The Implementation of the Wisconsin Environmental Education Board's Communication Plan to Promote Environmental Education In Wisconsin

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to implement two of the five goals of the Wisconsin Environmental Education Board's "Communication Plan to Promote Environmental Education in Wisconsin." The two targeted goals were: 1) to communicate the value of EE to Wisconsin school board members and school administrative staff and increase their support for EE and 2) to help elected and appointed officials understand the importance of EE and increase their support for EE programs. Using these goals, three objectives were identified-I) to determine whether interventions taken in this project have an impact on the frequency participants communicate the value and importance of EE to school board members, 2) to determine whether interventions taken in this project have an impact on the frequency participants communicate the value and importance of EE to school administrative staff, and 3) to determine whether interventions taken in this project have an impact on the frequency participants communicate the value and importance of EE to elected and appointed officials. 157 EE supporters were involved as participants in the project to help reach the three subproblems. The two instruments used by the participants were the "Making a Difference" packet and the "EE Works for Wisconsin" web site. A pre questionnaire was administered in December 2000 before the project began and a post questionnaire was administered in January 2002 at the close of the project to assess the change in behavior of the participants. Results of the questionnaires showed a dramatic increase in activities by the participants during the project. For example, prior to joining the project, 12% of participants had contacted a school board member regarding EE. According to the post questionnaire, 73.9% contacted a school board member. Further, less than 2% of participants had contacted a school administrator before joining the project and at the end of the project, 73.9% had. With regard to contacting elected and appointed officials about EE, before joining the project, 5.8% of participants had contacted an official. The results of the post questionnaire showed that 88.8% had contacted an elected or appointed official during the project.