in November 2016, will cover the State of the Green Schools Movement. This issue will include articles that reflect on the history of the green schools movement, what is going on now, and what needs to be done to scale up current efforts. Each subsequent fall, the Catalyst will provide updates by highlighting progress and reporting on measures that reflect progress toward measuring impact on the collective movement goal: transforming all schools into green, healthy, sustainable learning environments.
The winter, spring, and summer issues of the Catalyst will cover each of the three pillars of a green school: green, healthy, and sustainable school buildings and grounds; health and well-being; and curriculum that advances environmental and sustainability literacy. Each of these issues will feature articles that demonstrate the cross-cutting nature of green schools topics, incorporating aspects of all three pillars as well as highlighting ideas in transformational leadership.
Of course, GSNN could not pull this publication together without some help. So, we turned to some of our fellow colleagues and leaders in the green schools movement to lend their expertise as members of the Catalyst Editorial Board. I am humbled that these incredible individuals have agreed to volunteer their time to make the Catalyst the best source of information on the green schools movement. Our Board members include:
- Jaimie Cloud, the Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education
- Sharon Danks, Green Schoolyards America
- Lisa Kensler, Auburn Univeristy
- Wyck Knox, VMDO Architects
- Jerry Lieberman, State Education and Environmental Roundtable
- Victor Nolet, Western Washington University
- Bill Orr, Former Executive Director, Collaborative for High Performance Schools
- David Sobel, Antioch University – New England
- Cynthia Uline, San Diego State University
Keep an eye out over the coming months for more information about our inaugural issue, our line-up of guest authors for that issue, and the articles it will feature. And a reminder: the Catalyst will be available to GSNN members only. If you are interested in receiving the Catalyst, and want to know more about the other benefits of a GSNN membership, head to https://greenschoolsnationalnetwork.org/members/.
