Settings for Jewish environmental education include camps, retreat and conference centers, and outdoor programs such as:
- Teva Learning Center, New York, New York, a non-denominational Jewish Environmental Education Institute whose programs combine ecology, Jewish environmental ethics, and environmental activism.
- Shalom Institute Camp and Conference Center, Malibu, California, with the Marla Bennett Israel Discovery Center and Garden, an interactive hands-on learning center that teaches about the history and ecology of Israel as well as organic gardening and farming and the relationship between Judaism and the environment.
- The Jewish Nature Center, Milford, Pennsylvania, pioneers new ways of making nature a partner in Jewish education, develops curriculum integrating Jewish studies and nature experiences, explores the application of ancient Jewish ecological wisdom to contemporary Jewish life and serves as a forum for Jewish naturalists, environmentalists, educators and students.
- Torah Treks explores the connections between Jewish spirituality and the experience of wilderness through a variety of backcountry adventures such as hiking, camping, kayaking, and skiing.
- Hazon (Hebrew for "vision") seeks to foster a vision of a renewed, inclusive, passionate, and creative Jewish community rooted in tradition and engaged with the world through outdoor and environmental education programs, including environmental bike rides in the U.S. and Israel.
- Teva Adventures combines outdoor environmental, and adventure education with Jewish programming to rekindle the integral link between the natural world and Judaism, to the benefit of both.
Programs for training Jewish environmental leaders include:
- The Mark and Sharon Bloome Jewish Environmental Leadership Institute is held each year by COEJL for Jewish and environmental professionals, lay leaders, community organizers, activists and students who want to learn more about Judaism and the environment and to organize environmental action and advocacy in their communities.
- Eight Jewish educators, rabbis, and environmental activists went on a Jewish sea kayaking expedition in Alaska, sponsored by COEJL, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, and the Inside Passages Project.
- Teva Learning Center also runs trainings for teachers, counselors, and other leaders and educators.
The Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education sponsors an annual conference on Alternatives in Jewish Education that frequently includes sessions on environmental education.
The environment is a priority social justice area for Weinberg Tzedek Hillel, an international public service effort that engages Jewish students in bringing about meaningful social change. The project is sponsored by Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life. The Hillel website contains a "Program Exchange" listing environmental programs undertaken by Jewish students, ranging from gardening with the homeless to camping trips to neighborhood beautification projects to harvesting sweet potatoes at a community farm. Also on the website are resources such as "Ten Steps Towards Greening Your Hillel," "Ten Steps Towards Greening Your Residence Hall," and environmental programming suggestions.
Read "Environmentalism gains a foothold in Jewish Education" from J. The Jewish News Weekly.
