Arizona Association for Learning
in and About the Environment

Building State Capacity
by Mike Baker, President of AALE
(Summer 1999)

The last six or seven years have not been very conducive for Environmental Education in Arizona. In 1993, the Environmental Education Mandate was rescinded by the state legislature and the position of Environmental Education Specialist in the Arizona Department of Education was eliminated.

For a couple of years following that decision by the legislature, Arizona Association for Learning in and about the Environment’s (AALE) membership dropped by a large percentage. Just as the Phoenix Bird rose from the ashes, so is AALE. Good people are hart at work improving AALE’s capacity to spread Environmental Education throughout our state. One method being used by AALE is the joint sponsoring of Natural History Weekends with Arizona Game and Fish. Members of AALE receive early notification for these events through the organization’s newsletter and through the Game and Fish newsletter. During a Natural History weekend, participants are taken to a particular environment, exposed to various types of wildlife habitats and the environmental issues that exist in Arizona.

Along with the Natural History weekends, some AALE members are Project Wild, Learning Tree and Food, Land and People facilitators. Not only do these facilitators make workshop participants aware of various environmental issues, but also promote membership in AALE. Each year will hold an annual conference with in the state. This year our annual conference will be at Chauncy Ranch near Mayor, AZ. This year’s theme will deal with Arizona Heritage and how we can preserve it. Many workshops are scheduled including a grant writing workshop facilitated by the EPA.

AALE also sends many of its members to leadership training at various clinics. In early April, three AALE members attended the NAAEE leadership Clinic in Albuquerque, New Mexico. AALE’s team came away from the clinic with many great ideas, new resource contacts and new friends. These will be shared at future AALE meetings and conferences.

Continued planning and reflection on our efforts will help AALE increase the ability to build capacity for Environmental Education in Arizona. Some events for the future leadership are: AALE is in the process of scheduling a retreat for all its leaders past, present and future. At the retreat, building state capacity for environmental education will be one of the main topics discussed. Addressing our five year plan and determining changes and updates will be another agenda item. AALE has come a long way since our inception in the late 1970s and we plan to continue "learning in and about the environment."