Call for Submissions
About Earthrise Commons
Earthrise Commons will serve as a digital resource companion to our Open Access book, featuring projects that highlight how sustainability education and community engagement are being integrated into courses, programs, and community initiatives worldwide. These contributions will celebrate diverse approaches to sustainability education and offer actionable insights and models that can be adapted by other institutions and communities to enhance learner engagement, equity, and impact.
Selected contributions are a form of publishing that you can use to build community, advance ideas, and sprinkle some sustainability learning and community engagement into your teaching, no matter your field of study.
Why Contribute?
By sharing your work, you will:
Join a local and global community of sustainability educators and practitioners
Contribute to open educational resources for sustainability action
Connect with peers through our collaborative webinar series
Help build a more sustainable and equitable future
We’re transforming a forthcoming anthology, Sustainability Learning for Action & Community Engagement (Palgrave Macmillan SpringerNature), into a living sustainability education platform called the Earthrise Commons. This Open Education Resource will provide educators worldwide (high school through college undergraduate) with free, accessible, adaptable, and shareable content to support sustainability education and action.
Our platform includes:
A Creative Commons License:
CC-BY-NC
CC-BY-SA
CC-BY
Original book chapters via Springer Nature Link (with metrics)
Lesson plans that educators can modify
Interactive resources and videos
A toolbox of sustainability competencies and frameworks
Student work examples (with permission)
The project uses an open-source infrastructure, managed by a team of curators at SUNY New Paltz, U.S. The design prioritizes search ability, follows UN Global Goals taxonomies, and supports Universal Design for Learning principles. This approach activates sustainability education in a collaborative, interdisciplinary learning space where knowledge can be shared and built upon by the community.
Each contribution may also include:
A personal bio page (optional, this can be as short as two lines)
On your bio page, you may provide:
Links to more resources
An indication that you’re open to being contacted about the project
An email contact method
How to Contribute
Complete the Google Form
Please fill out as much of the provided form as you can to submit your contribution.
Google Form SubmissionContribute a Project or Resource
Option 1
Fill out the Google Form. It's also in the section above!
Option 2
Use one of the Google Docs below instead.
Option 3
Already have something made?
You can simply contribute what you already have:
a lesson plan
a workshop idea
a classroom activity
a resource, such as a video, an essay, an interactive…
Any format is okay.
Time this Takes
Simple/quick options: about 10–15 minutes
More detailed formats: take longer
Most of your time will go into creating or sharing a lesson plan. The Earthrise “gardeners” team will help support, organize, and publish your work.
Other Things to Do
Choose a license for your work
New work uses CC BY (free for anyone to use with credit). Adapted work uses CC BY-NC (free for education, not for commercial use).
Introduce yourself (optional)
You can add a short bio and links to resources, and let people know whether they can reach out to you about your project. Join the community: https://earthrisecommons.org/explore?query=&type=person
Our Gardener reviews your contribution
Our ‘gardener’ is a student intern who organizes, tags, and quality-checks new content. They may reach out with questions or suggestions.
What You Might Include:
Overview
What is your initiative? What does it address and why?
Case study
Walk through a specific example of how it was put into practice and what happened.
Equity and Access
How does your approach include people with different backgrounds, abilities, or resources?
Impacts
What outcomes did you see or hope to see?
Adaptability
How can others tailor this to their own community or classroom?
Additional resources
List and link to any tools, frameworks, or materials that support your approach.
Suggested Topics
Contributions can address any sustainability theme. We find most fit into Ecological, Social, Spiritual, and Economic categories.
Some examples:
Ecological
Climate change solutions
Biodiversity and ecosystems
Pollution and waste reduction
Regenerative practices
Social
Community building
Social justice
Youth-led initiatives
Community partnerships
Economic
UN Sustainable Development Goals
Sustainability competencies
Project-based learning
Spiritual
Mental Health and Climate Anxiety
Inner Development Goals
Creative Growth
Belonging
Learn More About How to Contribute a Lesson Plan, Workshop, And/Or a Resource!
Format Options
We prefer that you format your work so it’s consistent with our commons. We offer four lesson plan formats, ranging from simple and quick to more comprehensive. Think of this like choosing a dish from a menu.*
🌱 One Sentence Lesson Plan (Simple & Quick)
Think of a sustainability-informed lesson you recently taught or plan to teach.
