Educator Community of Practice

We know people are doing amazing work to bring climate change education to their communities, and we want to create a space to co-learn, build skills, and deepen practices that increase climate action.Climate Generation, along with theMidwest Climate Collaborative at Washington University in St. Louis and SERC, will bring together educators from K-12 schools and districts, non-formal learning institutions, higher education, and government agencies to continue the movement of climate change education in a community of learning and practice.

Jump to: Get Involved | Community Meetings | Team

This project seeks to:

  • Increase the frequency and depth to which participants are engaging with climate change professional development/learning.
  • Increase participants' understanding of climate change impacts in the Midwest.
  • Increase understanding of community responses to climate change impacts and adaptation projects already happening in the Midwest.
  • Build connections and relationships among participants.
  • Empower participants to take leadership within the ECOP.
  • Encourage and support participants to enact an action project or planning for future projects in their local contexts.

Get Involved

To establish this Community of Practice, the MCC and Climate Generation have put together a series of opportunities for you from September 2024- April 2025 that revolve around 4 key themes related to current events and climate change education. There will be a workshop and a working group meeting for each theme with some asynchronous engagement opportunities in between. We encourage you to sign up for all the events within a theme to get the full experience. We will gather and integrate attendee feedback to plan activities at these events. Check out the events list below.

Sign-up for Interest List»

Community Meetings

Each theme will span two months time. The first month of the theme will feature a Climate Generation Teach Climate Network workshop. These workshops will feature Midwest focused topics that influence climate change education through various speakers. The second month we will have a working group meeting where members will apply the content of the workshop to their contexts through discussion and relationship building. This year's themes are:

  • September & October: Understanding and Observing Climate Change
  • November & December: Levers for Change
  • January & February: Building Connection
  • March & April: Educators as Change Makers and Champions

See Past Meetings »

Midwest Wetland
Midwest Wetland[reuse info]
Provenance: USFWS- public domain
Reuse: This item is in the public domain and maybe reused freely without restriction.
Upcoming Events:

December Working Group Meeting

Wednesday, December 18th, 2024, 630 pm- 8 pm CT

This working group meeting will be a facilitated, discussion-based event geared toward supporting educators as they process the themes and ideas of November and December's theme: Levers for Change. We will review and apply strategies featured in November's Teach Climate Network Workshop: No Interest, No Problem: Strategies to Engage Teens in Climate Action in their Communities. We're excited to:

  • Celebrate the practices you are already doing to advance climate action in education and identify growing edges.
  • Identify who and what exists in the education system as powerful levers for change.
  • Strategize opportunities for bridging community, classroom, and culture in learning experiences.

    See Program »

Recent Events in 2024:

No Interest, No Problem: Strategies to Engage Teens in Climate Action in their Communities

Wednesday, November 20th, 2024, 5 pm- 6 pm CT

Meet students where they are in their understanding of climate change and empower them with a sense of agency and hope. Join high school science teacher Julie Ackerman as she shares several examples of how she successfully engaged teens in becoming change agents—sometimes without them even realizing it!

See Program »

October Working Group Meeting

Wednesday, October 16, 2024, 5 pm-630 pm CT

This working group meeting will be a facilitated, discussion-based event geared toward supporting educators as they process the themes and ideas featured in September's Teach Climate Network Workshop: Exploring Climate Change through Extreme Weather Phenomenon.

Together we will:

  • Build a deeper understanding of Midwesterners perception of climate change and extreme weather,
  • Identify how climate adaptation work is happening related to extreme weather, and
  • Explore how extreme weather messaging can impact the effectiveness of climate change education and identify methods to incorporate new strategies into their work.

See Program »

Exploring Climate Change through Extreme Weather Phenomenon

Wednesday, September 18, 2024, 5 pm-6 pm CT

Exploring climate change through the lens of phenomena, such as extreme weather events, allows educators and students to see directly the impacts, and possible solutions, to climate change on a regional level. Join Climate Generation educator Seth Spencer as we explore extreme weather events, how they are connected to climate change, and how to engage your students in finding potential solutions.

See Program »

Leadership Team

  • Heather Navarro, Director, Midwest Climate Collaborative
  • Seth Spencer, Sr. Teach Climate Network Coordinator, Climate Generation
  • Danielle Hefferan,Regional Education Program Coordinator, Climate Generation
  • Lindsey Kirkland, Sr. Climate Change Education Manager, Climate Generation
  • Cyrus Hernandez, MN GreenCorps Member, Climate Generation
  • John McDaris, Science Education Resource Center, Carleton College (Technical Support)

Contact Us

  • For MCC Educator Community of Practice program information contact Danielle Hefferan (Regional Education Program Coordinator, Climate Generation) at danielle@climategen.org
  • For general inquiries about the Midwest Climate Collaborative contact midwestclimatecollaborative@wustl.edu 

 


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