Forest school programs are becoming increasingly popular around the world. Here in Canada, new programs are initiated every year across the country; there are currently almost 50 programs listed on the Forest School Canada website and over 160 certified Forest School Practitioners. Very little research has been conducted on this educational approach. Through this doctoral research study, I aim to answer the following research question: "What environmental learning is occurring in Canadian forest schools and how does this learning relate to the ecological, cultural, and historical contexts of those places?". Guided by a common worlds conceptual framework, I will collect data such as an ecological inventory, program documents, interviews and child-led tours from three forest school sites within Canada. This research will contribute to the growing conversation about child-nature relations and the utilization of natural spaces in childcare provision.

Over the past year, organizations have been applying the results from two surveys of EE related organizations in Wisconsin to inform their programming decisions. This includes a look at participation trends, economic impact, program evaluations, inclusion, accessibility, use of technology, land management, and professional development needs.

As part of NAAEE’s eeWORKS, we conducted a systematic literature review on climate change education. We will briefly describe common themes and examples of effective climate change education and help you apply these findings to your programs. Come ready to discuss your climate change program ideas!

The NOAA Bay-Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program is implementing a national evaluation system designed to inform seven diverse regional programs, serving approximately 3,600 educators and 48,000 students annually. Learn about how evaluation results are used to monitor and adjust program activities and support grantees in implementing best practices.

This workshop brings liberating creativities to life, introducing EE practitioners and researchers to arts-based educational research and program design. Together we explore justice and empathy, surface and value diversity through multiple ways of knowing, and engage with arts-informed ways of researching. We introduce arts-based approaches by sharing affirmations, theories, resources, approaches, examples, and practices to support your discovery. The four motivations for this work involve building inclusion and multiple ways of knowing, developing a critical lens, leveraging creativity to build capacity for handling complexity (from the Tbilisi Declaration), and creating brave spaces for research and program design. Theories explored include environmental justice, feminist materialism, Gaian lens, and intersectionality and brave spaces, as well as the approaches of just sustainability arts, socially conscious/engaged art, STEAM, and art as a spiritual practice.