What Are Effective Ways to Engage the Public in Environmental Education?
Engaging the public in environmental education can be as diverse as the ecosystems we aim to protect. We've gathered unique strategies from five outdoor professionals, including a Director of Communication and Events and an Environmental Educator. They share insights from adopting approachable education methods to making climate personal with action plans, highlighting why these strategies resonate effectively with audiences.
- Adopt Approachable, Accessible, Applicable Education
- Foster Empathy Through Nature Journaling
- Inspire Change with Student-Driven Action Projects
- Connect Students with Local Watershed Dynamics
- Make Climate Personal with Action Plans
Adopt Approachable, Accessible, Applicable Education
Approachable. Accessible. Applicable.
Those are the three terms I've used the most to describe my strategy of engaging the public in environmental education. During my time studying Public Relations and Environmental Policy in graduate school, I learned the most effective way to get folks young and old interested in learning about and caring for the environment was to make the learning style fit those three terms.
Approachable means the education style is suited for the level of understanding the individual or class is currently at. Not starting with too difficult or too simple of content means folks are usually more interested from the start. Accessible means the education doesn't have a lot of barriers between it and the public. Factors like cost, travel distance, and ADA accessibility play a large role in how many people even show up to education events or classes. And lastly, applicability means that the environmental content being taught is provided alongside content that directly links the learner to the lesson. Examples of applicability include using data and statistics from the local county or state to show relevance to the learner, demonstrating how a new environmental law or policy will affect local business, and having learners taught environmental skills they can use at home.
Using these three strategies as a foundation to public environmental learning and engagement can help make classes and programs more effective and produce more buy-in.
My one last strategy I learned from my time as a summer camp counselor: Don't be afraid to make the education messy. Don't just read and watch videos about composting; go lead a group through a pile of composting logs in the woods. I recently led an outdoor education group for my current job and had a group of 4th graders elbow deep in rich forest soil looking for worms and beetles and fungus and frogs. Kids were laughing and screaming as they discovered the critters on the forest floor. We explored nurse logs and woodpecker holes and new growth. Had we been indoors and I described that beautiful circle of life to them, I may have caught a few students' attention. Instead, each student had an amazing day outside to remember. So don't be afraid to get messy, get goofy, and have some fun with it!
Foster Empathy Through Nature Journaling
One unique strategy I've used to engage campers in my outdoor adventure program in environmental education is through "journaling." Instead of just having kids document what they see or hear about, I encourage them to take on the perspective of different elements in nature or inhabitants from history—like a tree, a rock, a stream, or the Native American tribe from the pueblo or dwelling we are visiting. They write or draw about their day as if they were that part of nature or living in that period of time, describing what they experience, how they change over time, and their role in the ecosystem or community.
This approach is effective because it helps kids develop a deeper, more empathetic connection to the natural world and the history behind the cultural resource areas we visit. By imagining the life and experiences of different natural elements or ancient peoples, they start to see the environment as a collection of interconnected, living systems rather than just a backdrop. It also enhances their observational skills and creativity, making the learning process both reflective and engaging.
Inspire Change with Student-Driven Action Projects
Through student-driven service-learning projects known as "Action Projects," as part of CAP Class (Cottonwood Institute's elective class offered during the school day for academic credit at select public schools across the Front Range), students are challenged to explore hyper-local environmental issues, work together to design and carry out solutions, and implement change in their communities.
One example of how CAP Class Action Projects engage the public in environmental education took place at Centaurus High School (CHS) in Longmont, Colorado, when one group of students discovered a unique way of simultaneously addressing the invasion of the emerald ash borer beetle, the need for wildfire mitigation in overcrowded forests, and the lack of tree diversification in their city's tree canopy, with the goal of educating the public and engaging them in these local issues.
The class began by collecting over 250 saplings during their spring backpacking trip, supporting tree thinning in an unmitigated forest near their town. The students then studied samples of emerald ash borer insects and larvae and tree damage found on school grounds and made an eye-catching piece of art—a giant model of the bug made from plaster cloth and chicken wire.
At a Wednesday night farmers' market in Longmont, the students' project culminated with educating the public about the emerald ash borer, handing out free trees and informational flyers. About 200 free trees were given out, and countless people learned about the emerald ash borer!
At Cottonwood Institute, we believe that the most effective way to engage the public in environmental education is through inspiring them to protect it, beginning with the youth. By giving students opportunities to create change at a local level, they become the catalysts for change, creating a ripple effect in their own communities.
Connect Students with Local Watershed Dynamics
I am responsible for teaching estuary-based education to K-12 grade students at the Puget Sound Estuarium. We are lucky to be right in the middle of the Salish Sea (Puget Sound) watershed. I work with the Education Team, which consists of Anthony (our coordinator), Judah (our environmental education intern), myself, and a host of other contract educators and volunteers.
One of our most popular activities involves studying the movement of water within our local environment. Here in the Puget Sound, we are surrounded by picturesque, volcanic mountains that are topped with snow. We can use this behemoth of a monument to show students exactly where our local watershed starts. We trace the water that melts from the snow down into the local rivers and lakes and eventually back into the local water table. We then draw connections between the movement of local water and human activities. This allows students to think about how their actions impact the water quality of the environment around them.
During the winter, the Pacific Northwest is dreary, and sometimes we are unable to go outside. However, we are still able to engage in various types of hands-on activities indoors. We learn about local habitats, and the animals that make this area their home. Sometimes we get to physically touch these animals, and learn about their adaptations. During the winter, we attempt to build these academic foundations for students, so that by spring we are actually able to physically walk down a forest slope and see how a nurse log connects to the waters below.
We can show them that what we do impacts everything around them. That we are not just spectators to the environment, but key partners with it. We get to show them the seasonal changes in the environment and let them see how decay in fall and winter provides a stepping stone for life to grow when the winter is through. We learn about how when the adult salmon and octopus die, their bodies provide the nutrients that will start a new cycle of life.
By the end of each program, I would like the students to acquire a great reverence for the ecosystem. I want them to care about our estuary and pass on that lesson to future generations.
Make Climate Personal with Action Plans
At Teens Take On Climate, we like to say that 'we make climate personal.' This summer, we partnered with youth organizations to deliver a program resulting in each participant creating an action plan relating to water conservation based on information gathered on field trips and interacting with professionals, instead of online research or typical experiential learning activities seen in a classroom setting.
When thinking about engaging the public in environmental education, we often think about youth presenting their work in a formal manner, like a STEM showcase. This summer, we found that informal interactions, where youth are given the opportunity to use their voices, can be equally as powerful. A large group of young people wearing the same shirts, traveling on Chicago's public transportation system, and visiting areas with a lot of foot traffic is bound to attract attention. On our tour of the Chicago River, young people excitedly shared how reversing the flow of the Chicago River and water pollution pertained to their projects with other boat passengers. Their knowledge led to a lively discussion with Mr. Howard of Eden's Place Farms about bioaccumulation and urban farming. Curious travelers on the 'L' train learned about how different neighborhoods experience different levels of flooding due to redlining practices.
Simply being out and engaging in real-world experiences can be an impactful way to engage the public in environmental education and demonstrates to young people that they do have the ability and agency to enact change without the formal support of adults.