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Planning for Co-produced Impact: Guiding Student-Driven Sustainability Projects In and Beyond the Classroom
Planning for Co-produced Impact: Guiding Student-Driven Sustainability Projects In and Beyond the Classroom
Andrew is a biology teacher at a public middle school in Arizona who has created an interdisciplinary (science, social studies, climate justice, media, ELA), student-driven learning environment focused on climate justice and community resilience. Students in his classroom engage in year-long initiatives focused on real-world issues.
This can look different depending on the day. One day, Andrew’s classroom was filled with discussion — small groups of students were completing project proposal forms focused on identifying challenging sustainability issues. They weren’t being told what to study, they were planning projects based on learning more about what mattered to them. Jordan was designing a campaign on sustainable fashion while Kasey, who has an interest in engineering, was outlining a plan to create building blocks from recycling plastic using a self-made hydraulic press. Meanwhile, a group of students interested in horticulture were working in the greenhouse. They identified a challenge with their current watering system and were discussing how indigenous agricultural methods might support their living lab botanical garden.
Photo: Nicole Oster
Photo: Nicole Oster
These moments exemplify planning for co-produced impact. Rather than working from a pre-set curriculum, students chose the sustainability issues they want to explore and worked from there to identify actions they could work on year-round. Andrew’s role had shifted from instructor to co-planner and facilitator in this classroom setting. Andrew provided scaffolds of case studies, proposal templates, and reflection prompts to foster a supportive and student-directed learning environment. Importantly, their learning is not hypothetical as each project required identifying real problems in the current time and envisioning a collective and tangible impact within their local school and community.
In the co-planning stage, students moved beyond simply proposing ideas to collaboratively defining projects that could create real, systemic impact. Through interdisciplinary, year-long initiatives, they identified sustainability issues that mattered to them, explored pathways for action, and considered how their efforts might contribute to collective change. This process required navigating diverse interests, skills, and cultural backgrounds, co-defining meaningful goals with Andrew and community partners, and laying the groundwork for projects that extended their impact beyond the classroom.
Photo: Nicole Oster
As Andrew’s classroom projects moved from planning to action, the complex dynamics are conveyed where students continued to assess current sustainability issues and adapt to challenges using their own skills and resources. Importantly, the collaborative planning empowered students to believe their ideas could influence the world with the orientation of shared civic responsibility.
"Real Work, Real Consequences" Stories feature real-world examples of Action-Oriented Pedagogies (AOP) in practice. Each story illustrates how students—across grade levels and contexts—engage in meaningful work that addresses pressing sustainability challenges with tangible outcomes. These stories exemplify the AOP framework’s core commitments to Imagining Preferred Futures, Planning for Co-Produced Impact, Taking Agentive Action, and Leaving a Legacy.
By sharing these stories, we aim to spark ideas, foster collective inspiration, and demonstrate the varied roles students take—from innovators and artists to scientists, stewards, and advocates—in shaping a more sustainable and just world.
This "Real Work, Real Consequences" Story was written by Gloria S. Kang
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