National Environmental Education Training Program
EPA supports environmental education training for teachers and other educational professionals.
Current Training Program
EPA recently awarded a 5-year cooperative agreement to Cornell University for the Expanding Capacity in Environmental Education Project (EE Capacity)
. EECapacity supports environmental education and youth and community development in the United States of America, Canada, and Mexico. It is working on linking two groups of professionals: (1) established environmental educators who have developed nationally recognized guidelines and curricula and (2) an emerging group of grassroots, urban environmental educators, who focus on environmental restoration and stewardship, community and youth development, and social justice, and who work along city streets, in community gardens, and in other small open spaces in cities. EECapacity seeks to answer the question: "What is the face of environmental education in an increasingly urban and diverse society?"
Through a series of workshops, online courses, professional learning communities, and social networking opportunities, EECapacity is bringing established and urban environmental educators together to exchange ideas and resources, and form expanded social networks. As innovative environmental education practices emerge through this exchange among diverse professionals, EECapacity will share and test them. In this way, EECapacity participants will help to define the face of environmental education in an increasingly urban and diverse society.
Previous Training Programs
In October 2005, EPA awarded a 5-year cooperative agreement worth approximately $8 million to a consortium headed by the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (USWP) to continue operating the Environmental Education and Training Partnership (EETAP)
. This program delivered environmental education training and support to education professionals across the U.S. The consortium included universities and non-profit organizations that are nationally recognized leaders in education and environmental education. This program built on the previous three multi-year programs awarded to the University of Michigan (1992-1994), the North American Association for Environmental Education (1995-1999), and the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (2000-2005).