Success Story: Youth Education

• Program planning, which included curriculum development, took approximately eight months. Sessions during the pilot program ran from August 2020 until June 2021.
• Program partners obtained a grant to hire youth education specialists, design the STEM curriculum and run the program. The intention was to implement in-person programming in two locations: Raleigh, N.C. and Whiteville, N.C. However, in response to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, program partners held one virtual program for most of the year.
• Staff held online training sessions for students once or twice per month over a 10-month period. The program included half-day academies, leadership sessions and a youth action forum (all virtual).
• Each session engaged youth participants in active learning on a range of climate science topics, from wildfires and flooding to extreme precipitation and heat (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2023).
• Youth participants developed and practiced leadership and communication skills. They worked with one another, with peers outside the program and with a range of professionals addressing climate resilience in the state.
• In each academy session, professionals from a variety of the climate-related fields shared their knowledge and offered insights into their work.
• For the concluding summer event, program organizers hosted in-person sessions at the Raleigh and Whiteville Museum of Natural Sciences locations. Both three-day summer institutes included a variety of indoor and outdoor activities, guest speakers and participant presentations.
• Program staff coached youth participants to complete resilience-focused community action projects. Either individually or in small groups, students worked on their projects using the knowledge and skills they developed during the program.

• Program partners received $356,000 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Advancing Informal STEM Learning Program. They used this funding to develop and pilot the curriculum for the project. Funds covered personnel time, materials, youth stipends, travel and evaluation. 
• Following the pilot program, the team received an additional $2,358,000 from the NSF. This funding allowed program staff to further adapt curriculum materials for community-based organizations serving diverse youth in North Carolina and Washington state. In the updated program, Latino and indigenous youth look at climate data and maps to understand how climate change is impacting their communities. Students can also collect weather and air quality data using personal devices (UNC Institute for the Environment, 2022).

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Center for Public Engagement with Science, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences

• Many participants completed action projects. Students coordinated public education efforts, displayed sustainable art at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, and designed tree planting and ecosystem restoration projects. 
• Program evaluation found that participants preferred in-person sessions and hands-on activities. They enjoyed having opportunities to build community with each other and with content experts. 
• Staff designed program materials so that interested organizations can choose to modify the sequence of activities to suit their available resources, including personnel. Youth Engaging in the Science of Resilience: An Activity Guide for Museum and Science Center Educators is available upon request on the YES-Resilience website.

Most challenges noted by the YES-Resilience program manager had to do with pandemic restrictions. While online sessions allowed the program to operate, access to reliable internet varied among participants. To increase engagement in virtual sessions and reduce “Zoom fatigue,” program staff recommend including offline "activities that encourage students to go outdoors".  Breaks were important online and during the in-person summer institute. Participants recommended having more breaks to allow youth to build connections with one another.

In addition, transportation for rural participants to attend the in-person summer institute was an issue. This challenge could have been much bigger had the program operated fully in-person as originally planned. Program organizers offered a transportation stipend to offset travel expenses.

References: UNC Institute for the Environment. (2022, November 6). Institute awarded $2.3 million from National Science Foundation to implement and study program empowering Latino and Indigenous youth to seek solutions to climate impacts. Retrieved from https://ie.unc.edu/news/institute-awarded-2-3-million-from-national-science-foundation-to-implement-and-study-program-empowering-latino-and-indigenous-youth-to-seek-solutions-to-climate-impacts-2/

References: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. (2023, June 29). Youth Engaging in the Science of Resilience. Retrieved from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Institute for the Environment: https://ie.unc.edu/cpes/yes-resilience/