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The Office of Environmental Education
The Office of Environmental Education serves as North Carolina's clearinghouse, or central source, for all of the environmental education resources in the state. The office serves PreK-12 schools, colleges and universities, government agencies, non-profit organizations, environmental education centers, citizen groups, business and industry, libraries and the general public. Early in its creation, it was decided that the office would not develop or design new curriculum, but would rather identify, evaluate and promote quality resources that already exist. The “clearinghouse” is not a function, but refers to all of the services provided by the office. All five staff positions in the office are responsible for providing the public services of the clearinghouse. These services include, but are not limited to, maintaining a comprehensive and searchable online listing of North Carolina’s environmental education facilities, resources, materials and organizations. It includes maintaining and promoting a statewide calendar of environmental education events and professional development programs offered by organizations throughout the state. While it does not create specific curriculum, it does develop, promote and distribute resource publications that are used widely by educators, businesses, government agencies and the public.
The office provides teachers with a comprehensive listing of potential mentors in environmental fields to help students completing their North Carolina High School Graduation Project. It regularly consults with federal, state and local government agencies and officials on the development of public environmental education programs and facilities. The office also manages a statewide adult education program and a nationally recognized environmental education certification program, and promotes environmental education job opportunities to the public through its email listserv, online job and internship listing service and individual consultation. The office supports and promotes the natural resource and regulatory divisions within in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
The operations of the N.C. Office of Environmental Education are enumerated by the N.C. Environmental Education Act of 1993 and are detailed in the North Carolina Environmental Education Plan.
Enabling Legislation, The Environmental Education Act of 1993
Office of EE "By The Numbers"
2004-10 Grants Awarded to Office of EE
2008 Accomplishments
Office of EE Fact Sheet
NC-EE Listserv Survey
Mission
The mission of the N.C. Office of Environmental Education is to encourage, support and promote environmental education programs, facilities and resources in North Carolina for the purpose of improving the public's environmental literacy and stewardship of natural resources through planning, policy development, community involvement, innovative partnerships and collaboration.
Purpose
The purpose of the NC Office of Environmental Education is to increase environmental literacy and natural resource stewardship in North Carolina by encouraging, promoting and supporting environmental education programs, facilities and resources throughout the state.
The office serves as North Carolina's clearinghouse, or central source, for all the environmental education resources in the state and is responsible for disseminating information on those resources to PreK-12 schools, colleges and universities, government agencies, non-profit organizations, environmental education centers, citizen groups, business and industry, libraries and the general public.
The office is responsible for implementing the NC Environmental Education Act, establishing policies to guide environmental education material and program development, drafting NC's Environmental Education Plan and for achieving the goals of the plan through community involvement, innovative partnerships and collaboration.
Specific initiatives include: water quality environmental education on each of the state's 17 river basins; pre-service and in-service teacher education; integration of environmental education into the PreK-12 curriculum; model library collection development; identification, promotion and support of environmental education centers; environmental education certification; and adult environmental education.
The Office of Environmental Education supports and promotes quality environmental education throughout North Carolina. This is accomplished through several initiatives including:
 Serving as a clearinghouse for EE materials, information and workshops. These resources are shared through the Office’s Web site, online monthly newsletter and the NC-EE Listserv.- Informing K-12 teachers, college professors and pre-service teachers about EE opportunities for their students as well as for their own professional development. The Office produces an educator’s guide, coordinates a week-long summer institute for teachers and demonstrates to educators how EE can be used to integrate curriculum and meet the objectives of the NC Standard Course of Study.
- Managing the NC Environmental Education Certification Program. This program requires participants to complete EE workshops, participate in outdoor EE experiences, demonstrate teaching skills and design and implement a community project. Participants gain their certification after 200 hours of training.
- Designating, supporting and promoting more than 190 Environmental Education Centers across the state. The Office produces a guide to the EE centers and helps promote them and their events through the Web site, listserv, newsletter and the media.
- Managing the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources Library. The library maintains a model EE collection that can be circulated to the public. It also hosts EE workshops and provides bibliographies of EE materials.
- Disseminating EE materials to the adult public. This includes the Discover Your Ecological Address initiative that includes brochures about one’s ecological address, the Discover NC’s River Basins booklet, and informational pamphlets for each of the 17 basins in the state. Adults are also reminded of the connection between the environment, recreation and health through the basin publications and made aware of environmental issues surrounding consumer choices on the “Informed Consumer” section of the Web site.
- Collaborating with other DENR Divisions as well as outside agencies to create quality environmental education materials and workshops.
Photo by Eli Strull
Courtesy of the WNC Nature Center
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