Project Duration

2022-2024

Location

Lake County, California

Background

Guided by priorities of Tribes, county and state agencies, nonprofits, and community groups, this project is gathering, developing, and sharing environmental education materials to support youth and others in their own ongoing work to take good care of Clear Lake and its watersheds. The materials gathered and developed aim to be inclusive of the whole watershed, accessible to educators lake-wide, and housed within the community long term. 

The project is gathering existing environmental education programs and resources that are shared publicly by community-based partners. Some of these community-based partners are contributing their feedback and guidance, and we are seeking input from local organizations at any time. It is also building off of the previous findings of the role of environmental education in Clear Lake from the UC Davis Center for Regional Change.

This project is developing youth community and citizen science (YCCS) materials to tie together the existing environmental education programs and resources in Clear Lake we are gathering. With YCCS, youth contribute to authentic science. We know from research that YCCS projects can promote stewardship, student learning, and youth agency, among many other benefits. 

Along the way, the project is evaluating our products and processes and looking for what outcomes are arising that may inform similar future programming in the Clear Lake region. 

This project is a collaboration among Clear Lake community members, the UC Davis Center for Regional Change, and the Blue Ribbon Committee for the Rehabilitation of Clear Lake (BRC).

This project partners with local communities in multiple ways: 

• Getting to know the community, building relationships, listening, and asking questions.
• Building from guidance from Tribal Nations and people in ways that respect Indigenous and local knowledges and sciences. 
• Including the diversity of cultures in the region. 
• Gathering publicly available information, such as from websites, social media, news, and publications. 
• Asking local organizations and individuals whether and how they would like to participate. 

How can I or my organization participate? 

• Fill out this form and let us know how you’d like to be involved.
• Contact Sarah Angulo directly to be added to our list of community members and organizations. 

What will happen with the information this project is gathering? 

The information and input we are gathering from community members is guiding the development of YCCS materials. We are also sharing what we are finding out with community partners, the BRC and its subcommittees, and other interested people such as those who are funded by the BRC on related projects or are seeking to develop new projects. 

We are in the process of determining how and what, if any, published research may arise from this work to share beyond the shores of Clear Lake. We welcome input into how we might collaboratively tell stories about the important learning and community and citizen science happening at Clear Lake. The wider world of people who are also caring for their home places around the region, continent, and planet may want to learn along with us. 

Project Timeline

Year 1 (July 2022 – June 2023) 

• Continue building relationships with local individuals, groups, and organizations, based on earlier work by the Center for Regional Change and the Blue Ribbon Committee. 
• Make an inventory of local environmental literacy and community and citizen science efforts and resources. 
• Document key strengths and goals of environmental education in the region. 
• Draft the educational materials and resources through a collaborative process, synthesizing the contributions from multiple community sources plus adding in Youth Community and Citizen Science components. 
• Prepare for piloting the materials through an engagement process with community partners. 
• Collect and document community input (including from youth) on the development of the educational materials in an ongoing manner. 

Year 2 (July 2023 – June 2024) 

• Train a variety of interested, local educators who will pilot the draft materials in non-formal settings and give us feedback. (Stipends are available for this step.) 
• Revise the materials based on community feedback, including from youth. 
• Share the materials and resources broadly in a format allowing for updates over time. This includes ensuring that the materials and resources are community-owned and have support for maintaining them. 
• Evaluate our resources and educational activities and develop a final report about the project with recommendations for the BRC and the community on a long-term environmental education and community and citizen science strategy for Clear Lake.

Funders

California Natural Resources Agency

Partners

UC Davis Center for Regional Change, Blue Ribbon Committee for the Rehabilitation of Clear Lake

Resources

• Project overview
• Project background, proposals & contract
• Project update presentations
• Findings