EEPSA is a dynamic volunteer organization promoting networking, curriculum support, and leadership in environmental education supported by the BCTF.
Upcoming Events
4:00 – 5:30 pm C2C Leadership Circle Meeting for Metro Vancouver educators
This Leadership Circle will bring together district leaders from the Metro Vancouver region to:
- Strengthen relationships and share successes between school districts
- Advance your district’s 2018-2019 Pro-D plan
- Collaboratively plan regional involvement in the C2C fall conference
- Collaboratively plan upcoming regional networking opportunities
5:30 – 9:00 pm Success Stories and School Year-End Celebration
Join K-12 educators, post-secondary educators, community partners, collaborators and champions for change at this FREE regional network event:
- Be inspired by and connect with champions for sustainability and place-based education in British Columbia
- Celebrate and share key ingredients for successful practices
- Learn about new ideas, curriculum opportunities and professional development events
- Enjoy a selection of hors d’oeuvres and beverages
Register here.
The Arrow Lakes Local Chapter of EEPSA and CBEEN are hosting the 2019 Inquiring Voices Environmental Education Gathering at Whatshan Lake Retreat near Edgewood (south of Nakusp) from September 20-22, 2019. Participants can arrive anytime in the evening on Friday, September 20, and we will close the event following lunch on 1:30pm on Sunday, September 22.
The goal of this annual event is to bring together educators to form a rich learning community meet to share, support, and collaborate with one another. These retreats are a great opportunity to network, share resources and stories, inspire one another and have fun through dialogue and activity.
SUPER early bird registration fees until April 30 ($150) and early bird registration fees until June 30 ($175). After June 30 rates will increase to $200 for CBEEN members / $250 for non-members. This includes all accommodation (cabins or tenting – your choice), meals and learning supplies.
CALL FOR PROPOSALS OPEN UNTIL JUNE 7
CONFERENCE REGISTRATION WILL OPEN SOON!
Context:
Place-Based Learning is a core foundation of our curriculum in B.C. Teachers and students across the province are excited to be inquiring about issues and priorities that matter most to our communities with a more ‘local lens’. By helping educators to connect classroom and community through a focus on people, place and planet, this professional development event hopes to inspire more promising practices and transformative learning in our schools and communities.
The Classrooms to Communities (C2C) 2019 Conference aims to support the practice of place-based learning. The conference goals are to:
- Model Place-Based Learning through highly interactive, experiential and replicable practices.
- Share and explore success stories of place-based learning as K-12 teaching and learning that is central to BC’s curriculum.
- Inspire, support and enhance the evolving work of K-12 teachers and partners in BC schools and communities to integrate promising practices of place-based education.
- Build greater capacity and collaboration for a BC wide network of place-based education leaders/mentors, including K-12 teachers, schools, school districts, organizations, associations of K-12 teachers and all other interested partners.
Core Values of the Conference:
- Place-Based: Helping participants discover the value of place and community, wherever they live, teach and learn.
- Participant Engagement: Facilitating learner-centred experiences and creating space for dialogue and sharing of experiences and practices.
- Model Inquiry: Modeling a focus on inquiry through place and community, and exploring Indigenous and other perspectives on inquiry, knowledge and understanding.
- Experiential: Immersing participants in place through lived experience.
- Walk the Talk: Ensuring the event is inclusive and respectful of all people and sustainable to the greatest extent possible.
Format:
The conference will consist of a variety of place-based workshops, experiences, gatherings, community-based excursions and opportunities for collaboration and dialogue. You are invited to submit proposals in a format that outlines how your session focus will be highly engaging to participants. See evaluation criteria below. Collaborative, co-delivered offerings that celebrate shared successes and goals related to place-based learning are encouraged. All session hosts/facilitators are expected to register for the conference and should do so within 15 days of acceptance of their proposal.
Conference Venues:
Friday, Oct. 25
Venues on UBC Vancouver Campus, on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Musqueam people, including:
- UBC Longhouse (First Nations House of Learning)
- Breakout spaces (indoor and outdoor) around campus
- Robert H Lee Alumni Centre
Saturday, Oct. 26
- Field Experience Venues around the Region
Audiences:
C2C 2019 will convene both school-based and community-based educators, as well as other community members committed to place-based, community-connected learning in a wide range of settings, including:
- Academics/Researchers
- Administrators and Policy-makers
- Post-Secondary Instructors/Professors
- Community-based Educators
- Educators who work with elementary schools
- Educators who work with high schools
- Early Childhood Educators
- Elementary School Teachers
- Secondary School Teachers
- Teacher Candidates
- Teacher Educators
SUBMIT YOUR PROPOSAL
Deadline for Submission: June 7, 2019