Missouri Hosts Second Annual Leadership Clinic
The Environmental Education Advocate - Summer 1997
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.
They unrolled the red carpet. 73 road-weary travelers who flew into St. Louis to attend the 1997 Leadership Clinic were greeted by the smiling faces of the Missouri Department of Conservation's Ginny Wallace and Kim Wade. Wallace and Wade whisked the state EE leaders--who had traveled from as far away as the Arctic Circle, the beaches of Hawaii, and the northern woods of Maine--2 hours south to the YMCA of the Ozarks conference site. These state EE leaders were met by another 43 participants from adjacent states who had driven to the 4-day clinic. In total, state environmental education (EE) teams of 2-6 from 36 states and one Canadian province gathered at the second annual Spring Leadership Clinic of the National Environmental Education Advancement Project (NEEAP) and the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE).
The Leadership Clinic is made up of three underlying activities: training, networking and planning. This year, the Leadership Clinic provided participants with an immersion into four areas of focus in capacity building for EE; Coalition Building, Linking EE to Education Reform, Promotional Techniques and Strategies, and Organizational Development. In each session, participants were able to learn new skills and approaches, hear about other states experiences, and update their strategic plans.
Training -Four day-long sessions provided at the Clinic included Coalition Building for EE Efforts, Linking EE to Education Reform, Publicity Strategies for Promoting EE and Organizational Development. Throughout the week, 15 laptop computers linked to the World Wide Web through a server and experts on Internet strategies provided a strand on electronic technology. Participants were shown innovative concepts, practical organizing tools, and real-life examples of EE efforts from around the country. One participant commented, "All the information has practical applications. Either directly for change of EE within our state or to cause thoughtful discussion and consideration of current events in our state and in the country."
Networking -Networking and connecting with peers from a diverse array of states and backgrounds was a highlight for many of those attending. The leadership clinic serves to provide opportunities for state leaders to share experiences and compare strategies. State and national environmental educators networked at formal sessions and small group breakouts. Social activities such as the "Taste of Missouri" and Affiliate/EE 2000 basketball game, which gave participants a chance to know each other on an informal level. As one person put it, "networking with other states helped to give me hope and let me know that we all have some challenges in common."
Planning -"The Leadership Clinic has given me the increased power and effectiveness made possible from working in a team toward this goal. The planning time was critical for our group to gain momentum" (participant). Each of the 27 teams was asked to do some pre-clinic preparation so that they could make the most of the session material and be prepared to move ahead with strategic planning and goal setting. By the end of the week, state teams had developed goals and a plan for "bringing it all home." This concrete action plan helped many teams transfer valuable information gained during sessions back to their state efforts. "It has given us an outline with which to use to narrow down our goals and get more specific with our approach" observed one participant.
Challenges such as the need to increase diversity both in the environmental education community and its current audience, current criticisms of EE and the need to proactively promote EE to the general public were strong currents flowing through the discussisons of state teams. Two EE initiatives of current common interest to state EE leaders included integration of EE into the school curriculum and state standards, and strategies to increase training in EE for teachers, A California participant summed it from their perspective, "Doing the homework, attending sessions, and listening to states helped us focus on what was important. In a sense, we have "stepped outside of ourselves". Our ideas have energized us!"
All of the participants at the Leadership Clinic were united in their dedication to quality EE and the belief that building state capacity for EE is one, if not the, critical issue facing EE today. As one participant put it, "The Leadership Clinic has focused us on what it means to build statewide capacity and so it forced us to think bigger. The Clinic enabled us to learn what are the most important elements of building capacity so we can integrate those concepts into our goals and refocus them."
Special Thanks to Helpers and Sponsors -NEEAP wishes to thank all of the people who made the 1997 Leadership Clinic possible; the dedicated program and logistics planning teams who put in countless hours and hard work; the Missouri hosts who helped pull together the arrangements and gave everyone a memorable "taste of Missouri"; and to the many generous sponsors who provided contributions of refreshments. Said one participant, "the hospitality by the Missouri team and the organization of the complete clinic from arrival at the airport to departure was excellent!" Financial sponsors of the Clinic included the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Environmental Education and Training Partnership. In addition, the North American Association for Environmental Education, the National Wildlife Federation, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and the Missouri Department of Conservation helped fund the clinic. Lastly, NEEAP would like to thank the Missouri Wildflower Nursery and the Union Electric Company for sponsoring the Clinic and Anheuser-Busch, Frito Lay, and the St. Louis Crystal Water Company for their product contributions.
116 Representatives from the following states/provinces shared ideas, plans & successes at the 1997 Leadership Clinic:
EE 2000 States: California, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin
NAAEE Affiliates: Alaska, Alberta, Arkansas, Arizona, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Wyoming
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