Dear environmental and outdoor education community,
We hope you are taking good care. It has been a challenging time for many of us. At AEOE, we've been working to connect with our partners and friends, working to support environmental and outdoor education providers across the state. Please read on for updates and opportunities to advance the field together.
Be well, everyone.
Your friends at AEOE
Environmental Educator Certification Program: Apply Today!
We are thrilled to announce that AEOE’s Environmental Educator Certification Program (EECP) is launching this fall! This year-long program (September - June) will be conducted primarily online and consist of work done both independently and collaboratively. The program is designed for educators who have some teaching experience and are ready to take their career to the next level. Through participating in the certification program, you will increase your knowledge and skills, expand your professional network, enhance your resume, and make important connections across the state. We aim to have a cohort of candidates that will reflect the diversity of California's students. To that end, we strongly encourage people who identify as BIPOC and/or from other communities that have historically been marginalized within the field of EE to apply. We hope you will consider applying to be a part of our pilot cohort.
Promoting EE and Outdoor Learning in Plans to Reopen Schools
AEOE has been working hard to promote environmental education and outdoor learning as integral to reopening schools in California. The newly launched eeGuidance for Reopening Schools was developed by state EE organizations and the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE). The guidelines provide practical strategies for schools to use outdoor learning and environmental education as a tool to safely reopen schools this fall. The eeGuidelines for California can be accessed here.
Feel free to share with your networks and promote the eeGuidelines with your local school personnel. We imagine this could be a good starting point or messaging that could strengthen your attempts to partner with local schools to provide virtual programming or in-person learning in counties where it is safe to do so. For our formal education community, this might help you to work with you administration to commit to engaging your nonformal education partners in supporting your students.
Resources & Engagement Opportunities
Our friends at BEETLES and BaySci are hosting a virtual open space conference:
Informal/Formal Partnerships to Survive the Impacts of COVID-19, Promote Equity, and Keep Science & Environmental Literacy Alive
July 28th-29th, 2020 10:00am-1:00pm PST
More details at: https://sites.google.com/berkeley.edu/openspace/
This conference is free to attend.
Note: in the spirit of open space, the content of the conference is determined by attendees. All attendees are invited to hold discussions on the topics of their choosing.
Youth Outdoor Equity Leadership funding opportunity from Children & Nature Network
Mini-grants of $500 will be awarded to young leaders ages 18 to 30. Examples of projects could include: online outdoor education sessions; creating gardens that employ young people and provide fresh food; providing outdoor gear to remove barriers to outdoor recreation; legislative action training to advance policies that increase equitable access to nature. All young leaders are encouraged to apply. The deadline is July 31st. Priority consideration will be given to those who have participated in C&NN’s Legacy Camps and Fresh Tracks trainings, and young leaders from Black, Indigenous, Latinx, other People of Color, those who identify as LGBTQ, and those with disabilities. APPLY HERE TODAY
Practitioner Guide to Assessing Connection to Nature Now Available!
Are you interested in measuring and understanding a population’s connection to nature? Do you want to know if your program has influenced your participants’ connection to nature? The Practitioner Guide to Assessing Connection to Nature is a 63-page guide, including 11 tools and approaches that you can use to assess connection to nature, and it includes copies of those tools for easy access. The guide is also designed to help you choose the right tool for your needs, whether you work with young children, teenagers, or adults. Download or purchase a copy of the guide here.
