MADE CLEAR ICCE COMMUNITY PROJECT: INCREASING CAPACITY IN THE CHESAPEAKE BAY AND ITS WATERSHED THROUGH REGIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE WORKSHOPS

The presentation will present results from three Capacity Building workshops presented to non-formal educators. Objective:

• To expand and enhance climate change education capacity in Maryland and Delaware through collaborative efforts among informal education institutions in three regions by offering training in Phase I to 24 informal environmental educators.
• To foster and expand relationships in the ICCE community-of-practice by building confidence and expertise to deliver Climate Change content in each region.

Informal educators work with K-12 students on their sites or in schools, and with community members. There is a need for programs to support informal educators as they increase their understanding of how to communicate about climate change using lessons that are focused on the area in which they work. The workshops have helped to build educators’ expertise and confidence in communicating climate change messages and information. The workshops have encouraged participants to engage in ongoing collaboration with ICCE community members and with those within their own organizations and beyond.

A second need identified is the need for professional development on climate change for informal educators. These workshops represent pilot efforts for three institutions to establish the capacity to offer PD on climate change.

The workshops presented climate change activites with content specific to each region, specific topics were identified in collaboration with partners. Baltimore: urban impacts of climate change including heat island effect, identifying temperature differences in green spaces versus built up areas, and modeling green space and green building practices. Delmarva: coastal sea level rise and climate change impacts on coastal areas. Western Maryland: the impact of climate change on plants and wildlife, predator/prey relationships, migration, population dynamics, and carbon sequestration in trees. In each case, activities highlighted positive actions and solutions will be part of the workshops.

We will integrate discussion to encourage futher capacity building. This project begins to address the expansion of climate change education in each region. Our project expands and enhance climate change education in each region by providing regionally-relevant climate change content.