Event - The National Energy Education Summit

The National Energy Education Summit will take place on January 26, 2015 in Washington, DC. The National Energy Education Summit is a first of its kind national forum for energy educators, subject matter experts, and leaders in the field of energy education to convene. The convening will focus attention on the improvement and expansion of energy education across the nation's schools, community colleges, and universities. The summit includes organized symposia, presentations, posters and workshops on sharing best practices, and how to advance various aspects of energy education across the educational pipeline.

The need for effective energy education has never been clearer. On one hand, society needs to move away from energy technologies that threaten climate instability. On the other, changing these technologies raises difficult choices and possible dangers. Humanity may be condemned to great hardship from climate change if it does not change energy technology, yet making the wrong choices or picking the wrong pathways may disrupt energy services and create serious risks.

Citizens and leaders need increased energy literacy to resolve the dilemma by making changes in technology, policy, and behavior. In addition, a new energy economy will also need a workforce with new skills, knowledge, and perspectives. Energy literate leaders in politics, labor, business, and religion must help citizens and the workforce cope with the challenges and embrace the opportunities of change.

Despite the needs for energy literacy, very few college and university students in the United States or elsewhere systematically learn about energy as part of their education. Many, perhaps most, students working on energy attend technical courses that inadequately address societal content and sustainability. Inadequate energy education hinders development of sustainability education. New forms of energy education must become a fundamental part of undergraduate education, in the United States and everywhere else in the world.

The Summit will be:

An opportunity for energy and environmental and STEM educators to gather with leaders from business and industry, government and civil society to raise the profile and expand the impact effectiveness of energy education. An opportunity for energy educators in K-12, higher education, and informal education to share best practices and develop new partnerships. The Summit will cover what we teach in energy education, how we teach it and how we can collaborate to teach it better, and how we can overcome critical challenges. The Summit is designed to catalyze new initiatives and partnerships in energy education. The agenda will include issues at both the classroom level (content, curriculum and pedagogy) and at the programmatic level (degree and sub-degree programs).

Desired outcomes include:

• Enhanced energy and sustainability literacy for students in all disciplines based on critical thinking about energy and its relationships with environmental issues such as climate change, international security, and the challenges of peak oil;
• New curricular models emphasizing active, interdisciplinary learning and research;
• New degree and certificate pathways for teaching about energy and sustainability;
• Stronger educational research programs that more effectively take innovations in science and technology to the demonstration and deployment stages, with broad public acceptance.

Click here to register.

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