Giving Compass' Take:

• A new report titled, "Navigating the Future of Learning" from nonprofit KnowledgeWorks explains how climate change and human migration are causing significant changes in schools. 

• Are online schools the answer to helping displaced students? How can funders help plan for education alternatives as climate change becomes more severe?

• Read about schools that are closing due to climate change-induced heat waves.

Raging wildfires in California and devastating hurricanes along the Atlantic seaboard have sent school officials scrambling to resolve immediate problems, such as repairing infrastructure and finding new schools for displaced students. Longer term, climate change may have a more permanent, major impact on the future of learning, according to a new report.

In “Navigating the Future of Learning,” a trio of futurists from the nonprofit KnowledgeWorks highlighted a handful of societal “drivers of change” that are likely to shape education during the next decade. Among them: demographic shifts, changes in the nature of work and climate volatility will all impact how tomorrow’s students will experience school.

Climate shifts such as sea level rise or wildfires are presented as examples of inbound change—and they’re already a catalyst for human migration, says Jason Swanson, another co-author. “We’re seeing the very beginnings of this in the U.S. and certainly globally,” he says.

Inbound changes may also collide with outbound ones like migration caused by political instability.

That means learning disruptions that could lead to a new concept of school. Displaced students may not have many options for school stability beyond growing options in online learning. But the authors offer examples of creative workarounds and solutions, as is the case at a new Santa Ana-Calif. high school, called Círculos.

Change isn’t all bad for communities though. The report also notes that the future may provide cities with a chance at reinvention—especially places hard hit by declining industries and a new economy.

Traditional community revitalization efforts often do not translate into lasting change, the report cautions—and gentrification and investment attempts may become exclusive and actually exacerbate inequality and marginalization.

Read the full article about climate change and migration impact schools by Stephen Noonoo at EdSurge