Progress 09/01/10 to 08/31/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: I) PRE-SUMMIT ACTIVITIES: April 30, 2010 Focus group of K12 Teachers hosted by National Education Association on Barriers and Opportunities to Incorporating Environmental Education in the Nation's Classrooms. June 3, 2010 Meeting of Education and Public Policy professionals of Scientific, Educational and Environmental organizations led by National Wildlife Federation on Public Policy Opportunities and Funding for Environmental Literacy. July 13, 2010 Meeting of Education professionals from Educational organizations led by Earth Day Coalition and National Wildlife Federation on Policy and Funding Briefing. September 8, 2010 Webinar Led by William Godsoe (NIMBioS) and Louis Gross (Univ. of Tennessee/NIMBioS) on Math, Computing, Undergraduate Ecology Education and Large Datasets: An Example from a Citizen Science Program. September 16, 2010 Co-organized by Ecological Society of America and National Education Association, with Campaign for Environmental Literacy, Earth Day Network and National Wildlife Federation on Expanding Funding, Strengthening Public Policy. September 28, 2010 Webinar organized by American Institute of Biological Sciences. Led by Susan Stafford, Alan Kay, John Moore and Meg Lowman on Advancing Environmental Literacy about Transitions and Tipping Points in Complex Environmental Systems. II) PRE-SUMMIT SURVEY: This survey was designed to learn what the current and projected priorities of the environmental education community are related to environmental literacy activities. III) OPEN FORUM OF THE ECOLOGY AND EDUCATION SUMMIT: The Summit attracted 200 participants from across the US. The Summit featured: a) Two keynote speakers: Will Steger, Arctic Explorer and Will Allen, Urban Farmer, Growing Power; b) six panel discussions with 27 panelists and moderators; c) a participant reflection on "What does it mean to be an environmentally literate person"; d) breakout sessions based on the themes of the panels; and e) a debrief of the "Sustainability Education: Citizenship and Pathways for a Green Economy" Summit, organized by the US Department of Education, Greg Henschel, US Department of Education. IV) ACTION PLAN DESIGN WORKSHOP: This is a facilitated workshop with an invited group of 62 participants representing K-16+ and included representatives from informal and formal education, media, health, community planning, scientific sectors as well as agency personnel. The Summit Decadal Action Plan is available at http://www.esa.org/eesummit/content/proceedings. V) POST-SUMMIT ACTIVITIES: a) A workshop was presented at 12th National Conference on Science, Policy, and the Environment hosted by the National Council for Science and the Environment on January 19, 2012 on "Environmental Literacy for a Secure Future"; b)a half-day workshop on October 25, 2011 that brought together organizations interested in pursuing continued coordination; c) a plan for a searchable directory of organizations engaged in environmental literacy and to expand engagement of new audiences. PARTICIPANTS: STAFF PI MOURAD, Teresa, Director, Education and Diversity Programs, Ecological Society of America (ESA). More than 160 hours. ESA Education Interns: BEETLE, Nicole; GUAN, Peggy, DAUGHERTY, Jennifer; MCAVOY, Meghan; TAYLOR, Jason; Volunteer Videographer. ADVISORY TEAM BECK, Chris, Senior Lecturer, Department of Biology, Emory University; BREWER, Carol, Associate Dean and Professor, College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana; GRAM, Wendy, Chief of Education and Public Engagement, NEON Inc.; MOORE, John, Director/Research Scientist Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University; ORTEGA, Sonia, program Director, Division of Graduate Education, National Science Foundation; RANDLE, DC, Science Teacher St. Francis High School, MN; RISSER, Paul, Acting Director of Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History; Chair of University of Oklahoma Research Cabinet. PROGRAM TEAM BERKOWITZ, Alan, Head of Education, Plant Ecologist, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies; BOWERS, Michael, National Program Leader - Ecology, USDA - National Institute for Food and Agriculture; CATO, Bobby, Senior Education Project Manager, National Environmental Education Foundation; DEMARIA, Rusel, The Art Institute, Seattle; ERWIN, Nathan, Director of O. Orkin Insect Zoo, Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History; GRAHAM, Eric, Associate Development Engineer; Center for Embedded Networked Sensing, University of California-Los Angeles; HASEGAWA, Sheryl, Program Manager, Education Outreach, National Geographic Society; GROSS, Louis,Director, National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS.org), University of Tennesse, Knoxville; KLEMOW, Ken, Professor of Biology and GeoEnvironmental Science, Wilkes University; MELENDEZ-ACKERMAN, Elvia, Institute for Tropical Ecosystem Studies University of Puerto Rico - Rio Piedras; POHLAD, Bob, Professor of Biology and Horticulture Ferrum College; SAMMAN, Safiya, Director, Conservation Education, USDA Forest Service; STEVENSON, Rob, Associate Professor, Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts - Boston; TABOLA, Jennifer; Senior Director of Education, National Environmental Education Foundation. SURVEY TEAM Berkowitz, Alan, Head of Education, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies; Breedlove, Carolyn, Manager, NEA's Green Across America, External Partnerships and Advocacy, National Education Association; Bumpous, Sue, Program & Communications Manager, North American Association for Environmental Education; Coyle, Kevin, Vice President, Education Programs, National Wildlife Federation; Hasegawa, Sheryl, Program Manager, Education Outreach, National Geographic Society; Holifield, Quintaniay, Soil Scientist, US Forest Service Northern Research Station; Li, Helen, Senior Policy Analyst, International Relations, National Education Association; Ortega, Sonia, Program Director, Division of Graduate Education, National Science Foundation. TARGET AUDIENCES: Traget audiences were leaders of national, state, regional and local organizations involved in environmental literacy from a broad range of sectors, disciplines and settings including educators, scientists, technology experts, doctors, media experts, religious organizations, planners, farmers and social service agencies. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
