ther IPM nor industrial waste reduction are coming into use very rapidly. Many farmers and manufacturers simply are not aware of alternative methods or feel they cannot afford to risk trying them. To bring these methods into widespread
use would require increased public conimitments to research and develop ment, demonstration projects, training, and education. These strategies provide a real chance to control toxics, and the time is ripe to seize that opportunity.
is a senior researcher Worldwatch Institute in Washington, D. C. She is the author ofthe Worldwatchrpporr - ~ ~ , i the , ~nxics i ~ ~~ r e a r ~r ~ Peshcidhi and hdusrriol Waste," from which this article is largely drawn. ~~
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National network for environmental education The Alliance for Environmental Education is forging the links
By John Paulk A wealth of environmental education materials and programs has been developed and implemented over the past 15 years, but no central mechanism yet exists for the coordination and dissemination of scch materials and programs. As a result, environmental literacy and the consequent ability of the public to make informed judgments on environmental concerns is uneven, according to the Alliance for Environmental M u cation (AEE). The AEE is an organization representing 33 membership organizations, including the American Chemical Society. To answer this deficiency and 10 broaden community participation in environmental education, AEE is establishing a National Network for Environmental Education. The network, which will consist of interactive environmental education centers, will invite existing centers to join their ranks and develop new centers at colleges and universities throughout the United States. These centers will provide expanded community-based environmental education programs aimed at schools and the general public. The successful resolution of tough environmental issues, such as those involving environmental management and the uses of natural resources, depends on an informed public, and education is a sure way to develop an understanding of environmental concerns. To be effective, an educational program of this type should include formal programs for school children and informal programs for the public at large.
The need for a network Environmental education research, programs, and information do exist. In0013~936X18710922~0025501 5010
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John Puulk
dividual affiliatesof the AEE and others offer a wide range of programs and materials on the topic-but for some people this information is not so easy to come by. In certain remote regions of the United States, these programs may not be widespread. In other areas, such as California, hundreds of these programs are readily available, but no clearinghouse exists to coordinate requests for information. Throughout the United States, environmental education specialists point to a need for a network to disseminate and develop environmental education resources. A national system that coordinates the existing educational resources and provides new resources and training where needed is essential to any serious strategy addressing the environmental concerns of our nation. The importance of environmental education received prominent recognition by a recent Presidential Commission on Americans and the Outdoors. In 1986 this commission reported that an "outdoor ethic" is a priority issue of the American public, that people believe citizens should learn to appreciate the
1987 American Chemical Society
environment and respect it, and that residents of each community should decide how best to address these issues in their location. The network is designed to foster such respect and to support local amroaches to local environmental .. concerns. In 1986 the United Nations called for partnerships between industry and environmental organizations to address pressing environmental issues. The AEE, with its broad range of 33 affiliates representing conservation organizations, educational institutions, corporations, and organized labor, is such a partnership (see box).
The network plan AEEs long-range plans call for the network to be completed by 1997. In its initial phase, the alliance selected the locations for its first five centers in 1987, primarily in a IO-state area comprising Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. This Missouri basin area was targeted because of its central geographic location and a demonstrated interest in the program from potential host universities. Early success story The national network for environmental education is modeled after an environmental-energy education network of university-based centers that was developed in the seven-state Tennessee River Valley region and is sponsored by the Tennessee Valley Authority. The 13 centers within the Tennessee Valley network offer teacher training, program development and dissemination, regional outreach services (including technical assistance and workshops), and research opportunities. Environ SCI Techno1 ,Val 22. NO 1 , 1988 25
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Some 20,000 teachers have been trained through the network during the last 10 years.
Regional meetings The AEE will help cooperating organizations initiate programs and take advantage of the resources available from the network. The Network Management Committee, which is made up of AEE members and nonmembers and reports to the AEE Board of Directors, will direct the ongoing operations of the network. Expansion of the network will be determined on an annual basis. To further refine its network concept and to shape an effective program, the AEE sponsors regional meetings throughout the United States. The first such meeting took place in Omaba in April 1987 with some 64 delegates, including attendees from federal and state governments, environmentalists, educators, and business executives from the 10-state Missouri River basin area. A second meeting took place in San Francisco in August 1987. Both groups enthnsiastically embraced the network concept and moved to estahlish regional councils to oversee implementation of the programs in their areas. Thomas 0. Flickema, vice president for academic affairs at Northern State College in Aberdeen, S.D., is the chair of the Missouri Basin States Council, and Esther I! Railton, professor of education and coordination at California State University, Hayward, heads the Western States Council. Representatives from Northeastern
memoemnip oi me niiiance For cnvironineiiini coucaiiun
American Chemical S ington, D.C. American Federation Kansas City, Mo. American Forest Cou ton, D.C. American Gas Association, Arlington, Va. American Nature Study Society, Doylestown, Pa. American Society for Environme Education, Hanover, N.H. Boy Scouts of Ameriia, Irving, Tex. California Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education, San Francisco, Calif. Center for Environmental Education, Washington, D.C. Conservation Education Associa tion, Knoxville, Tenn. ton, D.C. Foresta Institute for Mountain Studie Girl Swuts of USA, New States, Washington, D.C. lzaak Walton League of Am Inc., Arlington, Va. Conn.
