Event Description

The RIEEA Summit includes breakfast, breakout sessions led by a variety of respected leaders, RIEEA’s Annual business meeting, a raffle to support professional development scholarships, and a keynote address by Hannah Pickard, Network Manager at the National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation.

There will be 4 breakout session options:

• Climate Change Communication: Positive, Civic-minded, and Solutions-focused (NNOCCI training), with Rachel Holbert and Andrea Stein. Learn an approach to environmental communication that has the potential to shift our national discourse on climate change to be more productive, hopeful, and solution-oriented. Faciliators will explain how you can utilize Strategic Framing to more effectively communicate the ocean and climate change story with the public.
• Neighborhood Engagement for Climate Resilience, with Pam Rubinoff and Jen West: Communities in Rhode Island and beyond are currently dealing with issues related to climate change, from rising seas to flooding from more intense storms. While state and municipal efforts are making incremental progress, it is critical to build awareness, leadership, and action at the neighborhood level, so that we can collectively support one another in being prepared for short and long term change. This interactive session will share experience, tools, and lessons learned related to neighborhood capacity building.
• Youth Perspective on Climate Change, with Jeni Melo, Joselin M., Amira T., and Joshua Laplante as moderator: Hear from two high school students and one college student about their own environmental education experiences - or lack thereof - inspired them to become civically engaged.
• Climate Change Education in the Formal Classroom, with Holly Emery, Kathy Couchon, Vanessa Percoco, and Caroline Stabile from URI's GEMS-Net program as moderator. Join our highly respected formal educators in a discussion on how to integrate climate science into the classroom curriculum. Holly, Kathy, and Vanessa will explore ways to investigate our changing climate in a positive and engaging way.