Creating Local Pathways for Resilience to the Impacts of Global Climate Change with the Hazard Education and Resilience Task (HEART) Force in Rural Colorado Journal Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • Rural communities in Colorado face different challenges than urban areas; when responding to the impacts of climate change. While these; communities may not have access to the financial resources and planning; infrastructure that large cities do, close community ties and an; entrepreneurial can-do attitude give these communities an advantage to; create opportunities for meaningful classroom community engagement.; HEART Force is a unique program for secondary students in rural Colorado; formal learning settings that educates and empowers students to respond; to climate change impacts in the face of increasing likelihood and; severity of environmental hazards such as wildfires, floods and drought.; The program supports youth partnership with community leaders and; experts to build resilience through a three-pronged approach using a; curriculum designed to support NGSS. Students begin the unit by learning; about the science of environmental hazards and how these hazards will be; affected by climate change through analysis of local data. Next,; students learn how to manage and respond to hazards in their community; in a scenario-based role-play game. The unit culminates in a community; resilience expo, giving students the opportunity to address impacts from; environmental hazards by developing, presenting, and implementing; strategies to increase community resilience. We will share the program; design, lessons learned from teacher professional development and; support, and preliminary research findings on the program impacts on; students and teachers.

publication date

  • January 20, 2021

Date in CU Experts

  • October 1, 2021 11:19 AM

Full Author List

  • Schloesser K; Leckey E; Christensen A; Gold A; Okochi C; Boyd K; Littrell M; Morton A

author count

  • 8

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