PREL hosts Pacific climate workshop in American Samoa

HONOLULU, Hawai’i-The Pacific Climate Education Partnership expanded its educational reach by hosting a workshop in American Sāmoa titled, Community Partnerships for Climate Change Education & Adaptation: May Day on May 15, 2012.

The workshop aimed to raise awareness about climate issues in the Pacific, increase knowledge of collective work around climate change in American Sāmoa, and establish a network of partners and expertise in the field to connect with the PCEP partnership.

To coordinate the event, PREL worked with the University of Hawaii School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, American Sāmoa Department of Education, and Le Tausagi, a group of environmental educators working for government agencies that provide environmental outreach in American Sāmoa.

Over 40 members of the community attended the workshop-teachers, researchers, and leaders-from over 14 organizations including: the American Sāmoa Department of Marine & Wildlife Resources; the American Sāmoa Department of Education; the American Sāmoa Community College; the American Sāmoa Power Authority; the NOAA Fisheries; the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service; the American Sāmoa Department of Agriculture; the U.S. National Parks Service; and the Coral Reef Advisory Group.

The PCEP is a collaborative network of Pacific island communities and organizations responding to the impacts of climate change in the Pacific region. Funded by the National Science Foundation, this partnership works specifically in the U.S.-affiliated Pacific islands of Hawai’i, American Sāmoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia (Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei, Yap), and the Republic of Palau.

PREL and WestEd lead the PCEP, working with community agencies, colleges, education departments, teachers, and principals, to develop a 5-year strategic plan that supports teaching and learning about climate change and its impacts.

To learn more about the PCEP, and connect with its network of climate educators from around the Pacific, join the Pacific island Educators Advocating for Climate Education (PEACE) email list at: [http://lists.prel.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/peace]. Contribute to the PCEP wiki, a collaborative resource on climate and climate change in the Pacific, at: [http://pcep.wikispaces.com]. Or, visit the PCEP website at: [http://pcep.dsp.wested.org/]. (PREL)