The Importance of Place in Climate Change Education

Original Date: April 25, 2013

Presenter: Kristen Iverson Poppleton

Description: Place is an important tool when teaching climate change. Connecting climate change and place makes the issue immediately relevant and personal. It includes not only educating students about the impacts in their place, but also taking them outside to observe and document the changes and develop solutions in their communities. Kristen will speak broadly on place-based education and climate change. She will provide specific examples of how the Will Steger Foundation connects Minnesota educators and their students with Minnesota as their place, makes them aware of how climate change is impacting them, and helps them develop ways they can implement solutions in their schools and communities.

Suitability: All formal and non-formal youth educators, and school administrators.

Kristen Iverson Poppleton is the Director of Education for the Will Steger Foundation in Minneapolis, MN. Building on Will Steger’s experience as a polar explorer, her goal is to support educators, students and the public with science-based interdisciplinary educational resources on climate change, its implications and solutions to achieve climate literacy. She regularly blogs on all things climate change education in the blog Climate Lessons.