UC SAN DIEGO-EARTHLAB
Community Station
Hands-on experiential learning in green spaces produces better educational outcomes in underserved communities
The UC SAN DIEGO-EARTHLAB Community Station is a four-acre climate action park in the southeast San Diego neighborhoods of Encanto, designed for experiential outdoor education.
Location + Partnership
Encanto, San Diego, CA
Encanto is an underserved “environmental justice” community located in southeast San Diego, characterized by high unemployment, low educational attainment, food insecurity and cyclical poverty. EarthLab occupies a 4-acre parcel, owned by the San Diego Unified School District and granted to the EarthLab, to increase infrastructural and programmatic capacity of the six public schools within walking distance of the site.
Groundwork San Diego–Chollas Creek
The EarthLab is a partnership between UC San Diego and Groundwork San Diego, an environmental enhancement non-profit empowered by the City of San Diego to restore the Chollas Creek watershed and to improve the environment, economy and quality of life for the residents of Encanto.
Physical Infrastructure
EarthLab was designed by leading informal science educators, climate scientists, environmental designers, architects and landscape architects.
Social Infrastructure
The EarthLab Method advances a new model of experiential environmental education.