Hitchcock Center for the Environment: An Educational Approach to Climate Action

Amherst’s Hitchcock Center has long recognized the importance of environmental education. In the 1960s, Ethel Dubois purchased a farm in Leverett to create a summer camp and nature education facility for low-income children. As interest grew, the program moved to the Larch Hill Conservation Area in the 1970s, expanding its reach within the community. Now, 65 years later, the Hitchcock Center’s environmental legacy continues, centering its mission around fostering a deeper understanding of the environment while helping visitors build environmentally friendly lifestyles. 

 To cultivate a community of environmentally literate individuals, the Hitchcock Center begins by engaging and educating young people through initiatives like the Youth Climate Project. Launched in 2025, this program gathers youth aged 10–18 to share their stories and experiences with climate change, giving them a platform to express concerns and inspire action. This platform for younger generations also helps showcase to all visitors of the Hitchcock Center the importance of education on climate change.  

The Hitchcock Center has also established a Youth Climate Summit in partnership with Mass Audubon, a program that is entirely organized by youth. This summit creates a space for open communication among teens across the Northeast, allowing them to connect and share their diverse experiences with climate change. It offers participants new perspectives and practical ways to take on climate action within their own communities. Through this summit, young climate pioneers become the first voices of change, demonstrating to others how youth leadership can shape a more sustainable future.

Educational Programs for All  

Beyond its youth initiatives, the Hitchcock Center offers a range of programs to engage visitors in building sustainable, nature-friendly lifestyles. Adult community programs such as the Learning from Nature program include hands-on activities like self-care in nature, firefly observation nights, bird identification, and migration analysis, providing accessible ways to connect with the local environment.  

For younger generations, Hitchcock offers an extensive selection of after-school programs for grades K–6, encouraging children to immerse themselves in nature-centered activities that blend education with fun. From observing seasonal changes to building fairy houses, these programs foster a love for the environment while teaching children the importance of protecting it. 

For adults seeking mature discussions revolving around climate action, nature related topics, and advocacy, Hitchcock Center offers a wide variety of adult community programs such as the Climate Action Series. This is a discussion-based program that not only brings together community members and partners but also encourages collaboration to address climate-related issues. This program aims to educate adults on the importance of community engagement and will be asking challenging questions regarding ways in which adults can create a more culturally, ecologically and socially just community. The Climate Action Series incorporates discussions, deliberative forums and practical workshops through events like Climate Cafés, where community members can congregate in a safe space and discuss climate concerns. This program also offers Living Building Tours for adults, providing insight into the features of the Living Building while discussing how some of these features can be implemented into everyday life.

Living Building Initiative 

The Hitchcock Center doesn’t just teach sustainability; it lives it. In 2019, the center’s building earned Living Building Certification, becoming the fourth of its kind in Massachusetts and a sustainability pioneer in the region. Meeting all Living Building Challenge performance categories—including energy, water, materials, site, health, happiness, and beauty—the building offers visitors a real-time, tangible example of sustainable practices in action, transforming environmental education into lived experience.

The Future of Hitchcock Center  

As the world of sustainability continues to grow and evolve, the Hitchcock Center is committed to adapting and expanding its goals to meet these changes. 

Striving to enhance environmental literacy, the Hitchcock Center aims to build a broader community of individuals engaged in sustainability. To achieve this, they are working to implement environmental justice education in schools and community settings. This includes expanding their youth network to empower more children to advocate for climate action, providing professional development and curriculum resources for educators, and leveraging their Living Building to showcase sustainability in a tangible and visible way. 

Additionally, the Hitchcock Center is committed to ensuring that its environmental solutions acknowledge and benefit all communities. This involves acknowledging and addressing systemic racism and income inequality within the environmental movement in hopes of creating socially just environmental solutions that support equity and advance sustainability goals. 

Each year, Hitchcock center serves an average of 12,000 program participants and visitors throughout western Massachusetts and beyond, have had over 2,150 children, teens and family participants engage in science and nature discovery programs, along with 525 professional development participants.  

At the Hitchcock Center, sustainability isn’t just a topic; it’s a community practice built on education, action, and hope for the future. Whether you’re a young climate advocate looking to share your voice, a family eager to explore nature, or an adult hoping to learn new ways to live sustainably, the Hitchcock Center offers opportunities to grow, learn, and make a difference.