Broadening Perspectives in EE
Our mission is to cultivate environmental literacy and engagement among diverse community leaders. With the vision that Oregon communities are compassionately working together to create equitable connections to and expressions of the local and global environments.
We are striving to:
- work together with communities and individuals to provide spaces where all can gather to build relationships, improve practices, and share ideas around environmental education.
- develop an annual conference and other programs that will provide opportunities for making connections to each other and to place.
- identify and connect with statewide partners to enhance perspectives around environmental education and to begin discussions around implementing diverse and inclusive programming.
Our primary functions are to:
- Collaborate with state level partners to ensure the inclusion of environmental education in related initiatives;
- Educate and assist EEAO affiliates in educating decision makers about the importance and relevance of environmental education;
- Serve as a liaison for environmental education between all systems levels from local to international;
- Establish and enhance collaborative environmental education networks throughout Oregon, the Pacific Northwest, the United States and internationally; and
- Support our members through professional development opportunities.
Our values are guiding us in the way we work:
- JUSTICE: We acknowledge environmental education is a segment of environmental justice and supports solutions that affirm the diverse strengths and needs of communities of color, low-income, and other marginalizations, ultimately strengthening our state as a whole.
- DIVERSITY: We accept that there are many ways to practice and define environmental education, and we celebrate the various experiences of individuals and communities.
- COLLABORATION: We welcome and engage in conversation with many voices and amplify the voices of marginalized communities to strengthen the environmental education community.
- COMMUNITY: We continually work on building relationships and establishing trust to provide opportunities for transformation individually, as an organization, and across the environmental education community.
