ANNUAL REPORT

The Institute for Earth Education 2023

A COLOSSAL FAILURE
Have you found yourself thinking these days: “What happened? How could so many people still not under-
stand global warming, or worse, believe it to be some sort of hoax?”

The first Earth Day was a half-century ago, and the alarm bells have been ringing ever since. Where did we
go wrong? It should be clear: Our educational systems failed us.

What is happening on this small planet is not the result of some advanced, impenetrable science. Too many
people are consuming and wasting too many things. It’s that simple.

Regrettably, our leaders focus now on their perceived solutions for this crisis, not the actual causes. Granted,
we are all bombarded daily with antithetical messages, but why did we not learn to spot those who were
misleading us? And how they were doing it? Isn’t education supposed to prepare us for the world in which we
live? Not to be a cog in someone’s economic machine, but a conscious, contributing participant in our
society.

Time magazine published a list recently (December 4, 2023) of the 100 most influential leaders driving
business climate action “in their own words.” Would you believe that none of them pushed for more focused,
outcome-driven, quality education for a planetary citizen? Instead, they spoke primarily about technological
solutions for the mess we have created.

In some ways, it is probably a good thing that they didn’t include the need for more and better education
since in the US it is likely they would have touted STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathemat-
ics), which is the current buzz in education circles. One could argue, convincingly, I believe, that STEM has
brought us to the point of ecological destruction, but many educators actually believe more of it is the
solution.

“an independent voice in the educational side of the environmental movement”

 In short, “STEMers” propel the myth that we can solve our environmental
crisis by doing more of the same. A popular definition of crazy is doing the
same thing over and over again and expecting different results. If that is
accurate, it appears we have already arrived.

The problem is this “stem” has no roots to “ground” it in the ecological

realities of a small planet, and it appears to be driven largely by
agency and corporate money, sometimes fueling little more than
adolescent testosterone. Elon Musk, theoretically, the richest
human on the planet at the moment, wants to build a colony on
Mars in case we destroy this place. Hip, hip, hooray! Let’s all go
to Mars and leave the problems we have created behind. Is this
the best we can do as humans?

In nature a stem supports growth, but this STEM exists only in

people’s minds without being rooted in planetary consciousness,
ecological subservience, and a personal relationship with the life
that supports us.

Even the artificial intelligence (AI) community has begun grappling

with this “rootless” problem of the STEM fields, but the education side of the environmental movement
appears oblivious. Its conferences are full of STEM references.

HOPE, SWEET HOPE

Someone said “hope is for couch potatoes” because it doesn’t require much from them. In reality, it can
become a substitute for significant action for all of us.

Have you noticed how all the current articles about our environmental crisis end on hope? “There’s still
time.” “If we act now.” “Progress is being made.”

What happened to “tell it like it is” – the rallying cry of the 60s? There is no way to sustain how we are living
on this small planet, but even leaders in the environmental movement don’t want to say so.

False hope on an ecologically dying planet will lead to even more aggrieved bitterness among those who feel
left behind, and that kind of bitterness is debilitating and self-sustaining (and dangerous).

The ancient Greek dramatist, Aeschylus, wrote a play in which the gods were debating what to do with these
troubling humans. Zeus wanted to destroy them, but Prometheus
proposed giving them “fire and hope” instead. Since energy is
actually fire for humans, his play, written around 2500 years ago,
sets the stage for what we have done here. Blind hope and “clean
energy” have become our response on this ecologically troubled
planet.

In earth education we charted a path decades ago for a more

structured environmental learning approach based upon four crucial
steps:

2/Annual Report
 1. Internalize the understandings

2. Develop the feelings

3. Craft the lifestyles

4. Join the actions

But we were not successful in getting people to actively

engage with the fourth step, let alone provide the necessary
leadership for our fellow human passengers. People would
say they didn’t want to get involved in the “politics,” but politics is how we make choices, and if enough good
people don’t get involved, then those motivated by power, status, and various forms of bribery will take
control. They already have.

Today, we don’t need hope; we need action. And I don’t mean 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the
Earth? Remember when that book was all the rage? We need 50 Major Things You Can Do to Change the
Future.

Prometheus gave us fire and hope and we have been using it to destroy our place in space. We need to
begin talking about and trying out new economic, political, social, and spiritual systems before AI computers
take over and conclude Zeus had the right idea.

SENSORY AWARENESS FOR OUR TIMES

In the 1960s we developed a program in a US summer camp that emphasized sensory awareness and
conceptual understanding of the natural world that supports us. Surprisingly, “Acclimatization” became
popular and led to the formation of the institute.

Today, a different kind of sensory awareness is needed. People are inundated with messages and images
that mislead them. Here are some new senses we should cultivate.

⊕ Sensing the educational failure (and sometimes condescension) in “empowerment.”

We spend enormous sums of money educating the young in our societies, but now people say we
need to empower them. Really? Wasn’t that the point of forcing them to go to school for all those
years? Why are they not being empowered there?

⊕ Sensing the self-interest in “sustainability.”

In many cases, sustainability has become sustaining our way

of life, our city, or our company rather than the planet we
share. Some corporations have “sustainability officers” now,
which may be positive, but it may also be misleading when
their final products remain untenable for a rich biotic planet.

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 The bottom line is, this small planet and its other life forms and communities cannot sustain the
energy-rich lifestyles that some of us have and many others desire.

⊕ Sensing the fallacy and misdirection in “clean energy.”

