Conference: Envisioning STEM Education for the Green and Blue Economies

气候变化是我们这个时代最严峻的挑战之一。各国正在经历创纪录的高温、野火、干旱和强大的季风。这些自然灾害造成了对能够建设更强大的绿色和蓝色经济的劳动力的迫切需求。绿色经济碳排放水平低，资源利用效率高，促进社会公平；蓝色经济可持续地利用海洋资源，支持海洋健康。不幸的是，K-12教育体系并不能完全帮助年轻人发展绿色和蓝色经济所需要的技术技能、知识类型和人类性格。教育发展中心（EDC）正在组织一次会议，将召集广泛的利益相关者，综合目前已知的和仍然需要了解的知识，以帮助年轻人，特别是那些来自历史上被边缘化和被排除在STEM之外的社区的年轻人，获得他们积极参与绿色和蓝色经济所需的STEM技能和能力。通过这次会议，该项目旨在制定一个愿景，并启动一个利益相关者网络，让年轻人为更绿色、更蓝的生活和工作方式做好准备。通过特别关注来自历史上被边缘化群体的青年的需求和机会，会议还旨在使最易受气候变化影响的家庭和社区受益。会议将讨论三个指导性问题：(1)学生需要从STEM和其他学科中学习哪些知识和技能，以便为加入绿色和蓝色经济做好准备并做出贡献？(2)教育工作者、行业和其他部门之间已经存在哪些类型的伙伴关系，我们可以从中学到哪些跨部门合作所面临的机会和障碍，以帮助年轻人为绿色和蓝色职业做好准备？(3)哪些战略可能最有效地确保历史上边缘化社区的年轻人获得加入和帮助建设绿色和蓝色经济所需的知识和技能？为了解决这些问题，会议将包括为期两天的小组讨论和与会者之间更广泛的小组对话。小组成员和参与的利益相关者将包括经济学家、行业领袖、课堂内外的K-12教育工作者，以及社区和公共领袖，他们一直在积极研究或努力让年轻人为更环保的可持续生活和工作方式做好准备。会议成果将包括：(a)确定重要技能组合、有前途的教育方法和优先研究问题的会议记录，以便为绿色和蓝色经济建立多样化的劳动力；(b)一个由感兴趣的持份者组成的网络，他们可以分享信息并建立伙伴关系，以发展这支队伍；(c)与会者公开承诺将会议产生的想法转化为具体行动；(d)建立一个网站，用于传播会议产品，并将利益攸关方与支持世界各地绿色和蓝色经济的平行倡议联系起来。该会议项目由“面向学生和教师的创新技术体验”（ITEST）项目资助，该项目支持有助于提高学生对科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）以及信息和通信技术（ICT）职业的知识和兴趣的实践、项目要素、背景和过程的理解。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Climate change is one of the most formidable challenges of our time. Countries are experiencing record heat, wildfires, drought, and powerful monsoons. These natural disasters have created an urgent need for a workforce that can build stronger green and blue economies. Green economies emit low levels of carbon, use resources efficiently, and advance social equity; blue economies use ocean resources sustainably and support the oceans' health. Unfortunately, K-12 education systems are not fully equipped to help young people develop the technological skills, types of knowledge, and human dispositions that green and blue economies require. Education Development Center (EDC) is organizing a conference that will convene a wide group of stakeholders to synthesize what is currently known and still needs to be known to help young people--particularly those from communities that have been historically marginalized and excluded from STEM--gain the STEM skills and competencies that they need to actively be part of green and blue economies. Through this conference, the project aims to develop a vision and launch a network of stakeholders to prepare young people for greener and bluer ways of living and working. By focusing in particular on needs and opportunities for youth from historically marginalized groups, the conference also aims to benefit families and communities that are most vulnerable to climate change.The conference will address three guiding questions: (1) What knowledge and skills from STEM and other disciplines do students need to learn to prepare them to join and contribute to the green and blue economies? (2) What types of partnerships among educators, industry, and other sectors already exist, and what can we learn from them about the opportunities and barriers that cross-sector collaborations face to prepare young people for green and blue occupations? (3) What strategies may be most effective in ensuring that young people from historically marginalized communities gain the knowledge and skills needed to join and help construct green and blue economies? To address these questions, the conference will involve two days of panel discussions and broader group conversations among conference participants. Panelists and participating stakeholders will include economists, industry leaders, K-12 educators in classroom and out-of-school settings, and community and public leaders who have been studying or working actively to prepare young people for more environmentally sustainable ways of life and work. Conference outcomes will include: (a) meeting proceedings that identify important skill sets, promising educational approaches, and priority research questions for building a diverse workforce for the green and blue economies; (b) a network of interested stakeholders who can share information and build partnerships to develop this workforce; (c) public commitments from conference participants to propel conference-generated ideas into concrete actions; and (d) a website for disseminating conference products and connecting stakeholders with parallel initiatives to support green and blue economies around the world.This conference project is funded by the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program, which supports projects that build understandings of practices, program elements, contexts, and processes contributing to increasing students' knowledge and interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and information and communication technology (ICT) careers.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.