Awards of Excellence
Nominations for EECOM’s Awards of Excellence in Environmental Education and Communication are open!
Nominations for the EECOM Awards of Excellence are on an annual rolling basis, and therefore can be submitted at any time throughout the year. Winners will be recognized at conferences or at national events co-hosted by our partners. Judging for the EECOM Awards of Excellence is done by a committee of volunteer EECOM members.
Please consider submitting a nomination for yourself or a distinguished leader in the field of environmental and sustainability education and communication.
The EECOM Awards of Excellence in Environmental Education and Communication are given out in eight separate categories:
- Outstanding Organization;
- Outstanding Individual in an Organization;
- Outstanding Educator;
- Outstanding Early Childhood Educator;
- Outstanding K-12 Class, School, or School District;
- Outstanding Post-Secondary Educator;
- Outstanding Post-Secondary Institution, Department, Program, or Club;
- Outstanding Youth Action (Leader or Organization).
Nominations in each award category are judged according to the following five criteria:
Judging for the EECOM Awards of Excellence in Environmental Education and Communication is done by a committee of volunteer EECOM members.
Commitment
Shows commitment to the advancement of environmental education and communication.
Impact
Demonstrates a tangible (and potentially lasting) impact as an agent of change.
Collaboration
Collaborates with other individuals, communities, organizations, etc.
Mentorship
Evidence of fostering environmental understandings, ethics, skills, and/or actions in others.
Innovation
Displays courage and originality in the design, realization, and development of environmental education and communication.
Nomination forms are completed online
2022-2023 Award of Excellence
Outstanding Organization
Awarded to an organization (governmental, NGO, non-profit, or private) that has significantly contributed to an environmental education or communication project. The project which the organization contributed to should have:
- demonstrated an increase in public awareness about the environment and/or acted as a catalyst to foster environmental education or communication initiatives;
- had a scope ranging from in-house to national or international;
- shown concrete results;
- resulted in clearly describable outcomes in terms of engagement with its target audience and/or its contributions to knowledge/research in environmental education or communication.
2022-2023 Award of Excellence
Outstanding Individual in an Organization
Awarded to an individual who is associated with an organization (governmental, NGO, non-profit, or private), and who has made significant contributions to environmental education or communication in one or more of the following ways:
- made visible contributions to environmental education or communication research, innovations, curricula, legislation, or similar;
- demonstrated outstanding environmental actions, positions or stances with respect to environmental education or communication;
- shown excellence in reporting or communicating environmental issues for the purpose of public education.
2022-2023 Award of Excellence
Outstanding Educator
Awarded to an individual who is working as a formal (K-12) or informal (outdoor/community-based) educator, and who has successfully developed and/or carried out transformative environmental education or communication programs, which may have included:
- fostering a greater understanding of ecological principles or environmental issues;
- fostering of environmental ethics;
- re-imagining curriculum to incorporate environmental and outdoor learning;
- developing skills;
- implementing environmental action projects.
2022-2023 Award of Excellence
Outstanding Early Childhood Educator
Awarded to an individual who is working as an early childhood educator, and who has successfully developed and/or carried out environmental education or communication initiatives or projects, which may have included:
- environmental action projects that aim to reduce energy and/or resource consumption;
- development of nature-exploration themed educational activities that aim to increase children’s connection to nature and respect the environment;
- outdoor play space redesign projects that prioritize natural elements, including natural play materials (wood, soil, plants, and similar).
2022-2023 Award of Excellence
Outstanding K-12 Class, School, or School District
Awarded to a class, school, or school district that has gone above and beyond the call of duty by developing and implementing innovative environmental education or communication programs, which may have included:
- fostering a greater understanding of ecological principles or environmental issues;
- fostering of environmental ethics;
- developing skills;
- implementing environmental action projects.
2022-2023 Award of Excellence
Outstanding Post-Secondary Educator
Awarded to an individual who is working as a post-secondary educator, and who has successfully developed and/or carried out transformative environmental education or communication programs, which may have included:
- fostering a greater understanding of ecological principles or environmental issues;
- fostering of environmental ethics;
- re-imagining curriculum to incorporate environmental and outdoor learning;
- developing skills;
- implementing environmental action projects.
2022-2023 Award of Excellence
Outstanding Post-Secondary Institution, Department, Program, or Club
Awarded to a post-secondary educational institution, or a department, program, or club at a post-secondary institution, that has demonstrated excellence in developing and implementing innovative environmental education or communication programming, which may have included:
- specific courses, unique projects, or an on-going commitment to environmental education;
- fostering a greater understanding of ecological principles or environmental issues;
- fostering of environmental ethics;
- developing skills;
- implementing environmental action projects;
- reducing the human use of energy or resources.
2022-2023 Award of Excellence
Outstanding Youth Action (Leader or Organization)
Awarded to an individual who is under the age of 30, or to an organization that is led by individual(s) under the age of 30, who/which has taken leadership or significant action in regards to an environmental education or communication initiative, which may have included:
- fostering a greater understanding of ecological principles or environmental issues;
- fostering of environmental ethics;
- developing skills;
- implementing environmental action projects.