NOAA Environmental Literacy Program shares insights from the 2023 grantee workshop
A new report from the Office of Education shares lessons learned from NOAA Environmental Literacy Program (ELP) grantees. These grantees are working to help their communities build the environmental literacy necessary for resilience to extreme weather events and climate change.
Group photo of participants at the 2023 Environmental Literacy Program workshop, which took place at the University of Colorado - Boulder. (Image credit: Katie Wolfson/University Corporation Atmospheric Research - Center for Science Education)
The report captures findings from the NOAA ELP 2023 Resilience Education Grantee Workshop and helps advance the growing field of community resilience education. The Environmental Literacy Program resilience education grantees convened at the University of Colorado - Boulder from June 21-23, 2023. Seventy-six participants attended the event, most of whom had received funding from NOAA for community resilience education from 2015-2023.
The workshop emphasized the importance of engaging marginalized communities in climate resilience efforts. It also explored citizen science as an effective approach to facing climate change and creating a more resilient future. Workshop participants engaged in conversations and provided important insight about potential models under consideration for future ELP funding.
Key findings included:
- Engagement with tribal, state, and/or local governments is crucial to effective and integrated community resilience education.
- Climate change has impacts on mental health, particularly among youth; it is important to address emotions related to climate change.
- Programs that empower youth and give them agency to impact their schools and local leaders around climate resilience can be effective ways to advance resilience in a community.
- Preparation of individuals with the skills and knowledge necessary to enter and succeed in the workforce, with a focus on green infrastructure is important.
This workshop was built on the findings and feedback from the first three Community Resilience Education Grantee Workshops, which were held in 2017 at the Museum of Science in Boston, Massachusetts, in 2019 at NOAA headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, and virtually in 2021.
NOAA will continue to build upon the themes highlighted in the workshop, both through the current projects and in future funding opportunities. Reports from the 2017, 2019, 2021, and 2023 workshops and information on past competitions and NOAA resilience assets are available on the Environmental Literacy Program’s resilience hub. A new grant competition for the Environmental Literacy Program will be issued in the fall of 2024. Visit the Environmental Literacy Program’s apply web page to learn more.
