Author: Martha Dehnow

This week, we want to highlight the importance of creating partnerships between the formal and nonformal education sectors to advance environmental literacy across the nation. We have had discussions with knowledge leaders Judy Braus, Andra Yeghoian, and Jason Morris about this topic, so we wanted to revisit the benefits of these partnerships, and how they can provide a holistic environmental literacy solution and positive outcomes for all K-12 students across the US.

Judy Braus, Executive Director of the NAAEE, core work has revolved around strengthening networks and building support for the advancement of environmental education and conservation. Judy notes that the necessary components to build a strong environmental education ecosystem are funding, policies, professional development, high-quality interdisciplinary curriculum, evaluation and metrics, equitable access to the outdoors, a focus on equity and inclusion in the field, and society-wide buy-in. Judy sees strong networks as the glue holding the environmental education ecosystem together and a bridge between state and local actors.  

Judy believes that the interplay between the non-formal and formal education sectors is crucial for the advancement of environmental literacy. Judy explains that,

“Schools are not isolated units in society. We have to look cross-sectoral and understand that we need to think about education throughout society, including early childhood, K-12, higher education, and all the places the people learn outside of our formal system.”

Judy Braus

Jason Morris, the Senior Program Officer for the Environmental Education Program at Pisces Foundation, where he works to identify and fund “backbone organizations” expressed a similar sentiment, “We need to aggregate this work so the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.” Jason believes there is a need to increase networking between states, among states, and that greater leadership is needed from the federal level.

A common thread of belief between the environmental education knowledge leaders we have interviewed is that the field lacks “connective tissue”. Utilizing resources from formal and nonformal education as well as the public and private sector creates more opportunities to network and acquire funding for environmental literacy initiatives across the country. Without a public and private partnership between philanthropy and federal and state funding streams, it becomes a lot harder to implement these initiatives due to a lack of resources and competition for the few resources that do exist. This is at the heart of Pisces Foundation’s mission, as Jason stated,

“We are trying to create those connections between the key nodes of strategic work going on because a school partnering with a non-profit, partnering with a CBP is stronger than any three of those things by themselves.”

Jason Morris

Andra Yeghoian, the Environmental Literacy and Sustainability Coordinator at San Mateo County Office of Education (SMCOE), is passionate about the idea of collaboration as she has driven change from the classroom to the site, county, and state levels through environmental literacy. When examining the current state of environmental literacy and sustainability in the formal K-12 sector, Andra acknowledges that there are areas of improvement when it comes to resource utilization and institutional change, and suggests we start by having educators and administrators build relationships with green leaders and stakeholders.

To better support environmental literacy initiatives for students and teachers, administrators need capacity-building tools for environmental literacy and sustainability. When the formal and nonformal education sectors collaborate, they can complement one another; both provide expertise and resources that the other needs. Working symbiotically on providing resources for educators and creating learning experiences for students that connect the classroom to field-based programs, they can effectively take advantage of each other’s resources.

As Andra mentioned in our interview, the education system is fundamental to our cultural narrative, so to make a paradigm shift happen in the field of environmental education, we must make sure the education system is on board. By creating partnerships between the formal and nonformal education sectors, there are more game changers keeping their eye on the environmental literacy landscape and providing insight for growth across the board.

“That is the reason to invest in formal education. The true leverage point for change in a society is through education.”

Andra Yeghoian

Funding and resources remain a critical barrier to the advancement of environmental literacy. But, by drawing resources from the corporate and philanthropic worlds, advocating at all levels of government, and increasing local networks’ capacity to provide new learning experiences, there is a future where environmental literacy is at the forefront of every child’s education.

Relevant Links

Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education (AEOE) – AEOE is a statewide organization that was created by and for outdoor and environmental educators. It is the California affiliate for the North American Association of Environmental Educators (NAAEE), its mission is to advance the impact of environmental and outdoor education in California.

