Northern Virginia is Building Sustainable Environmental Education Programs with Sustainability Liaisons

by Elise Trelegan, NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office

A handful of school divisions in Northern Virginia are using a unique approach to scaling sustainability and environmental literacy efforts through Sustainability Liaisons. In Arlington, each school has its own leader who is leading the charge on environmental literacy and sustainability. This localized approach compliments division-wide efforts like their Environmental Literacy Plan which outlines where MWEEs and other outdoor field experiences occur over a student’s K-12 career, among other important elements.

“Our Sustainability Liaisons serve as an inspiration for all of our teachers and staff.”
- Dat Le, Science Supervisor in Arlington Public Schools

Arlington isn’t the only division that is finding value in this approach though – Prince William and Fairfax are also implementing similar liaison efforts to ensure that every single school, and thus every student, has access to environmental education.

The Sustainability Liaison Role

Sustainability Liaisons serve as points of contact within each school for all things environmental literacy and sustainability. They help to foster a collaborative culture among teachers, staff, and students where everyone can see their role in protecting the environment. In Arlington, the liaisons are expected to do three primary things:

1. Identify sustainability-related activities occurring in their school by completing a School Sustainability Inventory, sharing relevant sustainability information on social media using #APSGreen, and coordinating sustainability efforts with the school’s diversity influencer.
2. Document progress on environmental literacy and sustainability efforts through a quarterly review form and an end-of-year survey that helps to measure impact.
3. Share best practices through participation in the Sustainability Liaison Group quarterly meetings and report out on progress at the Superintendent’s Advisory Committee on Sustainability each spring.

A full position description provides additional information.

Recruiting Sustainability Liaisons

In Arlington, being a Sustainability Liaison is a coveted role and it’s not just held by science teachers! Sustainability Liaisons have been librarians, media specialists, physical education teachers, art teachers, and more. Due to the high interest in this role, there is a competitive application process for teachers to share about why they are interested in, and what they can bring to the position. To support the need for active communication and project coordination between liaisons and building-level leaders, like principals, Arlington has intentionally engaged said leaders in the decision-making process for liaison selection. In addition to being seen as a leader in sustainability in their school and across the division, liaisons receive a $1,000 stipend for the year and receive professional development credit hours for their work.

Replicating a Sustainability Liaisons Model in Your District

If you’re looking to kickstart a Sustainability Liaison program in your school district, you might consider starting small with a pilot program. This could look like working with a handful of teachers who are already excited about environmental literacy and sustainability and testing out this concept in a select number of schools. In Arlington, for example, this effort was piloted in 2016 with 10 schools. Since 2023, the effort is now active in all 37 schools.

Arlington Public Schools has generously shared many of their resources with the environmental literacy community which are accessible through the links in this article. More examples can also be found on the Superintendent’s Advisory Committee on Sustainability page on their website. Consider reviewing these documents and adapting them to meet the needs of your school district.

Ingredients for Success

1. Co-organization between Instruction and Operations

The Sustainability Liaison program in Arlington is co-organized by Instruction and Operations. The open channels of communication facilitated by this co-organization helps to ensure that the projects and initiatives championed by liaisons and teachers gain the appropriate permissions and support.

2. Buy-In from the Top

Each year, all of the Sustainability Liaisons curate a slide that showcases the work of their school. Each school’s slide is then compiled into a presentation to demonstrate the division-wide impact. This is then presented to the Sustainability Advisory Committee and the Superintendent at the spring annual meeting. This regular report keeps environmental literacy and sustainability as an expectation and imperative among both new and seasoned leadership.

3. On-the-Ground Knowledge and Experience

Because of the on-the-ground nature of Sustainability Liaisons, they are able to identify opportunities and challenges that someone situated outside of the school might not be able to. For example, when new teachers join the team, they can provide coaching and support as teachers get up to speed on implementing MWEEs or school-wide service learning opportunities. Liaisons are also best poised to share out about the great work happening at each school. This can be especially important when districts are implementing and updating their Environmental Literacy Plan. Making sure that Sustainability Liaisons are aware of the district's priorities and overarching goals for environmental literacy can be a powerful way to expedite progress.

Sustainability Liaisons are a unique and effective approach to scale up sustainability and environmental literacy efforts within and across school systems. Consider replicating a sustainability liaison model in your school district!