The Wisconsin Community Outreach Project for Environmental Education

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to increase leaders' understanding of and support for environmental education (EE). This was done by developing community-based teams throughout Wisconsin and training them to provide a Local EE Seminar to leaders in their community. Teams participated in the Community Outreach Leadership Clinic to develop a vision for EE in their community and to prepare for the Local EE Seminar. Surveys were utilized to evaluate both the success of the Community Outreach Leadership Clinic and the success of using Local EE Seminars for increasing participants' understanding of and support for EE. Cross-sectional surveys were utilized to evaluate the success of the Clinic and the Local EE Seminars. The cross-sectional surveys also provided data regarding participants' understanding of EE prior to and subsequent to the Local EE Seminar. A repeated survey was used to evaluate participants' support for EE over time. The results of this research are encouraging. The Local EE Seminar appears to have had a positive influence on the level of understanding for EE among participants when participants' initial level of understanding was low. In contrast, when the initial understanding of EE was moderate or better, the Local EE Seminar did not appear to have been successful at increasing the level of understanding. The results also show an increase in support for EE subsequent to their participation in the Local EE Seminar. The types of support varied greatly among the communities and within the communities. The Local EE Seminar appears to be a viable avenue for increasing the understanding of and support for EE within a community.