North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) – NAAEE uses the power of education to advance environmental literacy and civic engagement to create a more equitable and sustainable future. It works with educators, policymakers, and partners throughout the world. 

Pisces Foundation – The Pisces Foundation provides grants to nonprofit organizations to accelerate to a world where people and nature thrive together. It supports early movers, innovative ideas, and bold leaders and organizations, adapting based on what it learns. 

SMCOE Environmental Literacy and Sustainability Initiative – Explore Andra’s site for the San Mateo County Office of Education. You’ll find a seemingly endless amount of useful resources and information on the work SMCOE is doing. These paid fellowships build teacher and administrative capacity for driving sustainable and climate-resilient transformative change in their classroom and school communities.

Ten Strands – Ten Strands is the leading field catalyst and “backbone organization” in the state of California and the founder of CAELI. It partners with the state government, local education agencies, providers of environmental education, community members, and funders to make environmental literacy a reality for all California’s K–12 students.

Here at Green Guardians, we wanted to take a look back at our previous interviews we have had with environmental education knowledge leaders and revisit the need for equitable access to environmental literacy tools. Our first interview was with Dr. Gerald Lieberman, Director of the State Education and Environmental Roundtable (SEER) where he has been instrumental in the development of California’s initiatives around environment-based education (EBE). In his role with SEER, Dr. Lieberman developed a strategy for implementing EBE called the EIC Model ™ or Environment as an Integrating Context for learning which focuses on developing localized instructional programs at the school or district level. 

As Dr. Lieberman noted in his book Education and the Environment (2014): 

“The major educational and environmental challenges that our society is currently facing are inextricably connected to the ways humans interact with the world around them… changing the way teachers teach and students learn is the only way to develop an educated citizenry capable of resolving these challenges.” 

Dr. Gerald Lieberman

In other words, in order for our community to have an impact on the environment around us, we need to start educating students on culturally and environmentally relevant topics, as well as on actionable tasks that can be taken beyond the classroom. One of the main challenges that educators face when implementing environmental literacy is equitable access to resources, programs, and relevant lessons. This issue is especially prevalent in low-income and underrepresented communities.  

To address relevancy in environmental literacy implementation, Craig Strang, the Associate Director of the UC Berkeley Lawrence Hall of Science, advocates for designing at the margins. To design at the margins, we need to identify marginalized communities and work with their representatives to design locally relevant environmental literacy programs and projects. “The lesson is that when you design at the margins you can often address the needs of marginal populations while also serving the mainstream,” expressed Craig. 

We spoke with Craig Strang about the issue of environmental justice and equity in the space, and he believes that we should place environmental justice at the heart of the emerging discipline of environmental literacy. He suggests we start by recognizing that environmental degradation typically also incubates a problem of social justice. Whether we consider the location of polluting industries, or the marketing of unhealthy foods, or the ravages of fires and floods, the fallout disproportionately impacts historically marginalized groups, particularly people of color and people from low-income families. 

In relation to environmental literacy and environmental justice, we are seeing youth leaders emerge where education has been insufficient and environmental challenges have greatly impacted communities. We spoke with Isha Clarke, a youth activist and one of the founding members of Youth vs. Apocalypse, and she emphasized that environmental literacy is environmental justice due to the fact that they are inseparable for many underserved communities who disproportionately suffer the impact of many environmental issues. Isha explained how environmental literacy can advance “collective liberation from systems of oppression” by helping people see the interdependence between natural and human systems. It also addresses the fact that while educators may understand the importance of learning about the environment, the environment is core to the identity of many youths today. Using the environment as a multi-disciplinary lens to highlight and provide context around injustices facing students’ communities will reach students and inspire action. 