The combination of pre-Summit, Summit and post-Summit events created an awareness of the need for greater coordination of programs and efforts. Given the enormity of the challenges, raising the level of environmental literacy in the nation will require us to 'get the right vocabulary, the right audience, and the right message'. To build the capacity in the citizenry to deal with complexity and change, we need to tie the messages to 'place', which involve people in their own communities, neighborhoods, churches, schools and homes. The focus is on both doing and learning, ensuring that we nurture ownership to "place". In education, it is critical that we engage stakeholders at the state level - which can in turn impact the 15,000 school districts in a non-partisan fashion. This means strong networks at the state level with particular efforts to show how environmental literacy has an existing place in the education content standards. At the local level, we saw the Green School as a hub for sustainability, where the community can live and learn about sustainability to accelerate environmental literacy. We were reminded that in teaching, the medium is sometimes, the message. Green schools and green campuses are in and of themselves, tools for learning. Bringing kids outdoors to learn conveys a different message than learning within a classroom to be successful in tests. Many participants felt ambivalence about using technology for environmental education. At the same time, the power of gaming to reach many millions at once is not trivial and we need to be more creative about developing games that kids want to play while learning about their environment. The themes of the Summit helped participants to rise above their own disciplines and settings. There is a realization that we need to vastly broaden the scope of our understanding of environmental literacy and to come together in new ways. This is guiding a lot of thought currently on an integrated environmental literacy framework that serves to communicate clearly why environmental literacy is important and what it entails especially as relates to engaging diverse audiences.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 09/01/10 to 08/31/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Activities associated with the Ecology and Education Summit included: I) A Series of pre-Summit events: 1) April 30, 2010 Focus group of K12 Teachers: Barriers and Opportunities to Incorporating Environmental Education in the Nation's Classrooms 2) June 3, 2010 Led by National Wildlife Federation Meeting of Education and Public Policy professionals of Scientific, Educational and Environmental organizations: Public Policy Opportunities and Funding for Environmental Literacy 3) September 8, 2010 Webinar Led by William Godsoe (NIMBioS) and Louis Gross (Univ. of Tennessee/NIMBioS: Math, Computing, Undergraduate Ecology Education and Large Datasets: An Example from a Citizen Science Program 4) September 16, 2010 Co-organized by Ecological Society of America and National Education Association, with Campaign for Environmental Literacy, Earth Day Network and National Wildlife Federation: Expanding Funding, Strengthening Public Policy 5) September 28, 2010 Webinar organized by American Institute of Biological Sciences Led by Susan Stafford, Alan Kay, John Moore and Meg Lowman: Advancing Environmental Literacy about Transitions and Tipping Points in Complex Environmental Systems II) A pre-Summit survey This survey was designed to learn what the current and projected priorities of the environmental education community are related to environmental literacy activities. The preliminary results were reported at the Summit. The full report of the survey is still in progress. III) Open forum of the Ecology and Education Summit The Summit attracted 200 participants from across the US. The Summit featured: - two keynote speakers: Will Steger, Arctic Explorer and Will Allen, Urban Farmer, Growing Power. - Five panel discussions with 27 panelists and moderators. - A participant reflection on "What does it mean to be an environmentally literate person" - Breakout sessions based on the themes of the panels - A debrief of the "Sustainability Education: Citizenship and Pathways for a Green Economy" Summit, organized by the US Department of Education, Greg Henschel, US Department of Education IV) Action Plan Design Workshop This is a facilitated workshop with an invited group of 65 participants representing K-16+ and included representatives from informal and formal education, media, health, community planning, scientific sectors as well as agency personnel. Products The project has generated the following products: a) Reports of the pre-Summit events b) Two blogs posted by ESA's Public Affairs office: Moving Environmental Literacy Forward (10/18/2010) Injecting science and nature into video games (10/21/2010). c) A Decadal Plan of Action and the formation of an Implementation Steering Committee d) Video proceedings of the Summit e) A Summit Community letter to be disseminated by participants as appropriate PARTICIPANTS: CO-CHAIRS: