Iowa Conservation Education Coalition

Mission

The Iowa Conservation Education Coalition provides ways for Iowa’s environmental educators to learn, build relationships, and creatively collaborate. Together, we help Iowans of all ages learn and make responsible environmental decisions in a changing world.

Who We Are

ICEC is the professional membership organization for all environmental educators in the state of Iowa. A 501(c)(3) non-profit first organized in 1958, ICEC has a long-standing tradition of providing personal and professional development to formal and non-formal educators in conservation and environmental education.  Originally incorporated as the Iowa Conservation Education Council, ICEC is North America’s longest running environmental education organization!

Why it's important

Conservation education (CE) is all about helping young people gain the knowledge, skills, and motivation to take an active role in protecting the environment, creating a more sustainable future, and becoming informed and engaged citizens. It has the power to transform lives and society. It informs and inspires. It influences attitudes. It motivates action. 

Our economy thrives on a healthy environment. A growing body of research tells us that time spent in nature provides physical and psychological benefits. Our personal and cultural identities are often tied to the environment around us. At the same time, it’s impossible not to be deeply concerned about the unprecedented environmental, social, and economic challenges we face as a global society. CE is a process that helps individuals, communities, and organizations learn more about the environment, develop skills to investigate their environment and to make intelligent, informed decisions about how they can help take care of it. 

What your donation does

By donating to ICEC, you are helping us enhance and expand CE in Iowa. By working directly with conservation educators, we assist in the development of lifelong stewardship values in young people. Money spent in CE is cost effective because the funding can have a broad and lasting impact. CE has been shown to improve academic performance, foster civic engagement, reach underserved audiences, contribute to individual and community health, help address social issues, encourage positive behavior changes, and more. Thank you for supporting our efforts!