N.C. Office of Environmental Education Announces Changes to
N.C. Environmental Education Certification Program
The N.C. Office of Environmental Education is pleased to announce some exciting changes to the N.C. Environmental Education Certification Program. The Office manages this program as a way to enhance capacity-building in environmental education across the state. It was the first professional development program for environmental educators in the nation and has been used by other states as an example in developing similar programs.
For the first time since its inception in 1996, significant changes have been made to the program. These modifications will allow people who enroll to have more flexibility in selecting workshops and experiences that fit their interests and skill levels. The revisions will go into effect on January 1, 2009.
 The changes will strengthen the program in several areas, including teaching methods and foundations of environmental education. It will also better align with North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) guidelines. In addition, the program has a continuing education requirement which will allow educators, both formal and non-formal, to further advance their professional development.
The revisions are based on feedback the Office received from environmental educators in surveys, focus groups and interviews conducted over the last 3 years. The program also incorporates requirements based on the competencies developed by NAAEE as part of their ongoing development of national guidelines for accrediting state-level EE Certification Programs. The changes were proposed and approved by the Environmental Education Certification Working Review and Advisory Committees. Details on both the current and revised programs are now available on the office Web site, www.eenorthcarolina.org.
How does this affect people that are already certified?
People certified under the previous version of the program are still considered North Carolina Certified Environmental Educators. However, Certified Environmental Educators will be required to document 50 hours of Continuing Education within 5 years of the date of certification.
How does this affect people that are enrolled now?
Those that are currently enrolled in the program can stay enrolled under the previous requirements, or will have the option of enrolling again under the new criteria. Individuals who want to enroll under the new requirements will have to pay an additional small enrollment fee, but will have four years from the new enrollment date to complete the program.
Educators who are certified and enrolled will receive a letter in November explaining the program changes.
What about people that want to enroll now?
The Office is holding enrollments until January 1, 2009. However, individuals can count workshops and other experiences that count towards certification for one year prior to enrollment, as long as they are documented.
Environmental Education Quotable...
"Some people do come up to me and say, 'Oh, I thought you were wanting to train everybody to be a treehugger!' But I say, 'No, some of the kids we teach are going to grow up and hug trees, and some of them are going to chop them down'... As environmental educators, we're just asking that people get the information they need to make responsible choices."
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Brian Day, President of the North American Association for Environmental Education, from his
2007 Interview with Grist Magazine.
Sand Sea, and EENC, Nov. 6-9
Online registration is now closed for the 2008 Environmental Educators of North Carolina’s 18th annual conference: Sand, Sea and EENC. However, walk-ins will be accepted on-site, first-come-first-served, but you will not be able to reserve lodgings, workshops or field trips ahead of time. The event takes place at Fort Caswell Baptist Assembly on picturesque Oak Island.
The conference dates are November 6-9.
Also, EENC still needs volunteers to help at conference. Contact Gay Lynne Samsonoff, gaylynne_l@yahoo.com if you are interested.
Visit the EENC conference website, www.eenc.org, for more information.
Lester Brown of Earth Policy Institute To Speak at
Center for the Environment at Catawba College
The Center for the Environment at Catawba College will host a special presentation Nov. 10 by the founder of Worldwatch Institute and current founder and president of Earth Policy Institute.
Lester Brown, called “one of the world’s most influential thinkers” by the Washington Post, will speak at 7 p.m. in Omwake-Dearborn Chapel on the Catawba campus. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Special seating will be reserved for Friends of the Center.
The presentation, “Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization,” is based on Brown’s latest book by the same name. He notes that civilization is in trouble and “business-as-usual is no longer a viable option.”
His plan calls for reversing the trends that are undermining our future. Its goals include stabilizing the climate, eradicating poverty and restoring the earth’s damaged ecosystems.
“It’s decision time,” Brown says. “Like earlier civilizations that got into environmental trouble, we have to make a choice. We can stay with business as usual and watch our economy decline and our civilization unravel, or we can adopt Plan B and be the generation that mobilizes to save civilization. Our generation will make the decision, but it will affect life on earth for all generations to come.”
Brown began his agricultural career growing tomatoes in southern New Jersey during high school and college. After earning a degree in agricultural science from Rutgers University in 1955, he lived six months in rural India where he learned about the food/population issue. He joined the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service in 1959.
In 1974 Brown founded Worldwatch Institute, the first research institute devoted to the analysis of global environmental issues. He has authored or co-authored 50 books, and his works have been translated into 40 languages.
He founded the Earth Policy Institute in 2001 to provide “a vision and a road map for achieving an environmentally sustainable economy,” according to his biography. The same year he published Eco-Economy: Building an Economy for the Earth, which the renowned E. O. Wilson called “an instant classic.”
Brown has received a host of awards, including 23 honorary degrees, a MacArthur Fellowship, the 1987 United Nations’ Environmental Prize, and the 1989 World Wide Fund for Nature Gold Medal and the 1994 Blue Planet Prize for his “exceptional contributions to solving global environmental problems.”
In recent years, he received the Presidential Medal of Italy and the Borgstrom Prize by the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry. He holds degrees from Rutgers University, the University of Maryland and Harvard University.
To register, contact Amanda Lanier at alhooker@catawba.edu or 704.637.4295.
EE News Clips!
An environmental education news round up from around the state.
 Environmental Education Center News
Stories about the EE Centers listed on www.eenorthcarolina.org!
Parent News
Updated list of articles related to children and caregivers.
EE School News
Stories about public and private elementary and secondary schools and education policy.
College News
Same as above, but from higher education.
Research and Resources on EE, Learning, and Behavior
Articles, reports and peer-reviewed literature on the benefits of environmental education
Informed Consumer News!
The Office of Environmental Education also maintains the "Eco-Smart Consumer" Blog and an Informed Consumer Section that has several lists of updated news articles that cover many topic areas, including farming, food, green building, rivers, outdoor recreation, energy, lawn and garden care and more. These article posts are part of our consumer education and healthy community intiatives. Check them out!
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