ee360+ supports environmental educators working in formal and nonformal education settings. As a training partner, the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UWSP) works with higher education faculty and staff to connect them through statewide networks, offer professional development and opportunities to build community through monthly webinars, and support higher education programs as they pursue accreditation. This work is in partnership with many others, including 10 statewide instigators (Figure 1). Instigators are individuals who are developing a statewide network for higher education faculty who incorporate environmental education. Through the ee360+ initiative, state instigators were able to create a community around advancing environmental education (EE) by meeting with others to discuss needs, barriers, and avenues of success while actively enriching our local networks. Each of these instigators is developing networks in their own inspiring way for their state; the following are from statewide instigators representing Maryland and Illinois.

Chelsea McClure and Sarah Haines, Maryland State Instigators

ee360+ and Towson University Faculty 

Environmental education in Maryland began gaining momentum alongside the national environmental movement of the 1960s and 1970s. In 1989, a landmark moment came when Maryland passed the Environmental Education Act—one of the first state-level mandates requiring public schools to include environmental education within their curricula. The law emphasized integrating EE across disciplines and grade levels, promoting outdoor experiences, and fostering environmental stewardship.Maryland made history again in 2011 by becoming the first state in the U.S. to require that all public school students complete a comprehensive environmental literacy program before graduation. This requirement ensures that students gain knowledge, skills, and motivation to address current and future environmental challenges. Environmental education in Maryland K–12 education continues to thrive through initiatives like Project Green Classrooms, the Maryland Green Schools Program, and robust partnerships between schools, universities, and environmental organizations.

To further cultivate environmental literacy across Maryland, our statewide efforts shifted focus towards institutions of higher education, where formal policies regarding environmental education are less prevalent. To initiate our work in Maryland, we established a listserv to distribute a statewide Environmental Education (EE) Network Newsletter for higher education, highlighting environmental education programming, research, and opportunities for collaboration across institutions. This newsletter shared examples of University Course Applications, Grant-funded Projects, Current Research, as well as Professional Development and Collaboration Opportunities from across the state. As we observed examples of environmental education being applied, we reflected on how to support increased integration of environmental education into higher education courses. Through the creation of a synergistic partnership between formal and nonformal environmental education providers, we support the dissemination of environmental education strategies by providing faculty professional learning experiences through the Higher Education Environmental Literacy (HEEL) Fellowship. The HEEL Fellowship is a long-term professional learning experience designed for faculty to provide tools, skills, and a community of practice that promotes environmental education in higher education courses. 

The HEEL community of practice blossomed into facilitating the inaugural Maryland HEEL Summit in 2024. The HEEL Summit brought together a diverse group of individuals and organizations from across Maryland who are passionate and involved in the field of environmental education. 

The Maryland instigators continue to strengthen environmental education in higher education by fostering collaboration, promoting innovation, and empowering educators to create a more environmentally literate and engaged citizenry.

Brekke Bounds, Illinois State Instigator 

ee360+ and Executive Director, Environmental Education Association of Illinois

Since 1972, the Environmental Education Association of Illinois (EEAI) has worked to support environmental educators in the state. This work includes providing professional development, connecting educators to resources, and growing a robust community. My work as a Higher Education Instigator in Illinois has followed this same model. In service to this work, EEAI currently maintains a listserv with over 70 members and hosts quarterly EE in Higher Ed gatherings. These quarterly meetings provide a place where Illinois higher education faculty and staff come together to share resources, learn from each other, and collaborate on new initiatives. 

Illinois began its instigator work by starting focus groups in 2022 that continued through 2023. In these focus groups, faculty routinely shared that they often feel isolated at their individual institutions, are hungry for more ideas about how to incorporate environmental education into their existing courses, and want a place to share their successes. 

The idea of quarterly gatherings grew out of these focus groups, with the first one held in Fall 2024. They constitute a one-hour virtual meeting, over lunch, where a member of the cohort shares a presentation on a topic, and then we invite discussion about integration of the presented ideas into classrooms and programs. This program has proven very successful, with informative presentations, lively discussions, and attendees from institutions all over the state. Presentations have included incorporating nature writing as technical writing and integrating Project Learning Tree into teacher preparation programs. We look forward to continuing to develop our network!

A look ahead…

Following a 2022 survey of faculty engaged in environmental education in higher education, we recognized that individuals were interested in connecting with others to share ideas and resources. Follow-up interviews of faculty confirmed and expanded on this. Now, through this ee360+ initiative, we have additional experiences to draw from, including insights from higher education instigators from 10 states, to continue building networks and developing resources. We look forward to continuing our work!