by Lee Frankel-Goldwater
On September 26th, I had the fortunate opportunity to attend and present at the Best of Both World’s Conference on Environmental Education and Education for Sustainable development at YMCA in Estes Park just outside of Boulder. Driving into the parking lot in front of the log cabin conference hall, I found myself surrounded by mountains and embraced by the crisp clean air Colorado is so famous for. It was the perfect setting for an environmental educator’s research and practice gathering. Hope, passion and action are a hallmark of this community – an understanding drawing from a belief that social action, environmental protection, and humanistic integrity must intertwine to bring about transitions to sustainability. Moreover, this is a group of risk takers, as many outside the fold of environmental and educational program development perceive this work to be rose colored, and perhaps unworthy for inclusion in the agenda of large-scale initiatives for socio-environmental change. If this conference demonstrated any one point, it is that environmental and sustainability education have wide reaching implications for bringing about transitions towards worldwide understanding and community-based initiatives for empowerment and environmental justice.
Several workshops and sessions I attended exemplified this in particular and I encourage researchers and practitioners alike to explore these contributions for their own programs:
Citizen Science on the GO: New Mobile Tools for Environmental Education, Monitoring, and Research [Russanne Low, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Arlington, VA, U.S.A.] Institute For Global Environmental Strategies
The Visionaria Network: Leadership and Empowerment Training [Kali Basman, The Visionaria Network, Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A.] Visionaria Network
ACEER’s Environmental Education Programs in Peru: Developing Citizens and Leaders in the Heart of the Amazon [Paul Morgan, West Chester University, West Chester, PA, U.S.A.] ACEER – Amazon Center for Environmental Education and Research
My own presentation was on an authentic learning model I developed and tested for teaching whole systems thinking and environmental citizenship in an undergraduate classroom setting: Social Responsibility and the World of Nature – BoBW Conference Presentation by Lee Frankel-Goldwater. The effort was well received, though I humbly recognize that many researchers and practitioners are creating impacts far more significant than my own. Overall, it was the conference trends that were so fascinating for me. I share a few of these here to spark conversation, and would be glad to connect with readers interested in learning more about any of these items so we can continue to grow and learn together:
- Applications of digital technologies and communication tools are a major trend in environmental and sustainability education, and many researchers and practitioners are exploring expanded use for broader, leaner, and global impacts towards socio-ecological change.
- Environmental and sustainability education programs are an international phenomenon, though often localized, and networking these programs into global initiatives maybe a step to improving global environmental citizenship and scaling worldwide impacts.
- Community-based action research and citizen science can be vital contributions to knowledge alongside environmental and sustainability education practices. Learning to integrate these methods with wider disciplinary contexts in the natural and social sciences may help to bring about a day when we can achieve the elusive Best of Both Worlds.
RSS
BoBW 2016: Recent Trends in Environmental Education and Education for Sustainable Development
by Lee Frankel-Goldwater
On September 26th, I had the fortunate opportunity to attend and present at the Best of Both World’s Conference on Environmental Education and Education for Sustainable development at YMCA in Estes Park just outside of Boulder. Driving into the parking lot in front of the log cabin conference hall, I found myself surrounded by mountains and embraced by the crisp clean air Colorado is so famous for. It was the perfect setting for an environmental educator’s research and practice gathering. Hope, passion and action are a hallmark of this community – an understanding drawing from a belief that social action, environmental protection, and humanistic integrity must intertwine to bring about transitions to sustainability. Moreover, this is a group of risk takers, as many outside the fold of environmental and educational program development perceive this work to be rose colored, and perhaps unworthy for inclusion in the agenda of large-scale initiatives for socio-environmental change. If this conference demonstrated any one point, it is that environmental and sustainability education have wide reaching implications for bringing about transitions towards worldwide understanding and community-based initiatives for empowerment and environmental justice.
Several workshops and sessions I attended exemplified this in particular and I encourage researchers and practitioners alike to explore these contributions for their own programs:
Citizen Science on the GO: New Mobile Tools for Environmental Education, Monitoring, and Research [Russanne Low, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Arlington, VA, U.S.A.] Institute For Global Environmental Strategies
The Visionaria Network: Leadership and Empowerment Training [Kali Basman, The Visionaria Network, Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A.] Visionaria Network
ACEER’s Environmental Education Programs in Peru: Developing Citizens and Leaders in the Heart of the Amazon [Paul Morgan, West Chester University, West Chester, PA, U.S.A.] ACEER – Amazon Center for Environmental Education and Research
My own presentation was on an authentic learning model I developed and tested for teaching whole systems thinking and environmental citizenship in an undergraduate classroom setting: Social Responsibility and the World of Nature – BoBW Conference Presentation by Lee Frankel-Goldwater. The effort was well received, though I humbly recognize that many researchers and practitioners are creating impacts far more significant than my own. Overall, it was the conference trends that were so fascinating for me. I share a few of these here to spark conversation, and would be glad to connect with readers interested in learning more about any of these items so we can continue to grow and learn together: