Climate Change Education eePRO group member Jennifer Hubbard-Sanchez and others from the eePro GROUP led a productive roundtable discussion at the 2016 NAAEE Annual Conference in Madison, WI. We talked about the challenges of and opportunities for increasing our impact through climate change education; how we can use the eePRO group to collaborate, foster new thinking, and accelerate our work in climate change ed; how to promote better engagement and dialogue through eePRO and other platforms, and more. Check out the meeting notes below to learn more about the discussion and get involved with this motivated and passionate group! A giant thank you to Jennifer Hubbard-Sanchez for detailing our discussion in these notes. 

Climate Change Education eePRO Group Meeting Discussion: Notes Courtesy of Jennifer Hubbard-Sanchez 

A. What are some of the most helpful, inspiring things you’ve picked up at the Conference so far to aid you in your Climate Change Education (CCE) work?

• discovery of NAAEE and the work EE folks do
• different state approaches to climate change education, depending on their respective industries and economies
• climate change and NGSS, timely topic
• learning about organizations that are doing climate change/sustainability education work and knowing what approaches others are taking
• moving climate change education into K-12 schools

B. What are some of your most vexing challenges that you’d like to get advice on/find ways to address?

• people would like to see widespread best practices in climate change education and discontinue working in silos (provide examples of storytelling, local approaches, etc.)

C. If you could design a “perfect” Climate Change Education session for ‘tomorrow’ or this conference next year – what would it be like?

• several folks have "signed-up" to create the ideal CCE workshop for 2017 NAAEE. Jennifer will start reaching out to folks before the end of November. Suggestions included a "tiered" approach- something for beginners and something for more advanced folks who are looking for more diverse instruction. Session focus would be on: teaching the science, how to teach with hope and without the gloom and doom, resources for teaching, best practices for communicating about climate change, and more (or less!), depending on what the group decides.  
• volunteers interested in helping up to this point: Jennifer Hubbard-Sánchez, Adam Ratner, Anne Armstrong, Jennifer Alldredge, Fletcher Brown, Oksana Shcherba, Marc Lefebvre ("interested"), and Mark Chandler (who said he could provide support on the science/data side of things, but can’t actually attend conference)  

D. How many are members of the Climate Change Education group in eePro? What do you think of eePro so far – strengths and weaknesses? In what ways would you like to see the eePro site used (perhaps to achieve some of the ends already mentioned or new things)?

• we should focus on efforts to include hope and the emotional aspect of climate change education
• need support with the challenging science of CCE
• need information on framing CCE and designing programs that are focused on solutions and "not drama"
• how to teach so that people come to their own conclusions about climate chance, using NGSS as a vehicle to do so

E. What could be done to make the discussion thread more interactive and vibrant? What kinds of questions/topics would you like to see discussed on eePro?

• stories of successes and failures
• resources and research on CCE
• data to use in the form of manageable data sets
• educational resources ties to NGSS to teach CC and curricula
• funding opportunities posted

F. If we were to have monthly or quarterly webinars, what subjects or people would you like to have featured? 

• tutorial on the CC Environmental Issues Forum
• we should create a list of topics and allow folks to vote on what they would like to see

G. Small Tidbits of Conversation:

• few people post to eePro
• people requested information in the "subject" line that explains the topic of the post
• people would like to see examples of funded climate change education projects

Next steps:

Those who are interested in planning/implementing an all-day workshop at NAAEE 2017, please let Jennifer Hubbard-Sanchez via email: jennifer.sanchez@kysu.edu. In mid-November, Jennifer will send out a doodle poll to find a time for our first brainstorming call to see where this potential session could lead. Please email Jennifer if you would like to be included.

Onward and upward! Please join us!