Cultural Diversity Intiative

GSEEC strives to promote the themes of cultural relevancy and inclusiveness to EE providers.

RESOURCES

NAAEE and Diversity
The National Association of Environmental Educators NAAEE has developed a number of programs and initiatives regarding diversity, of which NAAEE Portal is the best place to start.

NAAEE has also developed diversity guidelines for its use. Begun in 2002 and amended in 2007, NAAEE’s Board created a policy paper which identified actions that NAAEE could take to diversify itself as an organization and the field of environmental education as well.

Diversity also shows up in NAAEE’s National Project for Excellence in Environmental Education. Started in 1993, NAAEE developed a series of Guidelines that set standards for high-quality environmental education. Out of that work came Environmental Education Materials: Guidelines for Excellence, a set of recommendations for developing and selecting environmental education materials. Key Characteristic 1 is:

Fairness and Accuracy
Environmental education materials should be fair and accurate in describing environmental problems, issues, and conditions, and in reflecting the diversity [emphasis added] of perspectives on them.
Within the associated workbook http://naaee.org/npeee/workbook.pdf which explains how Fairness and Accuracy is assessed is the following exhorting educators to:

1) Assess materials for current, factual information and appropriate language.

2) Identify potential bias in environmental education materials.

3) Evaluate materials in terms of cultural and ethnic diversity.

AEOE and Diversity
By themselves, and in concert with GEECE, AEOE has also been involved in promoting diversity. Their web page notes a conference on diversity, numerous workshops and has downloadable resources from speakers and workshop presenters.

GSEEC Diversity Resources
Below are articles on diversity which you may find valuable.

http://www.wested.org/cs/we/view/rs/727 -- What’s’ Fair Got to Do with It

http://www.jefferson.k12.ky.us/Departments/EnvironmentalEd/images/tchrrespdfs/peediversity.pdf

http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/environmental/matsumoto_poppo.htm

Below are links to diversity resources:

http://www.umich.edu/~meldi/index.html

http://www.wested.org/cs/we/view/feat/43

http://eelink.net/pages/Grants+-+General+Information (Grants, including those which foster diversity.

http://environment.harvard.edu/religion/religion/index.html (Religious diversity and the environment.)

http://www.acton.org/ppolicy/environment/theology/index.html (Religious diversity and the environment.

http://en.arocha.org/home/ (a major Christian conservation organization.)

BEST PRACTICES: