Environmental literacy is essential for sustainability, yet its development and definition are often narrow. This session shows the impact of breakthroughs in physics and cultural studies on environmental education. We will explore a new vision for environmental literacy, founded on the strength of diversity and inclusion, with the goal of empowering current and future leaders.

In the past several decades, China campus environmental clubs have sprung up like mushrooms across campuses nationwide. They are recognized as environmental educators on campus. Further, through learning and acting together, club members are immersed in the “environmental education program” of their own club. However, this “environmental education program” is self-taught and totally experiential. Club leaders are challenged as the club grows and the expectations increase, especially in their responsibility for environmental education. Therefore, we, three university students, initiated the Capacity Building Network (CaBuN!) for China Campus Environmental Clubs in April 2018. Our goals are to enhance leadership in China campus environmental clubs, to build awareness of environmental education as a field of study and practice among China campus environmental clubs, and to promote scholarship and entrepreneurship based on China campus environmental clubs.

Finding innovative ways to bring more educators into the field of environmental education. Learn more about how Kentucky has undergone the process of developing an AmeriCorps program to build the capacities of environmental education providers on a statewide scale through unique partnerships.

Freelance educators are uniquely positioned to connect the public to history, culture, and nature in a variety of informal learning environments. The contributions freelance educators make to lifelong learning is unknown. Who are freelance educators? What do they do? How do they create change? These are some of the questions I aim to answer in my investigation, "The Freelance Condition & Lifelong Learning in Communities." Freelance educators working in natural resource fields and environmental education are encouraged to share how they create change in their communities.

Why study composting if I don’t have a backyard? When environmental education lessons fail to reflect diverse student experiences, many participants disengage and their voices are lost in the conservation conversation. In this collaborative roundtable, we’ll share examples and discover strategies for designing more equitable environmental education opportunities for all.