Education
New York City has 520 miles of coastline. Every student should get the chance to explore it.
The Issue
Climate and Waterfront Education Helps to Prepare the Next Generation for a Changing World
Climate and waterfront-based education equips students with the knowledge and tools to understand the causes and effects of climate change, while also preparing them and their communities to adapt to their impacts. Helping young people explore their local waterfront and understand coastal resilience is a critical part of our work.
Despite being surrounded by water, many students in the New York region are unaware of the vital role its shorelines play in their everyday lives. Over the past decade, interest in accessing local waterfronts has grown significantly among New Yorkers. However, to really reconnect with its maritime roots and build a resilient future, the next generation must gain the education and hands-on experiences needed to engage with and care for our shared waterways.
Our Approach
Bring Estuary Explorers to your classroom and waterfront.
Waterfront Alliance’s premier climate change education programming is STEM-based and grounded in experiential learning at the waterfront. Through our hands-on field labs, in-class visits, and teacher trainings, students and educators alike learn about the scientific method, urban design principles, ecology, climate preparedness and how they can apply it to their classrooms and local shorelines.
Quick Facts:
- All materials, including field lab supplies, are provided by Waterfront Alliance
- Lessons are taught directly from our lesson plans, workbook and education toolkit.
- Up to 30 students can be accommodated per class
- More than fifty percent of the students we’ve worked with have said that they never accessed their community’s waterfront before participating in Estuary Explorers
- Quarterly newsletter sent out to teachers and organizations featuring education highlights and events hosted by Waterfront Alliance and our alliance partners
The program pairs outdoor lessons at a neighborhood’s waterfront with extension activities in the classroom. This helps enrich students’ understanding of coastal resilience, climate change, and water quality.
Learn more in the 2024-2025 Estuary Explorers Annual Report.
Highlights:
- 7,300+ students across 40 schools and all 5-boroughs engaged in Estuary Explorers programming to date
- 1,300 + students engaged in Estuary Explorers in the 2023-2024 school year
- 1000 + students engaged in multi-week programs
- 100% of teachers said they would participate in a future program
This is a very important topic for our community here in Red Hook and is an awesome opportunity for students to learn about what makes their environment work and what harms it.
I really enjoyed learning about the different animals in the harbor, and how pollution impacts the water.
It was great having our campers be connected with the waterfront right next to the Castle Hill YMCA! Learning about climate change and resiliency as it relates to the kid's own community was such a unique experience.
Estuary Explorers Report 2024-2025
Students explored their local shorelines, tested water quality, and created public art and climate messaging. Our multi-week programs brought resilience education into classrooms across NYC, helping students connect science with storytelling and action.
Exploring Our Waterfront: Estuary Explorers Workbook
Check out the all-new Estuary Explorers Workbook! This book contains all the information our educators use in our classroom visit and field labs, along with the history of the New York waterfront, the ecology of the New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary, the impacts of climate change, and lots of fun games and activities.
Waterfront Alliance Coloring Book
Do you like learning about the New York and New Jersey waterfronts as much as we do? Now you can learn AND color with our Waterfront Alliance Coloring Book, released this past summer!
