There is tremendous potential to facilitate learning about climate change with and within US national park sites and in other parks across the country. This special issue focuses on partner agencies and organizations that have developed innovative approaches to engaging learners to better understand natural science, climate change, and sustainability ethics. There are hundreds of examples of this work and these types of partnerships across the country, and this special issue packages a unique combination of case studies and activity guides. The case study format may be more familiar, but we’re very excited to introduce a set of activity guides that could be adapted and used in classrooms, at camps, or on field trips to virtually any public land or park.

An introduction to this issue's set of theme papers, which were inspired by the new book America’s Largest Classroom: What We Learn from Our National Parks (University of California Press, 2020). These papers explore innovations in education and interpretation in the US National Park Service.