Massachusetts Audubon Society,
“The AEE will help cooperating organizations initiate programs and take advantage of the resources available from the network!’
A
National Association of Conservation Districts, Solebury, Pa. National Audubon Society, Inc., Sharon, Conn. National Biology Teachers Association, Reston, Va. National Council for Geographic Education, Cambridge, Md National Education Association, Washington, D. C. National Science Teachers Association, Dingmans Ferry, Pa. National Wildlife Federation, Washington, D.C. New England Environmental Ed1 tors Alliance, Milton, Mass. New York State Outdoor Education Association, Setauket, N.Y. North American Association for Environmental Education, Fairfax, Va. Pennsylvania Alliance for Environmental Education, Philadelphia, Pa. Safari Club International Conservation Fund, Tucson, Ariz. Soil Conservation Society of America, Washington, D.C. United Auto WorkerdConservation Department, Detroit, Mich. Western Regional Environmental Education Council, Sacramento, Calif. Zero Population Growth, Washing ton, D. C. program at the local, state, and regional levels. Businesses stand to gain a great deal from association with the centers. For example, involvement with the centers provides business leaders with an opportunity to help shape local environmental policy-to help develop solutions to local problems that protect the public interest without disrupting potential economic gains for the region.
A 1 states gathered in Boston in November 1987. This month representatives from southeastern states will meet in Florida, and representatives from the Great Lakes states will meet in May 1988 in southern Michigan. Progress on the network The network management committee is now defining the specific criteria that potential centers will have to meet. This management committee will also select sites for the first centers with guidance from the regional councils. Each local center provides environmental programs and serves as a resource center for schools and the public, offer26
Enwon SCl Tecnnol.. Vo.. 22, NO
1 . 1988
ing technical assistance, information, and training. On a larger scale, each center will be a link in a nationwide information and education exchange among universities, private and government organizations, and c o p r a tions. Getting businesses involved These. meetings already have served an important purpose by bringing together people from different parts of a region to focus on local needs, programs, partnershipbuilding, and organizational concerns. An important challenge facing the network is to get business and industry involved in the
Bulletin board and newsletter A national electronic bulletin board was established to link those involved in the network, AEE affiliates, and interested outside organizations. The bulletin board carries notices of meetings, programs, speakers, and various resource materials. Information on the bulletin board is accessible by computer nationwide. The AEE newsletter, the Alliance Exchange, cames articles of long-term interest; for example, reports of program successes and reports on national sponsors and affiliate programs. This newsletter is distributed to the centers, to
AEE affiliates, and to other interested organizations. Financing centers In the beginning, the alliance matches funds for the centers’ operations, staff, and programs. In succeeding years, universities will provide a greater proportion of the budgets, and within the first five years of funding, the centers will operate without financial support from the AEE. For continuous operation, these centers will rely on donations, contracts, and grants generated by the individual centers with AEE guidance.
Objectives of centers Local centers are required to train at least 500 teachers annually in the use of environmental education programs and materials of the AEE. In addition, the centers must either produce at least two new educational programs that will focus on local environmental concerns or modify at least two existing programs that address local and regional environmental issues. Centers also will be asked to produce and distribute a quarterly newsletter reporting on their programs and activities to bring together people concerned with environmental issues and to coordinate cooperative programs.
In addition, the centers will be asked to conduct, on an annual basis, at least 10 cooperative programs (e.g., luncheon talks, workshops, lectures, and television interviews with citizen organizations) and at least 10 meetings with state resource and education agencies, local school administrators, business leaders, government officials, or citizen groups. The purpose of these meetings would be twofold-to provide programs on current concerns and to invite attendees to cooperate with other projects of the centers. The centers will also be asked to actively solicit at least two other college or university departments to participate in projects of the centers. Most environmental concerns have economic, biological, and social implications; thus, several different academic departments could contribute valuable expertise to a specific project. Centers will be responsible for an annuaI evaluation of the effectiveness of their teacher training, educational programs, and cooperative citizen programs; documentation of their effects; and a description of how their methods might be adapted to other regions.
Looking ahead The primary goal of the national network is to better educate the public
Keep up-to-date with weekly co AND ENGINEERING NEWS Enjoy substantial disco scriptions to A C S ’ ~ internationally respecte ive journals and publications ientists at local, regional pportunities with ACS ement plans and tax annuity programs r the latest advances in your discipline with a r-free Division membership
and this isjust the beginningm
about environmental issues through programs for schools and for the general population. These programs incorporate resources from the local and regional community as well as material already available nationally. The network guarantees a wide distribution of the environmental education materials that are available from national groups by providing each center with materials from the AEE, from more than 40 governmental agencies in the Federal Interagency Committee on Education and its subcommittee on environmental education, and from others involved in environmental education. The network management committee sponsors an annual conference of the national network for supporting partners and staff of all centers. The committee also conducts annual evaluations of the program and activities of each center to assure that objectives are being met.
John Paulk is chief of the skills and education development branch of educational programs for the Tennessee k51ley Authority in Knoxville and chairman of the network management committee of the Alliance for Environmental Education.
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Environ. Sci. Technol., Vol. 22,No. 1, 1988 27