In California and other leading states, environmental literacy is being developed as a multi-disciplinary, project-based learning domain, ideally linked to programs offered by a wide range of community-based partners. It is important for schools across the nation to roll out environmental literacy initiatives in an equitable manner to make the greatest impact on our society’s relationship with the environmental challenges prevalent today. Craig notes: “Access includes making sure that underserved schools have access to teaching and curricular resources and subsidies that cover the cost of school projects, enrolling in community programs, and materials and transport.” 

As we look forward to the future of environmental education, environmental literacy must be at the forefront of school curriculums. Through interdisciplinary lessons, educators and students can connect with environmental topics in non-traditional and exciting ways. Working with community-based partners is a great way for counties and school districts to get a jump-start on introducing environmental literacy into their curriculums as CBPs provide a wealth of knowledge and resources for educators.  

Our upcoming CAELI Community-Based Partner Hub, in association with CAELI and Ten Strands, aims to provide equitable access for County Offices of Education, school districts, and educators to environmental education resources and programs provided by community-based partners. 

See the K-12 Environmental Literacy timeline here.

NEWS RELEASE 

Green Guardians launches California Environmental Literacy Initiative (CAELI)

 Community-based Partner Hub

Oakland, CA — March 31, 2021 — Green Guardians is excited to announce the launch of the CAELI Community-Based Partner Hub (The Hub) in collaboration with CAELI and Ten Strands and with generous initial funding support from The David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Morgan Family Foundation. 

The Hub promotes environmental literacy by building educator awareness of community-based partners (CBP) and their products and services and fosters educator-CBP relationships for increased student enrichment and engagement. Through The Hub, county offices of education showcase and promote existing environmental education providers to districts and schools as well as discover new partners looking to align their offerings to the needs of the K-12 school system. Currently, four California county offices of education will have a dedicated presence at The Hub — San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and San Joaquin — with more coming online later in the year. San Francisco USD, a district and a county, will also have a dedicated presence at launch.  

The goals of The Hub are to increase the visibility and access to environmental education partners and providers and be a reliable central repository for districts, schools, and educators to identify programs that align with their local needs and meet educational standards.

The Key Themes of The Hub:

• Increase Equitable Access to Environmental Literacy Programs
• Support Capacity Building for Administrators and Educators 
• Create Connections Between the Formal and Nonformal Education Sectors

“The Hub will help with equity efforts by making it apparent which districts/schools/grade levels are receiving services from the CBPs within the county and where access needs to be expanded.”

Dean Reese, Science Coordinator, Outdoor Education and Environmental Literacy, San Joaquin County Office of Education

County Offices of Education can enroll in The Hub and get their own county-specific portal through the central CAELI site. Through their portal, they can provide links to their resources, promote their services, and most importantly direct users to vetted environmental education providers.

Community-based partners (CBPs) can sign-up directly through the central CAELI site and promote their organization and programs. CBPs will have the opportunity to highlight how their offerings meet K-12 school system needs by connecting them to environmental topics and identifying key links to California’s standards and Environmental Principles & Concepts (EP&Cs).

Districts, Schools, and Educators can clearly identify providers that offer standards and EP&Cs aligned locally relevant, and culturally responsive programs for their students. Utilizing filters such as grades, subjects, topics, standards, and availability, educators compare and connect with providers and programs that best suit the needs of their stakeholders.

About CAELI, Ten Strands, and Green Guardians: 

CAELI, a project of Ten Strands, is a public-private partnership that works statewide, with guidance from a leadership council, to create systems change in support of environmental literacy with a focus on access, equity, and cultural relevance for all students.

Ten Strands is a field catalyst for the K-12 school system in California focused on advancing the environmental literacy of students. It partners with state government, local education agencies, providers of environmental education, community members, and funders to make environmental literacy a reality for all California’s K–12 students.

Green Guardians is a new California-based education technology company dedicated to advancing environmental literacy as an activity-based and standards-linked paradigm in K-12 education across the United States and the world. 

Contact Green Guardians today to become part of The Hub: info@greenguardians.com

Visit www.greenguardians.com to learn more!