Link to Google Doc →
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OxhWDarbsqc3H0NzCSZ4n0DkC5kg_Q1EiaxgWkjdrCE/edit?usp=sharing
Go to File → Make a Copy to Make This Template Your Own!
🎥 Video Lesson Plan (Simple & Quick)
Link to Google Doc →
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gTjUN3vY96e67vJBDrIOQ3m8fPK3cPD3D5VkZ1FvLhU/edit?usp=sharing
Go to File → Make a Copy to Make This Template Your Own!
🤝 Workshop (More Comprehensive)
This format is good for a focused workshop with activities.
Link to Google Doc →
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nGi11IKmkcq4zTOfAo85lvJpP-_pIjwO1giXr2JISB8/edit?usp=sharing
Go to File → Make a Copy to Make This Template Your Own!
💡 Understanding by Design Lesson Plan (Most Comprehensive)
If you'd like to contribute the most comprehensive lesson plan, we encourage using the Understanding by Design (UbD) framework. A Google Docs template is available.
Link to Google Doc →
https://docs.google.com/document/d/10cX_-EWoEL7cK7l97F7lfvycZz9Y_JXO1D-U1o5LjH0/edit?usp=sharing
Go to File → Make a Copy to Make This Template Your Own!
Learn more about this format by going to the Lesson Plan Format Options section, below on this page.
Just Want to Share What You Already Have?
Share your lesson plan in whatever format you already have it in! We want to make this easy. However, we may work with you to craft your work into a format that’s consistent with our commons.
Using the menu metaphor, we can also help you craft a custom lesson plan in special cases.*
Creative Commons Attribution
By sharing your work with Earthrise Commons, you also agree to share it under a Creative Commons license. Choose the one that fits:
CC BY: anyone can use and adapt with credit.
CC BY-NC: same, but not for commercial use.
CC BY-SA: adaptations must use the same license.
If your teaching material builds on someone else's work, note that here and use their license terms as a guide.
Attribution line
"This workshop was created by [Name] at [Institution], [Year]. Shared under CC BY-NC via Earthrise Commons."
Based on prior work? (optional)
Credit any authors, sources, frameworks, or inspiration you drew from!
Suggested Topics
Submissions may focus on (but are not limited to) the following areas:
Integrating the UN Sustainable Development Goals
Climate change challenges and solutions
Biodiversity and ecosystem restoration
Mental health and climate anxiety
Community building and depolarization
Inner dimensions of sustainability
Project-Based Learning or Service Learning approaches
Community partnerships and resilience building
Social justice initiatives that bridge access gaps
Measuring social and environmental impact
Youth-led initiatives
Sustainability competencies development
Pollution and waste reduction
Regenerative practices
Lesson Plan Format Options
You may submit your Lesson Plan and Resources in whatever format you created them, to minimize the amount of work you need to do and to show a diversity of approaches to our community.
However, if feasible, viable, and desirable, we encourage including a lesson plan using the Understanding by Design (UbD) framework. Please use the following format, based on this template that you can copy from Google Docs.
Google Docs Template Stage 1 - Big Ideas & Essential Questions
| Component | Description |
|---|---|
| Established Goal(s)/Content Standard(s) | What relevant goals/standards will this design address? |
| Understanding(s) | Students will understand that:
|
| Essential Question(s) |
|
| Student Objectives (Outcomes) | Students will be able to:
|
Stage 2 - Learning Activities
| Component | Description |
|---|---|
| Performance Task(s) | Through what authentic performance tasks will students demonstrate understanding? By what criteria will “performances of understanding” be judged? Consider including:
|
| Other Evidence | What other evidence will show student achievement? Include pre-assessment, formative, and summative assessments — both formal and informal.
|
Stage 3 - Performance Tasks & Evidence of Learning
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| Where | How does the lesson establish where the unit is going and what is expected?
|
| Hook | How will you hook and hold student interest?
|
| Equip | How will you equip students with needed experiences, tools, knowledge, and know-how?
|
| Rethink | How will students rethink and revise their understandings and work?
|
| Evaluate | How will students evaluate their work and its implications? |
Call for Submissions: SUNY FACT2 Experiential Learning Playbook
This project call for proposals was adapted from the Experiential Learning Playbook by the Faculty Advisory Council on Teaching and Technology (FACT2) which was shared with a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY-NC). Please find the Call for Submissions for the SUNY FACT2 Experiential Playbook below.
SUNY FACT2 Call for Submissions