Field Chats: Environmental Applied Civics Essentials

Episode 60: One Year Later: Chickens & Civic Change at Katherine Johnson Middle School

We're in the field for an update on a crowd favorite Environmental Applied Civics legacy project at Katherine Johnson Middle School! Young people set up a closed-loop food system - reducing landfill trash from school lunches by 75% thanks to chickens. Tune in to hear directly from young people and their teacher Ms. Alam on how they intend to ensure project sustainability, what they've learned, and how this work has affected their community.

Episode 59: Building Resilient Communities with Leia Lowery

In this episode, Earth Force CEO Vince Meldrum talks with Leia Lowery, Founder and CEO of The Climate Initiative [https://theclimateinitiative.org] (TCI). Leia shares how TCI grounds massive global climate issues at the local level to give students direct access to community action. They discuss the power of place-based education, how environmental action combats loneliness, and why students who struggle in traditional classrooms often shine the brightest when taking action.

Episode 58: Empowering the Next Generation of Water Leaders

This episode explores the Water Education Exemplars Project, [https://www.coloradowater.org/water-education-exemplars-project] a Colorado initiative bridging the gap between state water policy and youth engagement. Earth Force's Alyssa McConkey speaks with veteran environmental educator Donny Roush and CSU student Maya about the urgent need to meet the 2050 Colorado Water Plan goals. By training and compensating young people to serve as professional evaluators, the project ensures that environmental education in Colorado is both high-quality and impactful. Maya shares how the experience transformed her from a student to a respected collaborator, emphasizing the power of youth-adult partnerships in building a sustainable and water-conscious future.

Episode 57: 250 Years In: The Future of Civic Education

What happens when students stop just memorizing the three branches of government and start actually influencing them? In this episode of Field Chats, the Earth Force team discusses why "content knowledge" isn't enough to solve the climate crisis or rebuild civic trust. From stories of middle-school campaigning to the power of "agency as collectivity," the team explores how we can provide young people with the toolkit they need to recognize power, address inequity, and drive systemic change. Show notes: Campano, G., Ghiso, M. P., Badaki, O., & Kannan, C. (2020). Agency as collectivity: Community-based research for educational equity. Theory Into Practice, 59 (2), 223–233.

Episode 56: Levers of Civic Change: A Conversation with Ace Parsi

How do we move education beyond the four walls of the classroom? Vince Meldrum discusses this with Ace Parsi, formerly with iCivics, now a candidate for the U.S. House to represent West Virginia's 2nd Congressional District. They talk about public education as a public benefit and the necessity of transfer of learning - taking a concept from a textbook and applying it to a local bridge or a neighbor’s problem. Environmental Action Civics is an effective model for this type of community-based learning as it provides students with autonomy and a tangible sense of belonging.