The Youth Outdoor Policy Partnership relaunches their Policy Playbook

The Youth Outdoor Policy Partnership has relaunched its Outdoor Policy Playbook. 

NCEL hosted a panel to discuss the relaunch and benefits of the Policy Playbook. In the webinar below, you’ll learn about the latest state-level policy updates, winning coalition-building strategies, and exciting new success stories with a panel of youth outdoor policy leaders.

Panel participants included Ashley Hoffman, KAEE Executive Director, and KY State Representative Josie Raymond discussing the work of the partnership that has taken place this year.

The Playbook is a tool to help legislators and community leaders advance state policies that expand outdoor opportunities for young people. New features of the playbook include policy trends, community organization spotlights, and current bill tracking. 

On the new bill tracking page, you can see current environmental bills by state or issue area. When you click on Kentucky, you can learn about House Bill 423, the nature-based childcare bill discussed in the webinar, and other environmental bills currently in the legislature.

The Playbook also offers an annual trend report and a resource center.

About the Youth Outdoor Policy Partnership

The Youth Outdoor Policy Partnership is a partnership of four organizations: 

The National Caucus of Environmental Legislators

A nationwide network of lawmakers that is a resource of all things environmental. The NCEL works to connect lawmakers with peers across the country and connect with subject-matter experts. 

Children and Nature Network

A global movement of leaders working to turn the trend of an indoor childhood back out to the benefits of nature—and to make sure that all children have equitable access to outdoor spaces where they can learn, play and grow.

North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE)

For more than five decades, NAAEE has promoted excellence in environmental education throughout North America and the world. They are dedicated to strengthening the field of environmental education and increasing the visibility and efficacy of the profession.

Nuestra Tierra

Their mission is to ensure that historically and deliberately excluded communities have access to the outdoors and that their history, values, and people are authentically reflected in public land and water management decisions.

You can learn more about the Youth Outdoor Policy Partnership and team on their website.

Two of KAEE's Kentucky Green Schools named U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools

Two of KAEE's Kentucky Green Schools, Robert D. Johnson Elementary in Ft. Thomas and Arlington Elementary in Fayette County, were recognized as 2024 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools. Robert D. Johnson Elementary also won the 2023 KAEE Outstanding PreK-12 School Award.  

The Green Ribbon Schools award goes to schools that focus on three pillars:

• Reducing environmental impact and cost

• Improving the health and wellness of students and staff; and

• Providing effective environmental and sustainability education, which incorporates STEM, civic skills and green career pathways.

The Kentucky Environmental Education Council nominated both schools. KEEC’s announcement listed among the schools’ accomplishments:

• Johnson Elementary is committed to providing project-based learning opportunities focused on environmental education for students at every grade level, including motivating and educating the school population about recycling and composting, using biomimicry to solve environmental problems, and creating structures that provide shade for animals. Watch a video about their recycling efforts.

• Arlington Elementary uses its school garden as a living laboratory for students to gain a hands-on environmental education. Students explore seeds, animal habitats, and the butterfly life cycle through hands-on work in the garden. The garden is fertilized by one of the only school-wide, student-run composting programs in Fayette County Public Schools.

Both schools also participate in KAEE’s Kentucky Green Schools Program, which is designed to inspire students to develop environmentally friendly behavior and to feel empowered to take active steps toward creating a greener and healthier world—starting with their local environment at school.

You can find a list of all Green Ribbon schools on the U.S. Department of Education website. Visit KEEC’s website to learn more about the program and how to nominate a Green Ribbon school for next year. 

Know a person or organization who is making a difference in environmental education in Kentucky? The KAEE Excellence in EE Awards recognizes the outstanding achievements of individuals, organizations, agencies, community efforts, schools, and businesses in the field of environmental education (EE). KAEE is now accepting award nominations for 2024.

Landscape Analysis Unlocks Potential for Environmental Education

Guest column by Ashley Hoffman

In a world facing pressing environmental challenges, the role of education in understanding these issues cannot be overstated. A recent landscape analysis conducted by the Southeastern Environmental Education Alliance (SEEA) has unveiled valuable insights that shed light on the state of environmental education in K-12 schools in the southeastern United States.

The landscape analysis draws upon survey data from more than 600 PreK-12 teachers and administrators across eight southeast states. Our primary goal is to provide a holistic view of environmental education within this region. As the Executive Director of the Kentucky Association for Environmental Educators (KAEE) and the Southeastern Environmental Education Alliance (SEEA), I am excited to share these study results in an effort to unite educators, administrators, legislators, funders, government and agency professionals, business and industry stakeholders, as well as individuals across the southeast in our shared commitment to advancing environmental literacy.

The landscape analysis explores the extent to which environmental education is integrated into school curricula, the needs and priorities of educators, barriers to implementation and much more. These insights reveal not only the current state of environmental education in K-12 schools but also the paths we must tread to bring outdoor learning and environmental education into every classroom. The data collected in this landscape analysis should be a call to action for educators, administrators and policymakers to prioritize and invest in environmental education and outdoor learning.

One of the key findings of the analysis highlights the frequency of outdoor learning activities. Unfortunately, only 10% of educators reported taking their students outside on a daily basis, while a majority did so once or twice a month to a few times a year. This infrequency confirms that outdoor learning is a non-normative practice in most schools.

On a slightly more positive note, 32% of teachers are already incorporating outdoor learning into their instruction, with 61% expressing interest in doing so but needing support. This data suggests that there is a strong appetite for outdoor education among educators. However, one of the primary obstacles they face is logistics, which includes issues related to scheduling, time, distance and clean-up.

Another significant challenge identified was the limited access to field trips for students due to transportation costs, time constraints and site fees. And just 57% of schools have been able to make environmental education field trips accessible to all students, indicating a need for greater diversity and inclusion in these educational experiences. Furthermore, 21% of educators indicated that they had received no professional development in outdoor or environmental education, emphasizing the need for training and support for teachers.

The analysis also delves into climate science education, revealing that 66% of educators are teaching about climate science, but 50% spend less than 10 hours per year on this crucial topic, and most do not feel confident in their ability to teach it effectively.

To address these challenges and enhance environmental education in the classroom, the study identified several key resources that would be most helpful. These include teaching materials and lesson supplies, field trips, guest educators, standards-based lessons, professional development and best practices for teaching outdoors.

One of the most exciting aspects of this landscape analysis is the creation of a user-friendly dashboard, which allows educators and stakeholders to access detailed findings from the analysis. This dashboard can be customized to filter the location of schools, the type of schools, grade levels and the level of confidence reported in providing environmental education. It's a valuable tool for anyone interested in understanding and improving the state of environmental education in their area.

To access the detailed findings from the analysis, including the dashboard, I encourage everyone to visit www.southeastee.org/landscape-schools. By gaining a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities in environmental education, we can work together to create a brighter, more environmentally conscious future for our children and our planet.