Announcing MEEA's 2012 Conference and Call for Presenters

The 2012 MEEA Annual Conference will be held on Friday March 23 at the Chewonki Foundation in Wiscasset, Maine.

We invite you to submit proposals for the 2012 Maine Environmental Education Association Annual Conference Conference Theme: "Building Partnerships for Sustainable Communities: Gathering the Usual and Unusual Suspects" MEEA seeks to gather not only our usual environmental education population, but also people from across sectors - land trusts and conservation organizations, outdoor recreation, government, business, sportsmen, agriculture, and health care. MEEA is an active member of the Maine Outdoor Coalition and through our year-round promotion of environmental education, including our annual conference, proudly joins sector and statewide partners in efforts to engage Mainers of all ages in the outdoors. We will be looking for workshops that consider or reflect the strands below. We look forward to reading your proposal! MEEA Conference Committee Conference Strands Effective Partnerships: How do effective partnerships work? What are the challenges and outcomes of such partnerships? How can individuals and organizations from across sectors come together to work toward a common goal? Systems Thinking: What is "systems thinking," and how does it relate to community vitality? How can we use systems thinking to maximize the effectiveness of our work? Environmental Literacy: What is "environmental literacy," and how does it relate across sectors? How can programming for environmental literacy enhance our work? Outdoor Engagement: Address the growing trend in decreased outdoor activity in our culture. How is it affecting our health and well-being? Is it affecting our investment in and care for our natural resources? What are creative solutions to this issue? Business and Tourism: How is business and tourism impacted by outdoor engagement and environmental literacy? What is the role of business and tourism in the promotion of these topics, and can these sectors be enhanced through this work?

Who can submit? MEEA is seeking proposals from educators, conservation professionals, entrepreneurs, business leaders, naturalists, artists, scientists, state organizations and others who have experiences or resources that relate to our workshop strands. We encourage professionals from a wide range of fields to join us. Traditionally, workshops have been 1-1.5 hours in length. If you have a workshop that is practical, instructional, or inspirational, we hope that you will share it at the 2012 MEEA conference. Click here to submit your proposal on line. Questions? Contact Tamara Whitmore, Conference Co-Chair. Deadline for submissions is January 30, 2012. Notification of selected workshops expected by February 10, 2012. Workshop presenters will be required to register for the MEEA Conference. Conference Registration will be available online by February 1.