Making the Guidelines accessible and relevant by updating, printing, and posting online

NAAEE published a new set of Guidelines for Excellence focusing on community engagement in 2016. The new guidelines are being disseminated and the University of Oregon and Antioch University of New England (AUNE) are conducting in-depth trainings to ensure their effective use. These guidelines address a number of critical topics such as cultural competency, strategic partnerships, civic engagement techniques, and stakeholder engagement. A series of professional development modules are being developed to support in-depth training in each of these topics, including one train-the-trainer workshop manual and in-depth modules on a priority topic (e.g., cultural competency, stakeholder engagement). 

Y1 Update

The first module, with a focus on Stakeholder Inclusion and Engagement, was introduced at a workshop in the late summer of 2017 to gather workshop participants’ input on the nature and scope of topics they would want to see included in such a module. The module will be based on how to design in-depth professional development focusing on stakeholder inclusion and engagement, one of the key topics addressed in the new community engagement Guidelines. The train-the-trainer module, along with selected portions of the in-depth module, will be pilot tested in St. Petersburg, Florida at the Southeast Environmental Education Alliance conference in March 2018. The training will provide an overview of the Guidelines for Excellence in Community Engagement and ensure that participants are confident in their ability to share them with others. To support these dissemination and professional development efforts, the supporting manual and supplemental training materials are now in their final stages of development. These materials will be published in the late spring of 2018, updated, and revised as needed.

NAAEE first published Excellence in Environmental Education: Guidelines for Learning (K-12) in 1999. This set of guidelines has been updated every four or five years—most recently in 2009. Since this last update, major changes have occurred within education at the national level, particularly with the publication of the Next Generation Science Standards, Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, and Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, as well as model standards for global competency and social studies. A writing team of education experts is working to revise and update the Guidelines for Learning (K–12) to reflect current trends and needs.