Dear Friends,

First of all, I had so much fun seeing our community in person at the conference in Springfield last month. The energy was upbeat and conversation was flowing. I wish we had more time to network face-to-face throughout the year, because I’m always a little sad in December that I have to wait almost a year for everyone to be gathered again! 

Since all the hubbub of November (including A LOT of travel), I’ve been thinking a lot about MEEA’s mission and how to meet it in these times we are a-livin’ in. For reference, here MEEA’s mission: 

The Missouri Environmental Education Association’s mission is to help educators connect every Missouri learner to the natural world and equip them to care, understand, and act for the environment.

Wow, that’s a big mission. The only way that MEEA has any chance of achieving it is through collaboration. 

We have come a long way in the last few years in terms of MEEA’s collaboration across the entire state and beyond. It’s really exciting. As an Affiliate of both the North American Association for Environmental Education and the Conservation Federation of Missouri, MEEA is connected to two really robust networks that complement each other – one focused on EE and one on Conservation. Then there’s the Show-Me Green Schools network of Schools and Partners, which adds a whole other dimension to our connectivity – bringing in not health and wellness and the built environment. And don’t forget about PEEPs, the Plains Environmental Education Partnership, which is a regional EE collaborative that’s also part of NAAEE Affiliate Network. That’s who we collaborated with to conduct a survey of what EE looks like on the ground in our region – some preliminary results are shared in this month’s newsletter!

MEEA has been active in each of these networks for several years now, and we are poised to dream big and scale our efforts up. Even in this moment of uncertainty when we anticipate that some funding streams for EE might dry up. Because we are actively engaged in multiple, complementary networks, we can move forward with confidence. We have the networks to help us find the people we need to talk to about how we can scale up EE resources that are a) needed to fill EE service gaps in Missouri and b) are needed by young people wanting to enter the green workforce. Those are just two ways I see MEEA might grow in the nearterm. We could also lean into early childhood EE, or the synergy between EE and Civics Education, or advocating for the adoption of environmental literacy standards. 

There are so many competing priorities, and limited resources to address them all, so I wonder about MEEA Members’ priorities. What do YOU want for MEEA in the coming years? We’ll be sending out a Member Survey in early 2025 then working on a new 3-year strategic plan. So now’s a great time to reflect on the future of EE in Missouri, then share your thoughts through the upcoming Member Survey or by emailing me anytime at moylan@meea.org! 

Thanks for being a part of this wonderful community. Enjoy the newsletter!

Lesli

MEEA Co-Director