2024 Conference

2024 COEEA Annual Conference

Date: December 7, 2024

Location: Suffield High School, 1060 Sheldon St, West Suffield, CT 06093.

Time: Check-In begins at 8:30 AM. Conference runs from 9:00 AM to 4 PM

The COEEA Annual Conference brings together thought-provoking and engaging opportunities to share with, learn from, and water the seeds of inspiration with other outdoor and environmental education leaders and nature enthusiasts from across the state. With quality workshops and ample networking opportunities, COEEA’s conference is a great place to connect with old friends and new. Last year’s conference attendees included non-formal educators, classroom teachers, administrators, students, and leaders advancing EE and Environmental Justice across CT!

This year's theme is “Building a Resilient Future in a Changing World.” We aim to address both internal and external resilience, with workshop topics ranging from coping strategies for ecoanxiety to how to engage with communities for a more resilient future.

You can also request a scholarship support during registration! Through our conference scholarship program, COEEA fully subsides professionals, classroom teachers, students, and anyone else interested in advancing environmental literacy for all residents of Connecticut to attend our conference free of charge.

If you would like to support our sponsorship program and sponsor a fellow EE to attend our event, you can make a contribution at the end of your registration. Rest assured that your contribution will be allocated to those like-minded individuals to make our conference bigger, stronger, and more plural! Any contribution is welcome and appreciated, no matter the value.

Registration includes access to the workshops and networking events throughout the conference. Boxed lunch, snacks, and refreshments will be provided. Pleasse bring your travel mug and reusable water bottle so we can reduce waste. Optionally, you can bring items for our Swap Table, things that you no longer need or want to exchange for something you do. Suggested items include books, lightly used outdoor gear, classroom supplies, etc. You don’t have to bring anything to be able to take something — and vice versa! Unclaimed items at the end of the day will be donated to a local thrift shop. Not sure whether an item is suitable? Just ask! conference@coeea.org

As a registered participant, you will be eligible to win one of several door prizes! Furthermore, when you register, you will have the opportunity to submit your best Outdoor & Environmental Education picture to our Annual Photo-Contest; share your special 2024 moments with our community and take a chance to win a prize! As an added bonus, ALL registrants will receive a 20% discount code to enroll in any outdoor learning courses and certifications with the Outdoor Learning School & Store.

REGISTRATION

Registration

Schedule

Schedule At-a-Glance

Check-In	30 min	8:30 - 9:00am
Welcome & Keynote Speaker	1 hr	9:00 - 10:00am
Affinity Groups	45 min	10:00 - 10:45pm
COEEA Business & Awards	45 min	10:45 - 11:30am
LUNCH	1 hr	11:30am - 12:30pm
Workshop Session 1	1 hr	12:30 - 1:30pm
BREAK	15 min	1:30 - 1:45pm
Workshop Session 2	1 hr	1:45 - 2:45pm
BREAK	15 min	2:45 - 3:00pm
Workshop Session 3	1 hr	3:00 - 4:00pm
Post-Conference Social	TBD	4:00pm - TBD

Click Here for a Detailed Schedule

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Maggie Favretti

Maggie Favretti conspires with younger learners, community leaders, and colleagues from around the world to democratize and deepen learning and to build agency for caring and transformative resilience.

In her new book Learning in the Age of Climate Disasters: Empowering Teachers and Students Beyond Futurephobia, author and award-winning educator Maggie Favretti outlines the contexts and causes of “futurephobia” and then offers Regenerative Learning strategies rooted in nature’s principles for repair and redesign. She also explores methods for co-empowering youth creativity, agency, and hope. Her guiding question? What kind of ancestor will I be?

Answering that question will take a lifetime, but for now Maggie is focused on launching the Alliance for the Mystic River Watershed, a collaboration of four towns and two Tribal Nations to care for life and thrive together during these challenging times. It’s free to join, and you get to find and share purpose with others looking to Do Something to make a difference. www.alliancemrw.org Someone recently asked Maggie what her Spirit Animal was…she said with the usual twinkle in her eye, “Mycelium!” Nothing does more to nourish well-being and relationships. We are only as resilient as our relationships are strong.

Workshops

WORKSHOPS

WORKSHOP SESSION #1

(12:30 pm - 1:30 pm)

❧ Climate Café: Eco Grief
Presented by: Merrit Juliano, Climate Psychology Alliance of North America

A Climate Café Listening Circle is a supportive, empathetic space where people can safely express their fears and uncertainties about the climate and ecological crisis. It focuses on exploring emotions such as fear, anger, and grief, rather than discussing climate policy or action. Modeled after the Death Café movement, these circles provide a warm, community-driven environment for participants to connect with others and share personal thoughts and feelings. Facilitated by trained volunteers, these circles are open to anyone 18 or older, offering a space for individuals to process complex emotions related to the climate crisis.

Learn more about Climate Cafes, and the Climate Psychology Alliance

❧ Educating for Climate Action and Justice - Intro to the New NAAEE Guidelines
Presented by: Brock Adler, Chair of the NAAEE Advocacy Committee, & Susan Quincy, Education Outreach, CT Dept. of Energy and Environmental Protection

Discover how to apply the North American Association for Environmental Education's latest climate education guidelines across school and community settings, fostering collaborative, locally-driven, and emotionally supportive learning for climate action.

