Welcome Service Providers

Project Overview

EcoRise is partnering with the Maryland Association for Environmental & Outdoor Education & Maryland Environmental Literacy Advisory Network to conduct a statewide and regional landscape analysis and needs assessment across all formal and informal programs that serve K-12 youth under the broad umbrella of “environmental  education”. This project will provide information and tools that will result in equitable access and opportunities to environmental education and outdoor experiences for all Marylanders.

Expected Outcomes

EcoRise will compile a resource directory Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and generate a robust Geographic Information System highlighting various community factors, such as climate risks, health, equity, and environmental pollutants. All findings will be shared with ee providers, community leaders and local school districts to inform and advance K-12 environmental education, green schools and climate justice. The resource directory and GIS will be publicly available as a resource for identifying partners in environmental education, green careers, climate readiness and environmental justice.

The information shared will allow us to build better tools for public use, such as an interactive Dashboard and Program Directory, as well as a Climate, Equity, and Environmental Education Map. Additionally, EcoRise will share the findings and convene local leaders in Spring 2025. These community strategy sessions will investigate gaps and opportunities for programming, identify highest need communities and explore strategic partnerships and alliances.

Next Steps

Please share and/or update information about any K-12 programs or resources your organization offers focused on green schools, environmental education, outdoor learning, environmental justice, food and nutrition, health and wellness, conservation, green careers, internships, climate anxiety, professional learning and related topics. 

Thank you for helping us build a strong network of program providers and expand our impact with K-12 youth and schools throughout the state!

Project Partners

Maryland Association for Environmental & Outdoor Education,  (MAEOE) 

MAEOE encourages, engages and empowers our community to understand, responsibly use and promote the natural world.  

This support of Maryland’s environmental educators enables students to explore, investigate and act to improve the health of their schools and surroundings. In addition, meaningful change is the goal of MAEOE’s collaboration with other environmental organizations to produce educational programs and promote environmental literacy throughout Maryland.

Maryland Environmental Literacy Advisory Network, (MELAN)

The Maryland Environmental Literacy Advisory Network (MELAN) is a group of education professionals from diverse backgrounds and perspectives dedicated to the advancement of environmental literacy across Maryland. MELAN envisions healthy, engaged, and prepared youth nurturing our lands and waters and tackling the environmental and socio-economic challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.

The purpose of MELAN is to strengthen relationships, establish communication pathways  and identify collaboration opportunities state-wide between formal and non-formal networks of educators and the communities they serve to cultivate the conditions necessary for equitable environmental literacy efforts to grow and thrive across all of Maryland’s diverse county landscapes.

Outdoor Learning Partnership, (OLP) 

In April 2024, the Outdoor Learning Partnership (Executive Order 01.01.2024.15) was signed into law by Governor Wes Moore, replacing the Project Green Classrooms Initiative (2017), which replaced the Maryland Partnership for Children in Nature (Executive Order 01.01.2017.12).

https://governor.maryland.gov/Lists/ExecutiveOrders/Attachments/45/EO%2001.01.2024.15%20Maryland%20Outdoor%20Education%20Partnership_Accessible.pdf

The OLP Initiative is a renewal of Maryland’s commitment both to environmental education, through environmental literacy programs, and to ensuring that Maryland youth experience, understand, and learn to conserve the natural environment. The goal of the partnership is to develop Maryland students as environmental caretakers by providing structured, outdoor educational opportunities where they can learn how to access, conserve, and restore the state’s natural resources. The partnership will also recommend ways for school systems to lessen the impacts their buildings and grounds have on local waterways and the environment, such as by reforesting unused land or developing renewable energy sources. The Initiative also will provide advice and support in the implementation and tracking of Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement goals and outcomes as they relate to environmental education.

Chesapeake Bay Trust, (CBT, funder)  

Mission of the Chesapeake Bay Trust is to engage and empower diverse groups to take actions that enrich natural resources and local communities of the Chesapeake Bay region. Leading to the vision, the Chesapeake Bay and local watersheds are healthy and safe, our waters are fishable and swimmable, local communities benefit from these healthy resources, and everyone participates in restoring and protecting our natural resource treasures.

NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office (BWET, funder)

The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office uses science, service, and stewardship to improve the health of the Chesapeake Bay and ensure its sustainable use for generations to come. As part of NOAA Fisheries’ Office of Habitat Conservation, we apply science and engage communities to tackle problems and challenges facing the Bay. Our work includes habitat science, oyster restoration, sustainable fisheries, climate resiliency; and environmental literacy. To carry out this work, the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office is organized into three branches: Environmental Literacy and Partnerships, Ecosystem Science and Synthesis, and Scientific Operations.