Earth Force is the home of Environmental Action Civics.
We train educators and environmental education organizations to infuse civic experiences into environmental education.
In Earth Force classrooms, students lead their learning, address real problems, and develop civic efficacy. And educators are right there beside them, honing their own skills in project management and inquiry-based learning.
On this website, you’ll find activities, activity templates, links to videos, and recommended readings to help educators implement Environmental Action Civics.
Want more? Check out our support page to set up a meeting or attend a workshop!
About the Earth Force Process
The Earth Force Process is a research-based model to implement Environmental Action Civics. It provides a framework for project-based teaching and learning that can be readily adapted to any age group or topic area, as well as to a range of timeframes for working with students. It is a series of six steps that, taken in sequence, guide you and your students to a civic action project that meets a real community environmental need, is of interest to your students, aligns with your curricular goals, and is feasible to conduct.
Step 1 – Community Environmental Inventory
Students assess their community for environmental strengths and concerns using several methods of conducting an environmental inventory. They develop an awareness of the importance of taking public action in their community and of the roles of an environmental citizen.
Students practice criteria-based and democratic decision-making to refine and select a single issue for deeper research and information gathering. This step ensures students select an issue they are excited about and meets your academic goals.
Step 3 – Policy and Community Practice Research
Students conduct research on their issue, exploring policies and practices related to their issue using questioning and information analysis skills, identifying and interacting with stakeholders and experts on their issue, exploring different
perspectives on their issue, and discovering strategies for change.
Step 4 – Goal and Strategy Selection
Students use democratic and criteria-based decision making to select one policy or practice they want to change and the most appropriate strategy to achieve the desired change.
Step 5 – Planning and Taking Civic Action
Students work collaboratively to create an action plan for making the desired change and implement their plan.
Step 6 – Reflection, Going Public, and Planning for the Future
Students review their experience by recognizing their successes, analyzing challenges, reflecting on lessons learned, and identifying potential next steps for their project. They share their project in a public presentation and submit their project story to Earth Force.
Independently Evaluated For Over 18 Years
Brandeis University’s Center for Youth & Communities has independently evaluated our work for 18 years.
- Educators that have participated in our evaluation report that involvement in the program positively impacted their teaching, increasing their knowledge of environmental issues, their use of community issues and student-led projects in their classrooms. More than 70% also noted an increased sense of self-confidence as an educator.
- Earth Force students leave the program deeply committed to being involved in environmental problem-solving: 91% of students met with school or community leaders to ask them to take action, 84% of students show an increase in understanding of environmental issues, and 77% are more likely to contact a public official to advocate for action on an environmental issue in the future.
- Earth Force students leave the program committed to engaging in the civic life of their communities: 81.3% of educators stated that students’ ability to plan and carry out projects aimed at changing local policies improved, and 90.6% of educators stated that participating increased their students’ belief that they can make a difference in the community.