May 16 – June 12, 2022

This course is about creating partnerships between environmental education programs and community members who aim to achieve shared goals through stewardship or advocacy. By involving youth and adults in environmental stewardship, environmental educators enhance environmental quality, social equity, and human well-being. They also engage local residents in advocacy to transform social systems that influence the environment.
​

The course materials, webinars, and interaction with each other, course participants will explore to engage community members in stewardship and environmental decision-making and action as part of environmental education. During this 4-week course, you will:

Explore and create new ideas for community engagement goals and strategies by synthesizing practical experiences and theoretical frameworks,

Exchange practical ideas for community engagement with peers and receive feedback from the instructors, and

Develop a plan for community engagement in your own educational program.

​

The final project is creating a 1-page community engagement plan for your organization or coming up with new ideas for community engagement in environmental education, stewardship, and advocacy. Selected final projects will become part of an ebook that will be featured on the Civic Ecology Lab website and made available to other environmental educators.

This course is largely asynchronous. All materials are provided on the EdX Edge online learning platform. Course participants will learn from video lectures, readings, discussion posts, and case studies. The course also includes live/recorded webinars with experts in community engagement. On average, coursework takes about 5 hours per week each of 4 weeks (total 20 professional development hours).