All about the 1999 Spring Leadership Clinic

What is the Leadership Clinic?

The 1999 NEEAP/NAAEE Spring Leadership Clinic will take place April 13-17, 1999 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The annual Spring Leadership Clinic is fundamentally different than any other state or national conference because it provides an intensive focus on organizational and leadership skill development for environmental education (EE) professionals. The Leadership Clinic is also unique in that it provides state-level EE leaders with the opportunity to exchange ideas and strategies with their peers from across the United States and Canada in a variety of innovative group process settings. The three strands emphasized at the clinic include strategic planning, networking, and professional development. This year a fourth strand will be provided at the Leadership Clinic: future strategies for EE capacity building at the state, regional and national levels. The Environmental Education and Training Partnership (EETAP), through a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), funds the Leadership Clinic.

What Happens at a Typical Leadership Clinic?

Building on the successes and lessons of Leadership Clinics since 1996, the 1999 Spring Leadership Clinic program is determined by current clinic participants and the priorities of the funding partners, EETAP and USEPA. A participant-driven approach to the Clinic provides state teams and national partners with the time and the on-hand resources needed to advance their state, regional, or national organizational development and capacity building action plans. A large portion of time at the Clinic is spent in individual team planning/training sessions. Facilitators and resource people are on hand and team representatives will have opportunities to schedule time with other groups for consultation and exchange. Through the use of Open Space technology, Heads-Together and other large group processes, teams work together periodically in multiple-state groups to address topics of shared interest or concern. Finally, skill building and professional development sessions are active sessions where every team leaves with a product, such as: a plan strategy draft, a grant proposal draft, a conceptual map, a set of draft EE guidelines, a media plan, or a written exercise for organizational development.

How Can State and National EE Leaders Get the Most From the Clinic?

Typically, teams that stay focused and network fully get the most out of the clinic. There are a variety of ways to achieve these objectives, but a team that comes with a plan of how they intend to use the clinic will reap many benefits. Through the collaborative efforts of NEEAP and WestEd, two interconnected web sites have been created to provide information and interactive opportunities. Team members participating at the clinic, and those who are not able to attend in Albuquerque, will have the opportunity to interact using both e-mail and the World Wide Web. By visiting the 1999 Leadership Clinic pages on NEEAP's web site, clinic team members can access information which will help them prepare for the clinic. A "virtual clinic" has also been created through a special EdGateway EE Community which will provide opportunities for clinic discussions before, during, and after the clinic. We hope this technology will better prepare teams or the clinic, increase state team participation, and heighten the potential for post-clinic plan implementation. This new addition to the clinic has something to offer everyone, no matter what your comfort level is with computer technology.

What are the Goals of the 1999 NEEAP/NAAEE Spring Leadership Clinic?

Goal #1: Provide leadership and organizational development training and networking opportunities for professionals working to strengthen environmental education in state and provincial EE associations, EE 2000 state coalitions, regional EE networks, and national capacity building efforts (i.e. membership and leadership development and recruitment/retention; board development; strategic planning; fundraising; and promotional approaches).

Goal #2: Hold discussions on strategic directions for capacity building at the state, regional, and national levels. Many EE leaders are working daily to build capacity for EE in their states, communities, and organizations. Strategic plans have been implemented and updated. Many EE initiatives have been achieved such as statewide networks, model schools programs, EE advisory boards and grants programs, teacher inservice and preservice initiatives, EE centers, EE curriculum and assessment initiatives and more. How do we continue to build on these successes? How do we continue to leverage existing resources and secure new ones?

Goal #3: Ensure that all participants' expertise and experiences are fully utilized. Those attending the Clinic have much to offer as resource people and facilitators. The Leadership Clinic schedule will reflect this knowledge and talent by having state EE leaders as well as national resource people and consultants as leaders of sessions, and by emphasizing participant input during sessions. Participant input in advance of the clinic will also be key to its success.

Goal #4: Provide strategies and networking for strategic plan development and implementation. In order to further organizational and leadership development to achieve EE initiatives, participants will have several opportunities to synthesize the information and ideas gained at the Leadership Clinic toward the effective implementation of strategic action plans. Furthermore, participants will be provided with time to develop a plan for conveying and utilizing the information, networks, and enthusiasm gained to other EE supporters in their states and provinces.

Goal #5: Reflect the priorities of state and provincial EE leaders and the EETAP consortium (made up of 10 national EE organizations and universities representing EE leaders at the state-level) to address: a) links between education reform and EE; b) avenues for increasing the support and involvement of the business sector, culturally diverse communities, the formal education sector and other key audiences in EE capacity building and programmatic efforts; c) opportunities for generating positive publicity about EE programs and capacity building efforts; d) increasing communication and networks through the electronic media; e) ensuring quality and consistency in EE; and f) strategies for strengthening EE organizations.

Goal #6: Model a variety of session formats and facilitation approaches in order to: (1) address various learning styles of participants; (2) provide examples teams/individuals can utilize in their home states; (3) provide variation in the pace and intensity of sessions.

Goal #7: Utilize electronic technology and other avenues to increase participation and buy-in of stakeholders who can not participate in the clinic. An informational/interactive Leadership Clinic website will be developed for this purpose. This site will provide a place for all interested state and national EE leaders to learn about and interact with clinic activities.

Goal #8: Emphasize the capacity building role of EE associations in developing comprehensive EE programs. Representatives of EE organizations can gain much from the clinic regarding organizational and leadership development and sustainability. In addition, the clinic should address the role of state EE associations in strengthening and maintaining their state-wide EE program.

Goal #9: Feature new capacity building projects. A National EE Barter Network, an EE 2000 Lead Team Project, an Organizational Assessment Tool, and a resource for holding Leadership Clinics at the state and regional level will be highlighted at the clinic this year. These projects were initiated at the 1998 Leadership Clinic and have been funded and developed as new capacity building services available to the EE field.

What are the Outputs of the Leadership Clinic?

The 1999 Leadership Clinic will be built around a framework of networking, planning, professional development, and strategic discussions. A program built around these goals and utilizing effective small and large group interactive processes will result in the following clinic outputs:

(1) Each state or other EE organizational entity will develop or update their EE capacity building action plan with specific implementation strategies.

(2) Participants will develop specific EE capacity building and EE initiative products as a result of the clinic such as fundraising proposals, organizational development exercises, draft EE guidelines, and media plans with press releases.

(3) Open Space and other session results will immediately be downloaded onto the EdGateway web site for participant use.

(4) Participants and teams will develop a list of contacts and resources and a plan for utilizing these upon return to their states.

(5) Participants will have clear direction and complete buy-in from the state EE organization and will keep in communication about goals and strategies before, during and after the clinic.

Where will the Leadership Clinic be Held?

The 1999 Leadership Clinic will be held in Albuquerque's Old Town Sheraton Hotel. Old Town is the city's central attraction and features southwest arts and crafts shops and restaurants set among original missionary architecture, plazas, and winding cobblestone walking streets. The Old Town area also features the Natural History Museum, the Albuquerque Art Museum, the City of Albuquerque Bio-Park, and a wide variety of eating establishments all within walking distance of the hotel. The hotel offers comfortable, southwest style rooms, a wide variety of meeting spaces, two restaurants, and an outdoor pool/spa. A children's museum is adjacent to the hotel. Several other attractions are available in the Albuquerque area including the Bosque River Parkway, Acoma "Sky City", Sandia Peaks, and Tent Rocks. Field trip opportunities to these and other sites will be provided by our gracious hosts from the EE Association of New Mexico. The Old Town Sheraton is a 15-20 minute drive or taxi ride from the airport.

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