Topic outline

  • Welcome!

    NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office MWEE Practitioner Series, NAAEE's Community Engagement GuidelinesGuidelines for Excellence: Community Engagement in Environmental Education

    The North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) compiled a Community Engagement resource to support environmental educators dedicated to strengthening the connection between the local environment and community. The guidelines layout steps "for creating more inclusive working environments that support social equity, effective partnerships and coalitions, and long-term change."

    The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office's Environmental Science Training Center created case studies from across the Chesapeake Bay watershed to compliment the guidelines and share how regional environmental education organizations are strengthening their community engagement practices through Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE) programming.

    This resource combines the NAAEE Guidelines with the Chesapeake Bay watershed videos. Some guidance is offered on how to use this resource but make adjustments for your context. You might want to review the content by yourself or, work through each Key Characteristic with coworkers followed by a discussion on how the ideas shared could be incorporated into your organization.

    Enjoy the resources and send any feedback or questions to Krysta at krysta.hougen@noaa.gov

  • Get Ready!

    Download the entire NAAEE Community Engagement resource HERE.

    All five Community Engagement Guideline videos can be found on the MWEE Practitioners Series YouTube channel. In addition to the Community Engagement videos, you will find recordings from MWEE Practitioner webinars that support schools and organizations leading MWEE programs.

    • 1. Community Centered

      Key Characteristic #1: Community Centered

      Anchoring environmental aims within the context of community interests, issues, and capacities puts the community at the heart of environmental education.

      Guidelines

      • Get to know and understand the community
      • Connect environmental education interests and capacities with community concerns, assets, and aspirations
      • Consider the appropriateness of community engagement
      • Focus on community assets and shared priorities
      • Reach beyond usual partners and program-delivery modes

      Suggested Review

      1. Read the Community Centered section of the NAAEE Guidelines, p. 19-27

      2. Watch the Community Centered video (19 minutes) featuring Symone Barkley of the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland

      3. Think about or discuss how your organization can better center the community in their programming. Check out the possible discussion questions below.

    • 2. Based on Sound Environmental Education Principles

      Key Characteristic #2: Based on Sound Environmental Education Principles

      Environmental education engages communities in ways that rely on established principles and proven practices of the field.

      Guidelines

      • Build on interests, issues, and settings familiar to the community
      • Facilitate broad accessibility
      • Use appropriate instructional strategies
      • Select, adapt, or develop effective educational materials
      • Match engagement strategies and tools to the interests, issues, and capacities of your partnership and community

      Suggested Review

      1. Read the Community Centered section of the NAAEE Guidelines, p. 29-36

      2. Watch the Environmental Education Principles video (19 minutes) featuring Krista Weatherford and Courtney Harlow-Humphreys of the Maymont Foundation and Meredeth Dash of the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay in Richmond, Virginia

      3. Think about or discuss how your organization can better leverage sound environmental education principles in your programming. Check out the possible discussion questions below.

    • 3. Collaborative and Inclusive

      Key Characteristic #3: Collaborative and Inclusive

      Environmental education works in collaborative and inclusive relationships, partnerships, and coalitions.

      Guidelines

      • Build coalitions and partnerships strategically
      • Value and incorporate diversity, equity, and inclusion
      • Plan and implement collaboratively
      • Learn from and resolve conflict

      Suggested Review

      1. Read the Community Centered section of the NAAEE Guidelines, p. 38-45

      2. Watch the Collaborative and Inclusive video (25 minutes) featuring Micah Miles of the Waterfront Partnership and, Mary Stapleton, Annemarie McDonald, and Kara Berger of Towson University in Baltimore, Maryland.

      3. Think about or discuss how your organization can better incorporate collaborative and inclusive practices. Check out the possible discussion questions below.

    • 4. Oriented Toward Capacity Building and Civic Action

      Key Characteristic #4: Oriented Toward Capacity Building and Civic Action

      Environmental education supports capacity building for ongoing civic engagement in community life, contributing to long-term community well-being, sustainability, and resilience.

      Guidelines

      • Integrate environmental education with complementary communication, education, and social-change approaches
      • Support and build community capacity
      • Move toward civic action

      Suggested Review

      1. Read the Community Centered section of the NAAEE Guidelines, p. 47-51

      2. Watch the Capacity Building and Civic Action video (15 minutes) featuring Grace Edinger of Earth Force.

      3. Think about or discuss how your organization can better support ongoing, community-centered action. Check out the possible discussion questions below.

    • 5. A Long-Term Investment in Change

      Key Characteristic #5: A Long-Term Investment in Change

      Working in communities to create change is typically a long-term initiative, requiring a commitment to relationship building and an ongoing and evolving process of engagement.

      Guidelines

      • Assess individual and organizational readiness for community engagement
      • Invest in building capacity for engagement
      • Incorporate learning, improvement, and adaptation
      • Plan for long-term support and viability
      • Embrace change and celebrate progress

      Suggested Review

      1. Read the Community Centered section of the NAAEE Guidelines, p. 53-58

      2. Watch the Investment in Change video (24 minutes) featuring Candace Lutzow-Felling of Blandy Experimental Farm in Boyce, Virginia.

      3. Think about or discuss how your organization can create and support long-term relationships within the community. Check out the possible discussion questions below.

    • That's a wrap!

      We hope you enjoyed learning how different organizations are working to improve community engagement. 

      Don't forget to look through the other videos in the MWEE Practitioners Series to continue to learn how your colleagues are creating and sustaining environmental education programming.