As we come to the end of the year, you may already be making plans for the next one. EENC certainly is! Whether you're designing your next program season, getting to all those lingering "to-do's" from the fall, or are prepping for your next student program (we know the "slow" season for many people isn't as quiet as it used to be!), this winter you can know that EENC is continuing to do everything we can to help you and advance environmental education in our state.
Here are just a few things we're planning to do for you next year:
Strive to make employment in EE sustainable and equitable. In early 2023, EENC and its partners in the Southeastern Environmental Education Alliance will release a new guide that will provide concrete tools and suggestions for designing and posting positions, serve as a tool to advocate for increasing EE salaries, and help establish industry standards for pay and hiring. Help us get it into the hands of as many educators and decision-makers as possible and provide follow-up tools and training to support organizational change.
Advocate for environmental education in the classroom. This year, EENC has united educators to advocate for environmental education to be included more explicitly in our state’s science standards. We'll continue to keep you in the loop throughout the process. Once those standards are released in 2023, EENC will work to ensure that all educators in our state are aware of the changes, and will provide training and resources so that all educators understand how environmental education supports high-quality science instruction.
Work at the systems level to advance environmental education across North Carolina. EENC is currently working with our partners at the NC Office of Environmental Education and Public Affairs and the Department of Public Instruction to revise our state’s Environmental Literacy Plan. This document will outline goals and broad strategies to help K-12 students develop a working knowledge of concepts we all need to understand: how natural systems work, how to interact responsibly with our environment, and how we can protect natural resources for future generations. It will be a tool to advance policy, practice and equity in environmental learning.
If you like these projects and want to see us do more work like this in the future, please consider donating to EENC this year. Whether you can give $5, $50, or more, any amount you can give helps us better serve our community.
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