Margaret Lowman, ESA Vice President of Education and Human Resources,North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences; Carolyn Breedlove, National Education Association. EVENT STAFF: Teresa Mourad, Ecological Society of America. ESA EDUCATION INTERNS: Meghan McAvoy, Jennifer Daugherty, Nicole Beetle, Peggy Guan. ADVISORS: Chris Beck, Emory University; Alan Berkowitz, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies; David Blockstein, National Council for Science and the Environment; Michael Bowers, USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture; Carol Brewer, University of Montana; Sue Bumpous, North American Association for Environmental Education; Bobby Cato, National Environmental Education Foundation; Kevin Coyle, National Wildlife Federation; Daniel Edelson, National Geographic Society; Rusel DeMaria, The Art Institute, Seattle; Nathan Erwin, National Museum of Natural History; Eric Graham, Center for Embedded Networked Sensing, UCLA; Wendy Gram, NEON Inc.; Louis Gross, University of Tennessee Knoxville; Sheryl Hasegawa, National Geographic Society; Quintaniay Holifield, US Forest Service Northern Research Station; Helen Li, National Education Association; Ken Klemow, Wilkes University; Elvia Melendez-Ackerman, University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras; John Moore, Colorado State University; Sonia Ortega, National Science Foundation; Bob Pohlad, Ferrum College; DC Randle, St. Francis High School MN; Paul Risser, University of Oklahoma; Safiya Samman, USDA Forest Service; Rob Stevenson, University of Massachusetts Boston; Jennifer Tabola, National Environmental Education Foundation; Trish Silber, Aliniad Consulting Partners, Inc. 22 partner organizations including: 1. Ecological Society of America (coordinating partner) 2. National Education Association (host partner) 3. American Association for Advancement of Science 4. American Institute of Biological Sciences 5. American Meteorological Society 6. Center for Embedded Network Sensing 7. Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies 8. Earth Day Network 9. National Council for Science and the Environment 10. National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis 11. National Ecological Observatory Network 12. National Geographic Society 13. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 14. National Science Foundation 15. National Wildlife Federation 16. North American Association for Environmental Education 17. National Environmental Education Foundation 18. National Education Association Foundation 19. National Science Foundation 20. USDA Forest Service Research and Development 21. USDA Forest Service Conservation Education 22. USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture TARGET AUDIENCES: The Summit brought together 200 participants from diverse national ecology and environmental education organizations, federal agencies, scientific and social science societies as well as organizations of teachers, faith-based organizations, comunity organizations, and technology, health and media experts that serve the spectrum K-16+ audiences. Organizations with strong programs that aim to diversify the participation of people of color in environmental protection and sustainability were also among the participants. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: The Ecology and Education Summit event as proposed has been completed. A 12-month No-cost extension from 9/1/2011 through 8/31/2012 has been approved to complete the products that were planned: 1) The report of a pre-Summit survey of national organizations; 2) An article in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, ESA's highly cited multidisciplinary journal, to be submitted as part of an education series; 3) A prioritization of additional articles to be disseminated through other venues or presentations at strategic events; 4) A plan for a searchable directory of organizations engaged in environmental literacy; 5) An engagement plan to disseminate the Summit Action Plan; 6) Publication of the Summit proceedings.
Impacts
The Action Plan developed during the Summit will serve as a guide for coordinating national efforts around environmental literacy and sustainability education for the next decade. Twelve priority high-level action items were identified although they were not intended to be final. It is anticipated that new ones may be added as major gaps are identified. The action items were strategically developed to reduce redundancy, disseminate best practices, advance public policy to advance environmental literacy and build capacity to increase participation of underserved populations. The Decadal Action Plan has already begun to set in motion greater integration and coordination of programs and initiatives. Specific projects include: 1) Support for a Green Ribbon Schools program launched by the US Department of Education and a reinvigorated effort to promote Green Schools and communities 2) An initiative to develop a framework for K-12 that integrates knowledge of natural and human systems in order to educate citizens to make informed decisions about how people adapt to and interact with the environment. A concept paper has been drafted and meetings with several stakeholders. 3) A technology development plan to build a national database of existing environmental literacy programs and services ala Amazon.com to facilitate easier networking and integration of programming. 4) A survey on the extent to which environmental literacy is part of K-12 preservice teacher preparation. 5) A coordinated research effort on best practices in environmental education, Science education and sustainability education.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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