GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP (GEEP) Meeting Minutes

GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP (GEEP) Meeting Minutes Dates of Meeting: April 23-24, 2015 Project: Global Environmental Education Partnership (GEEP) Project Objectives the GEEP:

1) Identify global expertise and share experiences on topics related to environmental education

2) Discuss challenges, solutions and lessons learned and potential regional or international projects in areas such as environmental education legislation, capacity building, climate change education, global standards for environmental education, environmental education research and evaluation Objectives for GEEP Meeting:

1) Present data from membership survey and finalize how GEEP will operate

2) Develop a plan for moving forward as a global program and on environmental education programming and activities in the region Participants in the 3rd GEEP Meeting:

Ginger Potter USA U.S. EPA Judy Braus USA North American Association for EE (NAAEE) Laura Hickey USA National Wildlife Federation (NWF) Justin Harris USA U.S. EPA Paul Ofei-Manu Japan Institute for Global Environmental Strategies Naoko Genjida Japan Institute for Global Environmental Strategies Wen-Feng Chun Taiwan Environmental Administration of Taiwan (EPAT) Chanles Yung Chiech Taiwan EPAT KD Jou Taiwan EPAT Nguyen Viet Dung Vietnam Center for Environmental Training and Communication Nguyen Minh Cuong Vietnam Vietnam Environment Administration Jennifer Doud USA Eco-Schools USA Agenda The Global Environmental Education Partnership (GEEP) Agenda for Steering Committee Meeting April 23-24, 2015 Environmental Protection Administration of Taiwan (EPAT) Taipei, Taiwan 9:00am-5:00pm Dress: Business Casual

April 23, 2015

9:00am-9:10am Introductions and Welcome Ms. Ginger Potter, US EPA, Co-Chair Charles YU, EPA Taiwan, Co-Chair

9:10am-9:20am Opening Remarks Minister Kuo-Yen WEI, EPA Taiwan Assistant Administrator Jane Nishida, US EPA

9:20am-9:30am Photo with GEEP Participants

9:30am-9:40am Introduce Agenda

• This will be a working meeting and everyone is encouraged to participate fully in discussions and decision making • There will be a mix of presentations, discussions and reflections through our time together • The agenda is flexible and we can adjust, based on how the discussion flows and what we need to accomplish

Shared Goals for this Meeting

• Shared understanding of the goals of GEEP and its unique role in EE • Shared agreement on how GEEP will operate • Identify key elements of a GEEP workplan for the upcoming year • Shared agreement on how the website can best enhance the work of GEEP and global EE 9:40am-10am Report out from 1st two GEEP Meetings

10:00am-10:15am Presentation on the Federation for Environmental Education (FEE) Laura Hickey, National Wildlife Federation (NWF) and FEE Board Member

10:15-10:30 Presentation on the World Environmental Education Congress (WEEC) Judy Braus, North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) Ginger Potter, US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA)

10:30am-10:45 Break

10:45am-12:00pm Discussion of the GEEP Survey Results (PPT with questions and results)

12:00pm-1:30pm Lunch

1:30pm-5:00pm Site Visit, Yangmingshan National Park

April 24, 2015

9:00am-10:30am Discussions/Decisions on what GEEP is and how it will operate 10:30am-10:45am Break

10:45am-12:00pm Additional Discussions as necessary Country Presentations

12:00pm-1:30pm Lunch

1:30pm to 4:00pm Potential Project Ideas for GEEP Member Countries to discuss and consider

Anecdotes to Evidence (A2E) Kids Making Sense Climate Change Fellows Program Developing Environmental Education Guidelines eePRO Others??

Discussion Overall, this was a very productive meeting, even if it was not as well attended as we would have liked. Four countries were in attendance and the participants believed that the steering group should consist of more members. The next GEEP meeting is scheduled for October, 2015 in San Diego, CA as part of the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) annual conference. The first day of the meeting focused on the results of a participant survey sent out last year after the Ottawa meeting in October. The results of the survey often did not point to a particular direction for the GEEP, but the following recommendations based on the analysis of the responses were made: 1) How is GEEP Organized? General Membership: 1-2 environmental education policy makers, providers, practitioners and/or researchers per country that represent government and/or nongovernmental sectors in each GEEP country. Each member agrees to: • Provide specific local/national expertise, including identifying emerging local issues • Articulate and reflect the interests that all members bring to the table • Review project reports and comment promptly • Maintain a focus on solutions that benefit the project area • Attend all meetings possible and prepare appropriately • Complete all necessary assignment prior to each meeting • Relay information to their constituents after each meeting and gather information/feedback from their constituents as practicable before each meeting • Provide their own travel resources for participation in general membership meetings. The source of these resources is at each country’s discretion. This can include GEEP members seeking funding from each other or international institutions.

