The ESER network meeting took place on 24 August 2016 at ECER (17.15 to 18.45).
1) Invited speaker Luiz Marcelo de Carvalho
- Prof. de Carvalho is editor of the Brazilian Journal of Environmental Education
- he contextulaized the EE/ESE research field in Brasil and identified trends
- there are several EE journals in Brazil: Environment and Education (first publication 1996), Electronic journal of Master Studies in Environmental Education (1999), Brazilian Journal of Environmental Education (2004), Research in Environmental Education (2006)
- a special issue in Environmental Education Research is planned
2) Introduction from the link-convenor Per Sund
- welcomed members and briefly summarized the network history and objective
- presented data on NW 30 (e.g. no. of submitted proposals, rejection rate, …)
- explained that the network held its first summer school in 1-5 August 2015. It was hosted by the University of Cambridge and organised by Elsa Lee. Thanks to all involved organising it.
- announced a plan for a second network summer school in 2017 in Germany organised by Matthias Barth. Information will follow.
3) Election of convenors
- Seven convenor candidates for a new convenor group were nominated according to previously set rules. All network member received information about the nominees prior to the election.
- Johan Öhman conducted the election in which all seven candidates were elected by the attending network members: Per Sund, Mälardalen University, Sweden; Jonas Andreasen Lysgaard, Aarhus University, Denmark; Jutta Nikel, University of Education Freiburg, Germany; Marco Rieckmann, University of Vechta, Germany; Elsa Lee, University of Cambridge, UK; Alison Neilson, University of Coimbra, Portugal; Stefan Bengtsson, SWEDESD, Uppsala University
- New convenors met on 25.8.2016 to discuss and decide who will be the new link-convenor. The present link-convenor has announced that he will step down.
4) Presentation "GEEP – Global Environmental Education Partnership" by Alan Reid
- GEEP is a global partnership committed to advancing environmental literacy to create a more just and sustainable future through the power of education.
- It comprises of EE policy makers, providers, and practitioners who represent government and/or non-governmental sectors in countries throughout the world.
- It was launched by the US Environmental Protection Agency, the Taiwanese Environmental Protection Administration, and the North American Association for EE in 2014.
- It has the mission to provide a vibrant learning network designed to build capacity in member countries to strengthen and institutionalize EE, focusing on policy, professional development, evaluation and best practices.
- Key areas for identifiyung best practice are: climate change education, establishing national and global standards for EE, and providing training for EE professionals.
5) Discussion on future network issues led by Elsa Lee
Suggestions bbrought forward:
- Consider alternative session types like panel sessions, workshops, meet journal editors, field trips etc.
- Consider having activities between ECER conferneces. (Members thought it would be hard to manage extra days and stay longer. A suggestion was to try to set up video meetings/web conferences in between the ECER conference instead.)
- Consider setting up a web forum, home page or newsletter where members can discuss, find others to collaborate with and to share articles. (Some members thought there is a need to find a forum so that the network member e-mail list is not used for sharing your own work.).
- Consider that one of the convenors act as the position of a webmaster /communication manager.
NW 30 runs a mailing list and invites researchers to join. To join the mailing list, send a blank message to nw30-subscribe(at)lists.eera-ecer.de