'The Boston TEE Party'.  DRAFT details of NAAEE's 2002 conference

In 2002, the NAAEE conference will be in Boston. It's from the 6-11th
August at the Boston Park Plaza where we've negotiated a room rate of $149
(for 1, 2, 3 or 4 people!) which is outstanding!

The Boston TEE Party is a celebration of 'Total Environmental Education'!
This is the rich, multi-faceted, lifelong environmental education that
encourages,welcomes and encompasses a diversity of concepts, mediums, formats,
methodologies and approaches. The "The Boston Tee Party" will follow four
strands, each in some way reflective of Boston's pivotal place in US (and
world) history.  Each strand will feature workshops, concurrent sessions,
poster sessions, interacts and a keynote speaker.

Strand 1: From Nature to Sustainability: Environmental Education through
Time

This strand will encompass environmental education as a tool for teaching
science and natural history. Environmental  education programs have taken
placefor many years in both formal and informal settings.  Some of the basic
tried and true methods are still as effective today as they were fifty years ago.
But the field has also grown and expanded over the years, as new exciting
and innovative programs have been added to the environmental education menu
over the years. Programs developed by non-profits, schools, and like
organizations will be highlighted as well as the  impacts ee has had on the formal
education system .This is where curricula like PLT, WET, Project WILD,  watershed
education programs, forestry programs, etc. will fall.

Strand 2:  Designing and Planning Spaces for People: Environmental
Education's Role in Community Character & Community Appearance

Environmental education is key to developing positive attitudes towards
stewardship of our communities.  Referred to as sustainability, sense of
place, community character or any other term, a community's identity and
livability are essential to its viability.  As our communities grow and expand there
is a tendency to create homogenous environments across the world, removing the
individuality and unique characteristics of urban, suburban and rural
communities; characteristics that were once treasured because of land
formations, natural elements and cultural influences. Community design and
planning, landscape design, architecture, visual character and pollution,
land use and the impacts of sprawl on the environment will be addressed through
these sessions.

Strand 3:  Towards the just city: Environmental Justice and Diversity
through Environmental Education

Recent research has shown that States with greatest inequalities have less
stringent environmental policies ie human inequality is bad for
environmental quality. Taking a world wide view, sessions under this strand will deal
with the importance of including environmental justice and equity issues as a
theme which permeates environmental education. This Strand will include issues of
race, gender, disability, sexual orientation amongst others. The concepts
of 'difference', cultural competency and diversity of both audience and
providers in environmental education will also be incorporated into this Strand.

Strand 4:  Leading the way: The Role of Higher Education in Environmental
Education

Higher education institutions are pivotal in creating the kind of just and
sustainable futures towards which we must  move. They have a major impact
on environmental education through better campus management, links with local
communities, their degree programs, pre-service teacher training,
in-service workshops and research. The  contributions and impacts of environmental
education programs and research in colleges and universities around the
world will be addressed through these sessions.

Further details

Julian Agyeman
Assistant Professor
Department of Urban and Environmental Policy <http://www.tufts.edu/as/uep/>
Tufts University <http://www.tufts.edu>
Medford, MA 02155
Telephone: 617-627-3394
Fax: 617-627-3377
Email: [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>