At the Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County, we are proving that industry and nature can coexist! During this presentation, participants will learn why the SWA Greenway Trail System was created and how we connect place-based environmental education with solid waste management and the importance of conserving natural resources.

Unexamined cultural and personal narratives erode our capacities for connection with nature and silence diverse voices. Participants will learn and practice identifying and interrupting harmful narratives and replacing them with values-driven leadership stories that foster healthy group cultures and support work across boundaries of racial, economic, gender/sexuality, and power disparities. The power point and presentation are covered under an open source copyright. They can be used and redistributed freely, but require the acknowledgement of the original source. Any significant changes to the presentation need to be cleared with the original creators. The second page of the hand out contains all pertinent information about this copyright.

Unexamined cultural and personal narratives erode our capacities for connection with nature and silence diverse voices. Participants will learn and practice identifying and interrupting harmful narratives and replacing them with values-driven leadership stories that foster healthy group cultures and support work across boundaries of racial, economic, gender/sexuality, and power disparities. The power point and presentation are covered under an open source copyright. They can be used and redistributed freely, but require the acknowledgement of the original source. Any significant changes to the presentation need to be cleared with the original creators. The second page of the hand out contains all pertinent information about this copyright.

From Lonesome George to rangers in Africa, storytelling is commonly used to connect audiences of all ages to conservation. This session will focus on how to launch a successful conservation writing contest that allows people to use their voices to speak up for voiceless species around the world.

Aquatic macroinvertebrate keys tend to be rather generic. I’ve created a template to make watershed-specific identification posters and pollution indices. Come get your copy and we’ll go step-by-step through creation of a tool for the critters in your watershed.

Join the discussion with Missouri Green Schools leadership about how to increase participation in Green Ribbon Schools through statewide feeder programs. We will discuss challenges and opportunities that exist to attract and support schools as they progress along the green spectrum, especially underrepresented rural and urban core schools.   

Knowledge of biological systems can connect the practical application of designing products, addressing environmental concerns, and demystifying science to spark the imagination of young learners. Technologies inspired by nature (biomimicry) and the design of safer products and processes (green chemistry) provide an avenue to teach STEAM concepts in a dynamic manner.

What are the benefits and challenges of a research-practice partnership (RPP)? This presentation focuses on an RPP between university-based researchers and urban environmental educators. We focus on the process of collaboratively investigating a problem of practice: how do relational processes between educators, youth, and place support environmental interest development? Our RPP emphasizes parity between researchers and practitioners, open communication about research design and implementation, and co-design of program interventions. Our setting was a paid summer internship designed to support development of youth environmental interest. Data collection included participant observation, youth and educator interviews, and artifact analysis. We discuss specific strategies for project collaboration, such as early and ongoing project meetings, co-design of program activities that meet both research and educational goals, and the collaborative analysis of artifacts, such as field journals.

Environmental Service-Learning (ES-L) has emerged as a promising area of theory, research, and practice, with contributions from the fields of EE and Service-Learning (S-L). In this roundtable, participants will review and discuss contributions from these two fields, both shared and unique, to an evolving conception of ES-L.

Environmental Service-Learning (ES-L) has emerged as a promising area of theory, research, and practice, with contributions from the fields of EE and Service-Learning (S-L). In this roundtable, participants will review and discuss contributions from these two fields, both shared and unique, to an evolving conception of ES-L.