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Gen:Thrive is a collaborative initiative to accelerate sustainability and environmental education programs in K–12 schools.

Through a robust community mapping process, we provide the information and insights needed to foster the next generation of resilient, sustainability leaders. Gen:Thrive offers a data-driven approach to deploy programs focused on environmental literacy, climate justice, green building, outdoor learning, e-STEM, and other related topics to the places that need it most.

About Gen:Thrive

Imagine if every school in the country had the tools to provide a robust environmental literacy education to their students. Imagine the power of an entire generation ready and resourced to build just, thriving, and healthy communities. The future is promising and close. The goals of Gen:Thrive are the following:

Understand the Movement

Map environmental literacy programs and correlate to data indicators for equity and climate vulnerability.

Build Strategic Alliances

Bolster connectivity among K-12 program providers and identify opportunities to partner and accelerate collective impact.

Increase Support

Use data visualization to create compelling value propositions, expand audiences, and drive new resources to the movement.

In January 2019, Gen:Thrive launched as a pilot project in Texas with the vision of building tools that could expand to serve communities across the country. With participation and feedback from hundreds of organizations, we’ve built an array of resources for public use, including the dashboard, directory and maps below. 2021 is looking busy and bright, as we support additional state partners and expand upon Gen:Thrive’s data collection efforts and technology tools.

The development and growth of this project would not be possible without the technical support of the University of Texas at Austin’s Texas Advanced Computing Center and Planet Texas 2050 team, and the philanthropic investments from the Pisces Foundation, Environmental Fund of Texas, Target, and the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation.

How to Use These Resources

Service Providers

  • Identify community need and environmental justice issues
  • Understand how your K-12 offerings compare to others
  • Find opportunities for strategic collaborations 

Educators

  • Access a comprehensive directory of K-12 environmental resources
  • Increase place-based learning and climate resilience education 
  • Understand the types of programs offered in your region and the gaps

Community

  • Explore connections between climate, equity, and access to K-12 programs
  • Identify trends and gaps within program offerings 
  • Search for organizations within a state or region 

Tools and Reports

Climate, Equity & Education Map

Uncover needs and opportunities through the intersection of K-12 schools, equity, climate risks, pollutants, health, green jobs and other data sets in our robust ArcGIS map.

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Field Trends & Resource Directory

Search our database for programs and filter by region, environmental topics, offerings, ages served, and more. View and export field trends visualizations and contact information.

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Program Provider Network

Visualize the Environmental Education community through an interactive network map. Arrange and explore service providers based on headquarters, sector, offerings and more.

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K-12 Climate Policy Map

Explore and compare state policies that address green schools and K-12 climate resilience. This is a research project of the Aspen Institute’s K-12 Climate Action Initiative.

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Climate, Equity & Education Map


The Climate, Equity & Education map was initially built for Texas, with some replication in Louisiana. In 2021, EcoRise is working with partners to expand and incorporate additional states. If you have any issues with the view or functionality of the map below, please visit the site directly through this link.


Field Trends & Resource Directory


Click on the image below to explore environmental education programs and community partners across Texas and beyond. The visualizations and searchable directory have been built by a dedicated team at the Texas Advanced Computing Center at UT Austin. These public tools launched in December 2020 and will be under continual development and improvement. If you have feedback or would like to edit or include your information in this directory, please contact us.


Program Provider Network


If you have any issues with the view or functionality of the Program Provider Network Map, visit the site directly through this link.


K-12 Climate Policy Map


If you have any issues with the view or functionality of the K-12 Climate Policy Map, visit the site directly through this link.


Join Us

We invite your ideas, feedback and participation! If you would like to get involved, collaborate, or contact us about your work, we’d love to hear from you.

Thank you to our allies and supporters!