The MGH Institute’s School of Nursing has just become first college or university in the country to receive a Center of Excellence (COE) in Nursing Education designation by the National League of Nursing for its work related to climate change and health, guided by the Center for Climate Change and Health Equity. Of the colleges and universities named Centers of Excellence this year, the MGH Institute was the only one to be awarded a COE for “Creating learning environments that impact climate change and planetary health.”

This NLN COE, which was a new designation in 2025, recognizes schools that are taking significant steps to educate current and future nurses across programs to enact practices and policies to address the adverse effects of climate change and other environmental hazards with the aim of improving health care for all.

“This achievement underscores the Institute’s commitment to climate change and climate justice and the impact that the members of the Center are having on advancing equity through student, clinician, and community awareness—the first step to creating climate resilient individuals and communities,” said Suellen Breakey, director of the Center. “Applying for this designation, which is a rigorous process, affirmed the depth and breadth of our impact since we established the Center in 2017. Although only our work over the last five years was considered for this COE, we were able to demonstrate sustained impact at the local, regional, and national levels as leaders in climate-health education, scholarship, community engagement, and advocacy. Our work is an exemplar of the role nurses play to work toward climate justice. I am so proud and appreciative of the SON leadership team for being prescient in supporting the Center and also of our steering committee members and others who have spearheaded so much of this important work. My hope is that receiving this recognition will energize the SON as we continue to address this issue. There is a lot more work to be done.”

“We have all heard, ‘It takes a village,’” said NLN President and CEO Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN. “Nowhere is that truer than in the shared vision and values, mutual support, respect, and inclusivity among faculty, leadership and students that must come together for an extraordinary nursing program to be nationally recognized for their innovation and commitment in becoming an NLN Center of Excellence.”