Leaders in clean energy education– the KidWind Project, REpowering Schools, and CE – Clean Energy. Bright Futures – are hosting the first virtual national Renewable Energy Education Summit today, February 4, 2021, from 11:00 am – 5:00 pm ET. During the summit, educators, researchers, and practitioners from around the world will come together to discuss the current and future state of clean energy education in a collaborative day-long virtual dialogue.
“This summit provides a reflective opportunity for the clean energy education community to come together, set some clear priorities, and to consider whether the tools, voices, and resources in our community are enough to achieve our goals.” said Michael Arquin, founder of KidWind.
The summit will connect more than 90 teachers, researchers, and industry professionals and survey existing clean energy educational research and programs. Participants will explore the impacts of renewable energy education, identify significant gaps and research questions, and establish long-term working groups to address key issues identified during the summit. Participants will be responding to a call to action to help broaden public awareness and include linkages to energy justice, equity and inclusion in clean energy education, and increased access to clean energy career pathways.
Chaun MacQueen, senior director of CE – Clean Energy. Bright Futures, highlighted, “there are many opportunities to meet multiple goals around equity and justice, climate solutions, and preparing students for future careers, but we have a lot of work ahead of us to determine a more inclusive path forward. This summit is just one small step forward of many more to come.”
During working group meetings, participants will discuss what students are learning about energy and renewables, what high-quality resources currently exist to support renewable energy education, and how current educational programs can advance the need for future clean energy talent and informed participants in the growing clean energy economy.
“This summit is an opportunity to bring together practitioners and researchers of renewable energy education to facilitate important discussions about the state of education and identify gaps and solutions to move forward,” said Remy Pangle, executive director of REpowering Schools. “I am excited to be part of this event and look forward to the ongoing work and action that will come out of it.”
Proceedings from this conference will be presented as a report to be released in April 2021.
This summit was made possible through generous contributions from National Renewable Energy Laboratory and EDP Renewables. For more information about the virtual summit, visit: https://www.reesummit.org/. To receive the resulting report, email margaret@kehcomm.com.
About the KidWind Project:
The KidWind Project, an international leader in renewable energy education, has been working with educators and students to integrate renewable energy into classrooms for over 15 years. Since 2004, KidWind has held more than 800 training events for more than 50,000 teachers all over the world. For more information about our trainings, challenges and curricular materials, visit www.kidwind.org.
About REpowering Schools:
REpowering Schools is a 501c3 organization that supports and connects the renewable energy industry with K12 schools, educators, and colleges and universities seeking to boost STEM learning and introduce new job opportunities to students to build a diverse and sustained workforce. By educating students and their communities about renewable energy we strive to increase the pool of qualified labor and inform citizens to make educated energy decisions. For more information, visit repoweringschools.org.
About CE – Clean Energy. Bright Futures:
CE – Clean Energy. Bright Futures is a national clean energy, career connected education program from Bonneville Environmental Foundation. Together with schools, educators and industry, we strive to build a clean energy future to ensure that our communities and the environment are thriving and resilient. We work to expand access to opportunities for all students regardless of their geography, gender, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. CE is funded by corporations, regional utilities, and philanthropic organizations. To date, our funders have impacted more than 250,000 students nationwide through CE programming. For more information, visit CEbrightfutures.org.
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