
Sustainable Cities and Communities
Developing sustainable communities requires careful consideration of the needs and values of community members both individually and collectively. It is no simple task, but with thoughtful preparation, an eye for possible barriers, transparency, and continuous dialogue, we can make it happen! Dive into the ins and outs of building sustainable communities, share your experiences, learn from peers, and work together to initiate change!
Moderators

Michael Cruse
Michael Cruse is a secondary school resource teacher at the Arlington Career Center, in Arlington, VA, where he also serves on the superintendent's environmental sustainability committee. He has worked with committee members to develop a school-based sustainability liaison program, supporting teacher-liaisons' capacity to address environmental projects with students.
At the Career Center, he initiated a closed loop compost system for the culinary arts program, where culinary students are composting their scraps and growing herbs and micro-greens for use in their commercial kitchen. He has received funding from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation for a student-led Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) study, and horticulture remediation project. He has also received local community foundation funds for arts-based crosswalks at several Arlington elementary schools, promoting sustainable transportation choices.
In 2018, Mike received a Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching fellowship to study green schools and environmental education in Israel and Palestine. His inquiry project focused on pluralistic school and community-based programs that support environmental stewardship in contested landscapes. He has blogged about his work for Education Week, and National Geographic Education. He has also written for Urban Environmental Education and Techniques Magazine, the journal of the Association of Career and Technical Education.
Mike is a manuscript reviewer for the National Science Teachers Association's publication, Science & Children. He is also currently serving a two year term on the advisory board of the U.S. Green Building Council's Center for Green Schools, where he has helped advise the organization's outreach and communications, and peer reviewed presentations for the Green Schools National Network's annual conference. He is also a volunteer conference presentation reviewer for NAAEE.
Mike seeks opportunities to give students and teachers the tools to improve their communities, and platforms to share their stories. He believes that urban youth and educators should be at the forefront of addressing the impacts of climate change, and advocating for more sustainable cities.
Bulletin Board
-
Environmental educator Danny Woolums shares how Lexington youth are connecting with their communities and local ecosystems through the CEE-Change Fellowship.
-
-
Visit the B-WET 20th-anniversary website for stories that illustrate how the B-WET program has impacted students, schools, and communities over the past 20 years. And look for B-WET posts highlighting #BWET20andGROWING on NOAA Education’s social media and B-WET’s Facebook page on August 8-19.
-
-
Join us in celebrating Aquaculture Week as we feature the tremendous dedication and innovation of our Aquaculture Literacy Grantees of 2021–2022.
-
The Sustainable Earth Educator Awards is thrilled to recognize 19 educators across the country. Learn more about the awardees and two projects.
-
The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), an ee360+ partner, is a nonprofit organization that supports anyone at colleges and universities working on sustainability. AASHE creates resources and tools to help faculty, staff, and students teach, learn, and…
-
In the latest eeBLUE Harvest Stories, Ocean Farmers, a cross-sector, regional partnership, provides lessons in securing healthy and vital food access for generations.
-
With the help of a few happy clams, shellfish aquaculture and its role in economic resilience blooms in this blog post.