Project Profile

Climate change is one of the most formidable challenges of our time. Countries are experiencing record heat, wildfires, drought, and powerful monsoons. These natural disasters have created an urgent need for a workforce that can build stronger green and blue economies. Green economies emit low levels of carbon, use resources efficiently, and advance social equity; blue economies use ocean resources sustainably and support the oceans' health. Unfortunately, K-12 education systems are not fully equipped to help young people develop the technological skills, types of knowledge, and human dispositions that green and blue economies require. Education Development Center (EDC) is organizing a conference that will convene a wide group of stakeholders to synthesize what is currently known and still needs to be known to help young people--particularly those from communities that have been historically marginalized and excluded from STEM--gain the STEM skills and competencies that they need to actively be part of green and blue economies. Through this conference, the project aims to develop a vision and launch a network of stakeholders to prepare young people for greener and bluer ways of living and working. By focusing in particular on needs and opportunities for youth from historically marginalized groups, the conference also aims to benefit families and communities that are most vulnerable to climate change.

The conference will address three guiding questions: (1) What knowledge and skills from STEM and other disciplines do students need to learn to prepare them to join and contribute to the green and blue economies? (2) What types of partnerships among educators, industry, and other sectors already exist, and what can we learn from them about the opportunities and barriers that cross-sector collaborations face to prepare young people for green and blue occupations? (3) What strategies may be most effective in ensuring that young people from historically marginalized communities gain the knowledge and skills needed to join and help construct green and blue economies? To address these questions, the conference will involve two days of panel discussions and broader group conversations among conference participants. Panelists and participating stakeholders will include economists, industry leaders, K-12 educators in classroom and out-of-school settings, and community and public leaders who have been studying or working actively to prepare young people for more environmentally sustainable ways of life and work. Conference outcomes will include: (a) meeting proceedings that identify important skill sets, promising educational approaches, and priority research questions for building a diverse workforce for the green and blue economies; (b) a network of interested stakeholders who can share information and build partnerships to develop this workforce; (c) public commitments from conference participants to propel conference-generated ideas into concrete actions; and (d) a website for disseminating conference products and connecting stakeholders with parallel initiatives to support green and blue economies around the world.

This conference project is funded by the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program, which supports projects that build understandings of practices, program elements, contexts, and processes contributing to increasing students' knowledge and interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and information and communication technology (ICT) careers.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.