Oren Pizmony-Levy (op2183@tc.columbia.edu)

Dafna Gan (dafna.gan@smkb.ac.il)

Building of the success of two-year partnership between Teachers College (TC) and Kibbutzim College of Education, Technology and the Arts in Israel (KC), we are launching the International Workshop on Environment, Sustainability, and Education. The Workshop will meet virtually once a month between July 2020 and July 2021 (see schedule below)…with little ecological footprint! Workshop materials including presentations, handouts, recording, etc. will be archived on this website for continuous use.

Over the past two years, Teachers College and Kibbutzim College have collaborated to enhance their curriculum around the intersection of environment, sustainability, and education. In addition to continuous meetings between professors/instructors, the collaboration also included several meetings between students at both institutions. In these meetings, TC students shared their case studies exploring the ways in which public schools in New York City engage with sustainability, and their counterparts at KC presented their action research projects on environmental education in schools and the broader Israeli communities. One of the immediate takeaways from these virtual interactions was how they offered students a unique perspective on the role of global and local context in promoting environmental and sustainability education.

While developing the Workshop, we recognize the many groups and organizations who already meets on a regular basis in national, regional, and international conferences. Take for example the scholarly associations with a mission to engage this work, such as the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) and the Environmental Education Association of Southern Africa (EEASA). Or, the dedicated Special Interest Groups (SIGs) and networks at larger education associations American Educational Research Association (AERA), Comparative and International Education Society (CIES US), and the European Education Research Association (EERA). We envision the Workshop as a space that brings together and bridges individuals who attend national, regional, and international conferences. The Workshop is intended to facilitate an ongoing discussion between annual conferences and connect scholars that might not yet know each other yet but share common interest and scholarship. The Workshop will be crafted in interactive ways so that there is maximum opportunity to network with other likeminded people.

See more information and the schedule for 2020-2021 Workshops here: International Workshop on Environment, Sustainability, & Education