A five-day immersive introduction to Education for Sustainability
July 6–10, 2026
Part conference, part workshop, and part retreat, this informative and restorative experience is designed to deepen your understanding and practice of Education for Sustainability. Education for Sustainability (EFS) is an approach that links wonder, knowledge, inquiry, and collective action to make positive change—change that will help create dynamic and sustainable communities.
Foundations offers you the time and space to develop meaningful projects and curricula while learning from colleagues and other leaders in the field of EFS. Dynamic, democratic, and interactive, Foundations features a blend of learning journeys around Shelburne Farms; workshops by EFS educators and partners; hands-on learning experiences; large and small group discussions; individual work time; and peer-to-peer feedback.
This program is best suited for preK–12 practicing educators, though all types of educators are welcome.
Offered with the University of Vermont and Vermont State University Center for Schools.
Information below as of April 2026:
- Participant fee: $750. Includes course fee plus lunch. Scholarships may be available for this fee on a need-based scale. Fee does not include accommodations, travel, and graduate credit.
- Optional accommodation fee: $75.00 per night double occupancy room (+10% tax on lodging). $125.00 per night single occupancy room (+10% tax on lodging). Accommodations are on a first come, first served basis.
- Optional 3 graduate credits available from Vermont State University Center for Schools or University of Vermont. Note that additional online course hours are required with three synchronous sessions: July 1, July 13, and July 15, 2026. If you are interested in taking this course for graduate credits, please select your accrediting institution under "Sessions" on the registration form.
- Cost of credits is an additional fee and the responsibility of the participant. Vermont State University Center for Schools credits are offered at $145 per credit for both in- and out-of-state participants; University of Vermont credits are offered at $484 per credit for in-state participants, $1,302 per credit for out-of-state participants.
What You'll Learn
We design the program’s agenda to align with your specific learning goals and teaching contexts. Together, we’ll focus on foundational experiences such as:
- Applying Education for Sustainability as a unifying framework for curriculum, campus ecology, community partnerships, and collaboration.
- Understanding the Big Ideas of Sustainability and the UN Sustainable Development Goals—and applying those ideas in formal and non-formal education settings—to help students address social, environmental, and economic issues.
- Exploring complex systems in social and ecological contexts.
- Uncovering and lifting up promising practices and pedagogies for place-based learning, inquiry, systems-thinking, and collective action.
- Building knowledge about community sustainability efforts, resources, and opportunities in order to integrate them into your curriculum.
- Skillfully developing units, projects, and year-long scope and sequences that use sustainability as an integrative concept.
What Participants Say
Foundations was a very powerful experience. The program brought a good deal of clarity on how to embed sustainability into every aspect of education. I felt very moved by the systems-thinking approaches that were introduced over the course of the week, and I feel very confident in implementing what I have learned here in ways that will absolutely improve learning opportunities at my school. The activities associated with each of the sessions have direct practical applications in the classroom. I appreciate that I can bring these back and implement them immediately.
Our Higher Education Partners
Create Your Learning Pathway
Foundations is designed to be an introductory course to Education for Sustainability. To grow your knowledge, we recommend following this sequence of EFS-focused courses:
- First, Foundations in EFS;
- Second, Immersion in EFS; and
- Third, EFS Leadership Academy.
Interested in graduate credit? Take all of these classes within the Education for Sustainability Graduate Certificate.
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