Who are we: All Boston-based organizations with programming or interest in environmental education are considered to be part of the network. The Network and this event is guided by two steering committees with representatives from the following organizations: Boston Public Schools Science Department, Appalachian Mountain Club, Arnold Arboretum, Boston Nature Center, Boston School Yards Initiative, Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, The Boston Children’s Museum, UMASS Boston Oceanography Department, Urban Ecology Institute and Zoo New England.
Our Mission: Boston Environmental Education Network is a group of organizations dedicated to advancing environmental literacy and stewardship. We speak with a single voice to inform policy. We work together to develop relationships, strategies, opportunities and resources by informing and partnering with teachers, families, children, policy makers and each other.
Our Vision: By the year 2020 young people in Boston’s K-12 schools, after-school and summer programs will have an appreciation for the environment that is based on high quality, active, engaging and culturally relevant learning and employment opportunities in their communities and beyond.
We believe:
Environmental education fosters engagement in learning about the world around us, including our own communities.
In using interdisciplinary, hands-on, inquiry-based learning about and in the natural and built environment to foster knowledge, appreciation and stewardship.
Having outdoor, hands-on experiences is an essential part of gaining appreciation for the environment.
Being in the Network opens up opportunities for collaboration.
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BYEN holds the first Boston Environmental Education Summit
The first ever Boston Environmental Education Summit held on October 3, 2008, was a great success. We would like to share the following highlights from the event with you.
After a welcome from Jean Dorcus, Education Director at Mass Audubon’s Boston Nature Center, and Marilyn Decker, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction at Boston Public Schools, participants heard keynote addresses from Ann Berwick, Undersecretary for Energy in the Patrick Administration, and Greg Watson, Senior Advisor for Clean Energy Technology within the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.
Ten concurrent workshops focusing on examples of successful partnerships between K-12 Boston Public School teachers and Environmental Education programs throughout the city were presented to the over 150 participants at the event. The workshops reflected the effects of learning experiences that take students out of the classroom and into the world around them. Participants also received copies of Getting Out Gets Results: Environmental Education Research from Boston and Beyond reviewing research showing that:
Environmental Education:
Ó Gets students excited about learning
Ó Enhances measures of academic achievement
Ó Builds a life long environmental stewardship ethic
Ó Encourages people and groups to come together
We thank you for your support and hope you will continue to stay involved, find out more about environmental education organizations in the Boston area, and receive support for engaging students in hands-on environmental learning. We look forward to hearing your feedback on the Boston EE Summit and ideas for future events.