Joining the essential series of guidelines for environmental education from the North American Association for Environmental Education, www.NAAEE.org, the just-released guide for climate education addresses the needs of both schools and community settings. The guidelines also are applicable to many academic and community subjects - from the sciences, social studies, and outdoor learning; to public engagement and education efforts by NGOs, business, and government.

At this session you will be given an overview by one of the members of the Advisory Committee, Brock Adler, and get a chance to discuss how the guidelines can work for your organization or classroom.
You will get much more out of the session if you check out the guidelines in advance: https://bit.ly/40BGwrF

❧ The Connecticut Environmental Rights Amendment
Presented by: Tenaya Taylor (Non-Profit Accountability Group) & Kim Stoner (Northeast Organic Farming Association of Connecticut )

Every person has a fundamental human right to clean and healthy air, water, soil, and environment. We also have a right to a livable climate. But, those rights are not in the US Constitution or the CT Constitution, even though they are recognized by other countries around the world. The presenters are part of the CT Environmental Rights Amendment Alliance, part of a movement to put Green Amendments guaranteeing environmental rights into state constitutions across the country.
We will discuss what the CT Environmental Rights Amendment would do and how it would go through the state legislature and then go on a referendum for the people of the state to vote. We will also work with you to learn who your legislators are, how to raise your voice to tell your legislators what you care about, and how to testify at a public hearing. These are skills you can use to advocate for all the causes you care about, in addition to the CT Environmental Rights Amendment.

WORKSHOP SESSION #2

(1:45 pm - 2:45 pm)

❧ Youth Perspectives on Collective Resilience: Holding Space for Eco-Grief and Cultivating Eco-Hope
Presented by: Ollie Perrault (Mass Audubon's Statewide Youth Climate Leadership Program, Director of Youth Climate Action Now)

This session explores how adults and youth can navigate eco-grief and anxiety while cultivating hope and resilience in the face of environmental crises. It focuses on supporting the next generation by creating space for heavy emotions and fostering collective strength. Participants will discuss tools for moving forward together, drawing on the wisdom and leadership of young people. The session highlights the importance of community, mutual support, and the youth perspective in addressing climate and social challenges.

❧ 2-Part Workshop:
Part 1. Envirothon. The benefits of connecting with your community and environment.
Presented by: Audra Leach, CT Envirothon

The Envirothon is an environmental and natural resources conservation problem-solving, leadership experience and academic competition for secondary school students (ages 14-19) across the United States, Canada, China, and Singapore. Incorporating STEM principles, hands-on learning, and outdoor field experiences, the Envirothon fosters student learning in the areas of AQUATIC ECOLOGY, FORESTRY, SOILS and LAND USE, WILDLIFE, and CURRENT ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES.

Envirothon helps students and advisors to become more informed citizens that can make appropriate decisions and connections in their lives and their communities. The Envirothon can also help students and advisors connect with their local community through citizen science and presentations about environmental issues and concerns. This engagement with communities provides a more resilient future.

This workshop will give an overview of the benefits of involvement for the advisor, school, and students as well as give examples of activities and how those activities can be incorporated into curriculum to connect with the community in which the students are involved in.

Part 2. A Watershed Moment: Change and Connection on Long Island Sound

Presented by: Maggie Cozens, Long Island Sound Study outreach coordinator with Connecticut Sea Grant and UConn Extension
Conservation success stories are essential to alleviating eco-anxiety, empowering individuals, and effecting positive action for the natural world. In this presentation, Maggie Cozens from Sea Grant and the Long Island Sound Study will explore 40 years of restoration, resilience, and opportunities for connection on Long Island Sound and its watershed. This talk will also include an interactive portion in which attendees can design place-based learning experiences to proactively connect their students and communities with Long Island Sound and its watershed.

❧ Lo—TEK & The Living Earth Challenge
Presented by: Melissa Gurney, The Lo—TEK Institute

In this session we will introduce Lo—TEK as a concept, and the Living Earth Challenge as a form of nature based learning. Through a collaborative mini project we’ll analyze a natural site’s biome and regional materials and create a story of reciprocity that guides the design of a sentient [living] structure. A sentient structure is defined as a structure that exhibits a living ecosystem and supports the complex interactions of a variety of life forms. For example, the living root bridges of the Khasi people in Meghalaya, India. Content wise we will be pulling from diverse cultural and historical backgrounds as well as asking the question—how do we remythologize technological developments within the educational sphere by including previously dismissed communities?

WORKSHOP SESSION #3

(3:00 pm - 4:00 pm)

❧ The 12 Steps to Climate Recovery
Presented by: Sydney Collins, Sunrise New Haven

In this presentation, we will explore the profound interconnections between the principles of recovery, as seen in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), and the movement for climate justice. Drawing on the values that drive recovery—such as accountability, community, personal growth, and the need to address deeper, systemic causes of harm—we will examine how these same principles can guide the global fight for climate justice. Through this lens, the "12 Steps to Climate Justice" will reveal pathways to not only heal our planet but also transform the oppressive systems that perpetuate environmental destruction. Together, we will explore how the personal becomes political and how the journey of recovery mirrors the journey toward environmental and social liberation.

❧ Launch of the CT Climate Hub
Presented by: Jim Clifford, CT Climate Education Hub

Hear about the new Connecticut Climate Education Hub, featuring a comprehensive free collection of scientist-reviewed and teacher-approved resources. We aim to empower educators, inspire students, and make climate education accessible for all.

Sponsorship

WITH SUPPORT FROM:

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