Conference: Envisioning STEM Education for the Green and Blue Economies

会议：展望绿色和蓝色经济体的 STEM 教育

• 批准号: 2330910
• 负责人: Andres Henriquez
• 金额: $ 9.99万
• 依托单位: Education Development Center
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-09-15 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2330910&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Conference; Envisioning; STEM; Education; Green

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.

气候变化是我们这个时代最艰巨的挑战之一。各国正在经历创纪录的高温、野火、干旱和强大的季风。这些自然灾害创造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。绿色经济低碳排放，高效利用资源，促进社会公平；蓝色经济可持续利用海洋资源，支持海洋健康。不幸的是，K-12教育系统没有完全具备帮助年轻人发展绿色和蓝色经济所需的技术技能、知识类型和人性的能力。教育发展中心(EDC)正在组织一次会议，会议将召集广泛的利益攸关方，综合目前已知和仍需了解的内容，以帮助年轻人--特别是那些来自历史上被边缘化和被STEM排除在外的社区的年轻人--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，并启动一个利益攸关方网络，让年轻人为更绿色、更蓝色的生活和工作方式做好准备。通过特别关注来自历史边缘群体的年轻人的需求和机会，会议还旨在使最容易受到气候变化影响的家庭和社区受益。会议将解决三个指导性问题：(1)学生需要学习STEM和其他学科的哪些知识和技能，才能为他们加入绿色和蓝色经济并做出贡献做准备？(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，我们可以从他们那里学到什么关于跨部门合作为年轻人从事绿色和蓝色职业做准备所面临的机会和障碍？(3)在确保来自历史上被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方面，什么战略可能是最有效的？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攸关方将包括经济学家、行业领袖、课堂和校外环境中的K-12教育工作者，以及一直在积极学习或努力使年轻人为更环保的可持续生活和工作方式做好准备的社区和公共领导人。会议成果将包括：(A)为建设绿色和蓝色经济多样化的劳动力队伍确定重要技能、有前途的教育方法和优先研究问题的会议记录；(B)能够分享信息和建立伙伴关系以发展这一劳动力的利益攸关方网络；(C)与会者公开承诺推动会议产生的想法转化为具体行动；这个会议项目由学生和教师创新技术体验计划(ITEST)资助，该计划支持对实践、计划要素、背景和过程的理解，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。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。