CCEP-I: Pacific Islands Climate Change Education Partnership

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An award has been made to Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL) to establish a Phase I Climate Change Education Partnership (CCEP) in collaboration with WestEd and the University of Washington. Other Core Partners include the Pacific Curriculum and Instruction Council and consulting learning scientists from TERC and Northwestern University. The overall goal of the CCEP Phase I project is to establish a coordinated national network of regionally- or thematically-based partnerships devoted to increasing the adoption of effective, high quality educational programs and resources related to the science of climate change and its impacts. This project will serve the United States Affiliated Pacific Island Region (USAPI) and will focus on climate change impacts on the coastal ecosystems that are vital to the lives and cultures of those who live in the USAPI. The project targets educators, students, and community members in a region that is among the most vulnerable to climate change impacts. The specific goals include strategically planning a culturally responsive adoption of high quality K-14 climate change educational programs and resources; involving local communities in developing K-14 climate education initiatives that build upon local knowledge, particularly indigenous ways of knowing; and collaborating with other CCEP projects as a member of an NSF-coordinated network that plays a national leadership role in climate change education.By the end of this two-year project, the PIs expect to develop a general, multidisciplinary K-14 climate change science education framework. In addition, the project will have developed and prototyped processes to facilitate the adaptation of existing curriculum resources to the Pacific region's climates and cultures. The science education framework and the adaptation processes both combine the best attributes of western science and indigenous cultures with respect to knowledge of the region's climate systems and ways accessing and presenting that knowledge. The most comprehensive outcome will be a Pacific Region climate change education strategic plan that the extended partnership network can implement using the tools, resources, and commitments that have been developed. More information on this project is available by contacting the PI, Dr. Sharon Nelson-Barber at PREL or the co-PI, Dr. Art Sussman at WestEd.