Will you help support the education we need for the world we want?
The Environmental Educators of North Carolina are working to change the world so that:
- All learners participating in environmental education programs in North Carolina feel welcome and engaged.
- All North Carolinians have the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to make informed decisions and take responsible action to make North Carolina - and its environment - a better place.
- Environmental education is recognized and embraced in North Carolina for the value it brings both people and our planet.
Children and adults need to know how ecological systems work and why they matter. The health of the environment is inseparable from humans’ well-being and economic prosperity. People require knowledge, tools and awareness to successfully address and solve environmental problems in their daily lives. And more than ever, we are all becoming increasingly aware of the systemic inequities that impact almost every aspect of our society.
Since the rise of COVID-19 earlier this year, the Environmental Educators of North Carolina (EENC) has worked tirelessly to support those who provide the education we need for the world we want. A few of our efforts this year have included:
- Creating the first online workshops in the nation for the K-12 Environmental Education and Professional Development Guidelines for Excellence, helping over 110 educators across eight workshops hone their practice and programs to national standards for high-quality EE programming.
- Launched community call and webinar series, providing over 2000 educators the opportunity to connect and learn from one another as we all negotiate the rapidly changing educational needs in our state.
- Convening active working groups to address critical needs in our field. Over 20 educators on a diversity, equity, and inclusion action team helped revise EENC’s operations, external communications, and procedures through bi-weekly meetings to help us become a more equitable and inclusive organization. With partners at the NC Office of Environmental Education, we united more than 30 thought leaders from across the state to identify and prioritize the actions needed for environmental education to thrive beyond this pandemic.
You can help us. With your support in 2021, EENC will:
Launch a new online Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion course. This new 10-hour online training will help environmental educators across our state provide more equitable and inclusive learning experiences for all participants and the course will be integrated into our state’s EE certification program.
Expand EE professional development offerings, including new online courses and in-person events as soon as it is safely possible to do so. Building on the success and demand for online training in 2020, EENC will provide high-quality training on the Guidelines for Excellence, the Don’t Waste It! Curriculum, and other topics tailored to the needs of specific groups, like classroom teachers and college students. These trainings will help educators build their skills so that they can continue to provide high quality environmental education for students across our state - even if it looks a little different than it did before.
Work at a systems level to support the field of environmental education. We will implement initiatives recommended by our EE partners through our 2020 working groups, collaborate across the southeast on a regional landscape analysis and other projects, and renew our strategic vision so we can maximize EENC’s impact across the state.
Will you help please support this critical work? 
As a learner, teacher, parent, or community member, you can play a crucial role in helping today’s students become tomorrow’s champions.
Any amount you can give will help support North Carolina’s environmental educators. You can donate online directly to our team. Prefer to support EENC via check? You can mail a check to: EENC, PO Box 4904, Chapel Hill, NC 27515. Be sure to let one of our board or staff members know you're contributing so we can show how your gift is helping us reach our goal.
Have a question about our work or need help with a donation? Contact Lauren Pyle.