The mission of the Rhode Island Environmental Education Association is to support and promote high-quality environmental education throughout the state. We collaborate with all educators, students, and advocates to respond to community assets, needs, and aspirations.
Our Vision:
A culture of environmental and social responsibility that drives equitable decision-making
to create a healthy, safe, and just future for all Rhode Islanders.
Who We Are
RIEEA is a collaborative network of individuals and organizations working to promote environmental education in both formal and nonformal settings. We are a federally recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Environmental education is the learning process through which a person attains environmental literacy, which is an understanding of the Earth as a physical system and the living environment, including humans and their societies within the landscape. It also includes any learning process that takes place in the natural world or outdoors, such as in a schoolyard, an outdoor classroom, an outdoor habitat, park, or nature center, etc.
Environmental education provides transformative learning experiences that improve academic performance, critical thinking skills, personal growth and life-building skills, and so much more.
Our diverse, active, and growing membership includes teachers, naturalists, students, and formal and nonformal educators from universities, nature centers, recreation centers, nonprofit organizations, and state and federal agencies, as well as environmental and educational organizations. We support lifelong learning opportunities, environmental justice advocates, and a wide variety of community members across the state.
Since our founding in 1978, RIEEA has continuously evolved its work to meet the needs of the education community. We foster collaboration and partnerships, sponsor professional development opportunities, gather and disseminate information on environmental education, promote public understanding of the value of an environmentally literate community, offer personalized support for educators, and advocate for sound environmental education legislation on a local, state, and federal level.
We seek to include as many perspectives as possible in the search for creative solutions to environmental problems. To do so, we are actively identifying and removing the barriers that have historically limited the voices in our environmental education community to achieve greater justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion within our organization and the broader environmental movement. We strive to create an anti-racist and welcoming space where people can stay true to their own identities and cultures and be truly supported in their efforts. We acknowledge that frontline communities disproportionately and unjustly suffer the consequences of climate change and other environmental issues. Moreover, future generations who have caused no harm may be asked to sacrifice and bear the greatest burden in our changing climate.
RIEEA is the Rhode Island affiliate of the North American Association for Environmental Education and a proud member of the Environment Council of Rhode Island and the Rhode Island Science Teachers Association.