Building a “Trust Fund” for Environmental Literacy
This blog post was written by Megan Fink, partnerships and policy manager at NAAEE.
Where would we be without trust? To quote a well-known African proverb, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
As West Virginia welcomed us with signs of spring, over 130 education leaders from Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington D.C., and West Virginia came together to discuss strategies for securing sustainable funding for environmental literacy programs. In late February, this audience of environmental literacy changemakers participated in the Mid-Atlantic Environmental Literacy Forum hosted by Chesapeake Bay Program’s Education Workgroup and their partners at the National Conservation Training Center.
Group photo of Forum changemakers on February 26 outside the National Conservation Training Center’s Confluence Center. Photo credit: Sonia Keiner
The purpose of the 2025 Forum was to:
- Develop an understanding of how local, district-level leaders make decisions and share examples of district-level environmental literacy programs that are sustainably funded.
- Craft strategic messages demonstrating the value and impact of investing in sustained, systemic environmental literacy programs and green infrastructure.
- Identify key partners, tools for strategic outreach, and a timeline for engagement to build long-term, resilient relationships with local leaders and their offices.
Featuring success stories from Caroline County Public Schools in Virginia and other districts across the Mid-Atlantic, strategies to build buy-in and support from local government and school district leaders, and the importance of centering youth voices in our networks, the Forum highlighted action-oriented approaches to engage strategically with local leaders to secure sustained funding for environmental literacy initiatives.
Since these changemakers were each embarking on this task from different starting points, participants strategized in state breakouts to apply lessons learned in their local context and collaborated on messaging that would resonate with their local leaders and school board members. Participants used a guiding document to capture notes, draft their key messages, and identify their next steps to move the work forward when returning to their home communities. Some districts came to the table with Environmental Literacy Plans in hand. Others had a line or two in their district’s strategic plan naming environmental education, green career pathways, or sustainability initiatives as priorities. As we heard from nearly every speaker during this two-day event, there is no wrong way to get started on this work, but aligning with your district’s priorities is key.
Caroline County Public Schools’ Environmental Literacy Plan Partner Team. Pictured from left to right: Autumn Nabors, Director of Secondary Education, CCPS; Meredeth Dash, Virginia EE Specialist, Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay; Becca Schieber, Science Instructional Specialist, CCPS; Robin Didlake, Tidal Education Manager, Friends of the Rappahannock; Anna Moreau, Education Specialist, Hanover-Caroline Soil & Water Cons. District; Dr. Sarah Calveric, Superintendent, CCPS. Photo credit: Meredeth Dash
Forum participants learn about the power of building community partnerships in the Auditorium of the National Conservation Training Center. Photo credit: Sonia Keiner
During a presentation on making the case for environmental literacy programs from Virginia Tech Professor Dr. Marc Stern, forum participants were prompted to:
- Make it worthwhile. (Show how the benefits outweigh the costs.)
- Make it fit. (Align with your school and community culture.)
- Make it easy. (Remove the barriers.)
The Forum also served as a powerful reminder that we are not on this journey alone. Partners and relationship-building are essential and seem to be the magic that is needed in this moment. One forum attendee remarked, “Community engagement and carefully planned communication are critical to this work maintaining momentum.” Establishing trust is a central principle of community engagement. Dr. Stern highlighted three types of trust needed to foster long-lasting relationships that can transform our schools and districts.
- Rational trust: based on perceptions of competence, follow-through, quality, and consistency
- Affinitive trust: personal affinity or “liking” someone based on similarities
- Systems-based trust: setting up a process that reduces risk and uncertainty
Building trust and forming bonds with our local leaders (and each other) is vital to securing funding and ensuring all students have access to meaningful, high-quality environmental education. Together, we can build this ecosystem of trust and the momentum needed to advance systemic, community-based, sustainable environmental literacy programs in our states and districts. Only together, not alone.
If you want to hear more about all the resources shared and lessons learned, join us for a virtual recap of this year’s Forum on March 21, 2025!