The Environmental Education Advocate - Summer 1996
The following information is provided to you as a service of the National Environmental Education Advancement Project (NEEAP). We encourage you to use it and please credit the National Environmental Education Advancement Project where appropriate.
Anticipation ran high as the joint National Environmental Education Advancement Project (NEEAP) and North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) 1996 Spring Leadership Clinic approached. Last minute details were taken care of and a host of tasks were completed by NEEAP and NAAEE staff and many helpful volunteers from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point's (UW-SP) Environmental Education (EE) graduate students and colleagues (see Volunteers). By the end of the five days of workshops and activities at UW-SP's Treehaven Educational Field Station, everyone s expectations had been met and more.
Stated one of the participants, Ginny Wallace, Environmental Education Officer with the Missouri Department of Conservation, "Without question it was the most effective training I have attended." She added, "The benefits of the Clinic will go far beyond our EE 2000 effort. We have a big job to do, but we came away with the tools to do that job and do it effectively."
First of its Kind
The Spring Leadership Clinic was the first of its kind to provide a week-long intensive forum addressing the needs of state-level EE organizers. The state level leaders present were presidents and board members of state environmental education (EE) associations, state education and natural resource agency personnel, K-12 teachers and college professors, education administrators, business representatives, and non-formal educators. Part way into its planning, NEEAP staff and the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) agreed to combine their training programs and bring NEEAP s EE 2000 state leaders together with NAAEE Affiliate representatives (see Leadership Clinic). Altogether, 112 individuals attended the Clinic.
NEEAP is working intensively with state-wide EE coalitions in nine EE 2000 states this year. In the next two years, 11 more states will be added to the EE 2000 program. Leadership teams of 3-6 people from each of the EE 2000 states attended this year's Clinic.
EE Association Leaders Join NEEAP Teams
NEEAP staff and the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) agreed to combine their training programs and bring NEEAP's EE 2000 state leaders together with NAAEE Affiliate Representatives (see Leadership Clinic). The involvement of leaders from 39 NAAEE Affiliate organizations greatly increased the amount of national networking at the Clinic. "By combining the training and networking of the NAAEE Affiliates with the EE 2000 Leadership Clinic, multiple goals were achieved, and the results seemed to exceed everyone's expectations," said Mike Way, NAAEE Affiliate chair and the Executive Director of the Colorado Alliance for EE.
Delegates to the Clinic came from all over the United States and Canada (see Wisconsin's North Woods). The Leadership Clinic is one of many NEEAP services geared toward helping states develop comprehensive state-level EE programs. Significant work was accomplished at the Clinic thanks to participating state delegations (see Clinic Results) and the high caliber of expertise and training provided by session leaders and panels.
"At week's end, it was apparent to us all that all of the preparation and planning had paid off in so many ways: valuable information shared and discussed, contacts made, friendships renewed, and plans for the future laid," NEEAP Director Rick Wilke remarked.
Networking, Skill-Building, and Plan Development Featured
Funders who helped sponsor the Clinic represented a broad spectrum of government, business, labor, and environmental organizations (see Sponsors). Their support insured a top-notch agenda featuring sessions on how to: incorporate EE into school curriculum and teacher training; networking approaches; board development; coalition building; and EE promotion and fundraising, among others. Nationally recognized leaders and facilitators informed and worked with delegates morning, noon, and night in a schedule loaded with timely topics for those working to strengthen their EE programs and organizations (see Leadership Clinic "Packs in").
The busy schedule at Treehaven kept delegates moving, but the experience left a feeling of accomplishment and infused an air of determination into the group. "I think people felt you provided an opportunity to have their imaginations challenged and many of their needs met," was an observation made by Emilio Williams, a session leader at the Clinic and Deputy Director of the National Association of Service and Conservation Corps.
Mike Way of Colorado summed the Clinic up by saying the week had been "as invigorating as it was important," and a "wise and bold investment" in EE's future.
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