Get to know your course hosts, Ava Turnquest and Kya Nguyen, co-founders of Sustainable Me, and learn how this mini-course will help you bring sustainability and creativity into your classroom or home.

Take a moment to reflect on your goals for this course. What do you hope to learn? How do you want to grow as an educator, parent, or counselor? This activity will ground your learning journey.

Student voice is at the heart of teaching the future. In this lesson, you’ll explore the Spectrum of Youth Voice—from tokenism to youth-led leadership—and reflect on where your practice sits today. You’ll see how shifting power to students builds ownership, engagement, and agency, creating classrooms where young people don’t just learn about change, but help lead it.

Explore the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and discover how they can inspire real-world, student-centered learning.

Learn how to structure flexible, student-driven activities through the “Playlist Process” — a method that encourages co-creation, exploration, and reflection.

Discover how UDL helps you design inclusive lessons that meet diverse student needs. You’ll explore strategies to increase engagement, representation, and expression in your learning environment.

Bring sustainability to life with a simple but powerful activity: making recycled paper. Learn how everyday choices like reusing and recycling connect to global sustainability goals.

Consider how this activity could look in your classroom or home setting. How could you give students choice in roles and materials (Playlist Process), adapt the project for diverse learners (UDL), and encourage students to document their learning in their own voices?

Guide learners through designing a t-shirt that raises awareness for an SDG of their choice. This lesson blends creativity with entrepreneurship while building confidence in public speaking. Encourage students to pick their issue, design format, and advocacy strategy to elevate student voice and choice.

Practice delivering a short “Shark Tank–style” pitch for your t-shirt idea. Reflect on how the Playlist Process can help structure preparation, how UDL strategies can reduce barriers for shy speakers, and how giving students room to lead builds ownership.

Transform recycled materials into planters while exploring food security, climate resilience, and sustainable city living. Use the Playlist Process to let learners choose their design path, and integrate UDL by offering multiple ways to engage (hands-on, visual, discussion).

Share your planter project or brainstorm how to adapt this activity for your learning space. How can you ensure students’ voices shape the design and purpose of the planter (e.g., food justice, climate action, or beautification)?

Learn how culturally responsive teaching practices can help you build inclusive classrooms where all students feel seen, valued, and empowered to lead. Consider how CRT overlaps with UDL and student voice in centering learner identity and choice.

Explore how artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT and Canva can support your teaching practice. Think about ways AI could expand the Playlist Process (personalized learning paths) or amplify student voice (creative projects, multilingual access) while staying ethical and sustainable.

Take time to synthesize your learning. Which strategies or activities stood out? How did student voice, UDL, and the Playlist Process show up in your thinking? What’s one concrete step you’ll take forward?

Celebrate your progress! Complete a short exit survey and download your certificate of completion as recognition of your commitment to future-ready education.