Environmental Literacy Report

Environmental education (EE) is a means to improve lives, protect the environment, and prepare all Americans to address 21^st century environmental challenges.

Our country is faced with environmental challenges affecting everyday life: our families, our jobs, our communities, and our health.

Solutions often require a sophisticated understanding of complex systems and the interdependencies of people and the natural environment.

Check out how organizations across the country are rising to meet these challenges through environmental education.

Bright Spots

EE Week in Shiprock, New Mexico

NEEF awarded its first Schoolyard STEM Lab at Nizhoni Elementary School on the Navajo Reservation in Shiprock, NM with funding provided by Samsung.

"You can create your own world. Look all around you. Everything around you is science. There are so many things that need to be studied out there."

Taking Nature Black

An initiative from Audubon to reach and engage with the African American community in their area, setting the stage for increased representation.

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"According to Green 2.0, about 38% of the United States population is comprised of people of color, but of the almost 300 environmental institutes examined in 2014’s report “The State of Diversity in Environmental Organizations,” ethnic minorities only made up 16% of the staff and boards of the organizations, and the membership and volunteer base of these organizations were also predominantly white."

DIY Girls Take Action in LA with a Little Help from NEEF

DIY Girls offers after-school and summer programs that provide hands-on Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math experiences for girls.

"High school students in the program built and programmed air sensors and placed them on their shoe laces, purses, and even skateboards. The visibility of the air sensors started community conversations about air quality."

Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona

For 40 years, Community Food Bank has been serving its community and local residents and is pushing the envelope to tackle long-term food insecurity.

"Las Milpitas serves close to 2,000 people annually by providing materials and support for local residents to grow their own food. For six years Las Milpitas has strived to make healthy, local food more accessible to low-income families and marginalized communities."

Radar of a storm passing through the southeast

Climate Education on the Local News

Weather is one of the main ways the public experiences climate change and TV meteorologists are sometimes the only scientists seen on a regular basis.

"Through Climate Matters, Climate Central produces research and tools to help TV meteorologists talk about the science and impacts of climate change with their audiences. Weekly Climate Matters packages include data analysis and research, localized whenever possible, as well as TV-ready graphics and animations, interactives, and social media material produced by a team of scientists, journalists, and creative artists."

Tell Us Your Story

Is your group or organization doing innovative work in EE? Submit your bright spot to NEEF. If selected, we’ll feature your program or project here.

Note contact name and email will not be published. NEEF will use this contact as a reference for more information on the project.

About the Environmental Literacy Report

EcaterinaLeonte

In 2015, NEEF released Environmental Literacy in the United States: An Agenda for Leadership in the 21st Century.

Its nine chapters include:

Download the Report

This isn't a report to put on the shelf. This is your document, to be updated and refreshed. Tell us your latest bright spots in the field.