Steering Committee: Provides direction for GEEP membership on all matters related to the management and operation of the GEEP. Steering Committee members agree to: • Provide all members with the opportunity to collaborate on the management of the GEEP and on project/initiatives undertaken by the GEEP if appropriate • Effectively manage the scope, schedule and budget (if applicable) • Keep members informed of progress and decision-making • Provide their own travel resources for participation in steering committee and general membership meetings. The source of these resources is at each country’s discretion. This can include GEEP members seeking funding from each other or international institutions.

2) How Does GEEP Make Decisions? GEEP will strive for consensus, but will use the democratic process (majority vote) when consensus is not achievable. Following the survey results, we had presentations on the Federation for Environmental Education (FEE) and on the World Environmental Education Congress (WEEC) to get a sense of where GEEP might be different or have a different role and focus. The following represents the discussion on what makes GEEP different from FEE and WEEC: -GEEP is not a conference that offers concurrent sessions; instead it is a learning network that works to advance EE in member countries by institutionalizing EE through policy, professional development, and other initiatives; -GEEP works at the national level with representatives from each country representing government and national NGOs dedicated to EE to create change; -GEEP focuses on capacity building and tracking our own programs; we build the infrastructure to support all EE efforts; -GEEP gathers best practices and successful programs, helping to understand why they were successful and how they were done (content and process). GEEP shines a spotlight on great programs and works to identify trends and commonalities in these programs; -GEEP will continually track the work of all global-level EE organizations that will help inform all countries working in EE. Following this discussion, the participants developed draft mission, goals and strategies for GEEP. These are as follows: Draft Vision Statement: GEEP is a global partnership committed to advancing environmental literacy to create a just and sustainable future through the power of education. Draft Mission Statement: GEEP is vibrant learning network designed to build capacity in member countries to strengthen, sustain and institutionalize environmental education, focusing on policy, professional development, research, evaluation and best practices. Draft GEEP Goals and Objectives: Goal 1: Build capacity in member countries to develop and support quality EE Objective: Identify and share best practices and successful programming in EE to support institutionalizing EE in member countries Objective: Find ways to address the major obstacles to improving EE in member countries. Objective: Identify process and content expertise to support in-country EE programming and projects Strategy: Provide a space for collaboration and support among GEEP member countries including project-based sharing of experience and best practices; Strategy: Provide a space for creative thinking, idea generation and problem solving. Goal 2: Become a global leader and voice for quality EE that works to improve environmental literacy Objective: Develop white papers and/or opinion pieces on important topic areas in EE that move the field forward and focus on country capacity building; Objective: Become a “hub or trusted source” for information on environmental education in GEEP countries and provide a platform for open discussion of specific EE topics Strategy: Conduct research on national-level assessments of what good EE looks like, such as the US state-level report on the program components of a comprehensive capacity building program (www.eelink.net ) Strategy: Develop templates for data collection and case studies that can be used as a model for other organizations/countries to use for consistent data gathering that allows for easy comparison and more in-depth discussions. Next Steps The outcomes of this meeting will need to be discussed with all of the member countries of GEEP before anything can be finalized. We also need to identify outcomes for how we will measure success and outputs if applicable. All of this will need to be discussed and voted on by the full membership either at or before the October meeting of the full GEEP. We also need to understand all of what is happening in EE by other organizations such as FEE, WEEC and the UN organizations-this could become part of what we put up on the GEEP website. This fits in with the objective of becoming a trusted source for information on EE at the global and national levels. The web site development is dependent upon what type of information GEEP decides to share with the public. A “look” needs to be developed for all communication materials. This will be undertaken by NAAEE through a contract supported by EPAT with the help of a newly hired GEEP fellow. We are discussing developing several templates for information gathering purposes, such as: -to conduct in-county surveys of what EE programming currently exists in each GEEP country (this would include identifying the components of a comprehensive national- level EE program that includes such things as having legislation or some sort of national commitment to EE, etc.) -to provide the details for the development of case studies to highlight successful EE programs (this would need to include a definition of what “successful” means)