Environmental Education

In Washington, DC, the earliest indication of collaborative environmental education efforts is the establishment of the DC Environmental Education Consortium in 1993. Originally, members were teachers interested in creating a network through which lesson plans, ideas, and environmental education provider contacts could be shared. Through a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, an environmental education directory, DC Naturally, was published in 1997 and disseminated to teachers and organizations throughout the District.

It was not until 1998 that there was formal implementation of environmental education in the District. Recognizing the value of hands-on environmental education, the governors of the Chesapeake Bay states and the mayor of Washington, DC, signed a commitment in 2000 to provide meaningful watershed educational experiences (MWEEs) for ever student in the Chesapeake Bay watershed before graduation from high school, beginning with the class of 2005. The Chesapeake Bay Agreement was renewed in 2005 and again in 2014. Other commitments to environmental education in the District include the DC Environmental Literacy Plan and the Sustainable DC Plan. Additionally, references to environmental education can be found in the District’s Comprehensive Plan. Several District schools have been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education’s Green Ribbon Schools program.

Excerpted in part from the 2017 DC Environmental Literacy Plan, Appendix C

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