Clean energy has become an oxymoron used by those that didn’t have an adequate ecological
education, plus those that have a monetary agenda. There is no such thing as clean energy for the
human species.

⊕ Sensing the impossibility of “net zero.”

This is a myth. Did you think that only the Ancient Greeks had them? Basically, the idea is that we are
going to take out of the atmosphere an equal amount of the carbon dioxide we put into it – thus, net
zero. Surely, if nothing else, our educational systems should be preparing people who can grasp that
this is no longer feasible.

⊕ Sensing the deflection in “decarbonization.”

This is one of those terms that sound good -- in this case, dealing with a vast array of our environ-
mental sins -- but that’s why we should be suspicious. It’s too good. People can throw it around
without spelling out exactly how it can be done. On the other hand, since we are all carbon-based, if
this includes depopulation, it might have some potential.

LIFE IN PIECES
Most of us are educators at some level – family, friends, co-workers, teammates – but even well-meaning
educators have failed to reach a significant portion of our population about the severity of our environmental
crisis. Why?

Most educators teach what they are taught. And most were taught a reductionist form of biology that had
little relevance to people’s daily lives (as they perceived it). Without that connection, reinforced continually by
actual experience, any learning faded.

As a result, most of their learners ended up with a

bit of understanding about the pieces and places of
life, but little grasp of the fundamental processes
that supported those pieces and places, and thus
their own lives.

If you are taught in pieces, you will likely think in

pieces. If you think in pieces, you will probably act
in pieces. If you act in pieces, chances are good
you will not strive to salvage the whole. The point?
Saving a piece here and there may divert us from
what needs to be done to maintain the health of the
whole.

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Of course, focusing on the pieces can be comforting and self-satisfying, but at the end, those isolated pieces
may not be enough on a planetary level. Global warming is going to overwhelm all our best intentions.

What’s the alternative? As educators, we should use any piece as an illustration of how the whole functions
and how that relates directly to our daily living. What is the role of any piece in a place, and what is my role in
the same process?

Humans have the unique ability to play more than one role, plus the freedom to select some of them. Our
task as earth educators is to help people understand their core roles in the family of life, and the other roles
they choose to play in their relationships within the family,

Basically, we are all players on a planetary stage. Each

of us has core roles we are required to play in order to
live here (consumer of plant and animal energy, for
example), but we can choose how to play them (in this
example, herbivore, carnivore, omnivore). On a larger
scale, we have other roles we can choose (champion,
servant, educator). So what roles have each of us
chosen to play – our core roles and our selective
ones?

If you were writing the character notes for various roles

in this play, how would you describe the role you have
been playing in your performance on this planetary
stage?

earth educator
Character_____________________________________________________________

Physical/Emotional Description___________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Current Position_______________________________________________________

Backstory_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Professional Ambition___________________________________________________

Relevant Successes and Failures_________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Personal Dream for my Planetary Role_____________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

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 As earth educators, perhaps the key question for each of us should become how the future will judge our
performance in the role we have chosen to play on this planetary stage.

In Shakespeare’s words, are we but a “poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is
heard no more”? Should we be judged only by a “piece” of our life, or what it contributed to the overall
ecological “processes” of the family of life? Did we enrich this small planet’s life or deplete it?
As they say in the theatre when wishing you a good performance, “Break a Leg,”

Steve Van Matre

International chair

"In just 70 short years, we collectively ignored all the scientific

warnings about the dangers that would ensue. Decades of extrac-
tion and over-consumption, the accumulation of great wealth in
small pockets of society, and general disregard for our role as
guardians of the global commons have altered the earth's atmo-
sphere, land, and oceans so substantially that we are literally living
ourselves out of our life-providing environment. This is the most
perilous moment in human history."
-- Christiana Figueres,

former executive secretary of

the UN Framework Convention
on Climate Change (from an
article in Time magazine)

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 Together, we’re offering an alternative...

EARTH GUIDES
developing planetary consciousness
We have decided to take a different tack for training Earth Guides…

In the past, the institute focused on creating carefully crafted programs for motivating learners to live more
lightly, joyously, and thoughtfully on this small planet we share. Unfortunately, many educational systems
would not support the financial costs of those programs. Thousands of teachers and outdoor leaders partici-
pated in our sessions for introducing those programs, plus our educational methodology, but they couldn’t
find a niche where they could implement them. Fortunately, some educators and centers around the world
persevered. However, over time it became clear that such success was the result of particular, highly moti-
vated individuals who took almost an entrepreneurial approach, but when they departed, or the grant money
ran out, those sites and schools using our programs reverted to more traditional nature education ap-
proaches. We have a long history of dealing with this reality.

As a result, we have concluded that what is needed now is a new kind of outdoor leader. Someone that can
focus on this small planet’s processes of life, not its pieces and places, in whatever situation they find them-
selves.

We are developing a manual to introduce the concept of an Earth Guide,

including practical exercises for becoming one, plus participatory
activities to use in guiding others in living more lightly, joyously, and
thoughtfully on this small planet. Readers will be able to decide how
far they want to go in becoming an Earth Guide: initial practitioner,
certified leader, independent trainer.

Today, people are still being trained in the language of particular

subjects, and current environmental issues, and they end up naming
and labeling the pieces and places of life, referencing current environmental
concerns, when a new planetary process language is needed. An Earth Guide is
just what the name says – a guide to the ecological processes of this small planet
in this particular solar system. We must shift our focus from this planet’s pieces
and places to its life-sustaining ecological processes. If not, we are doomed.

The manual will include the following sections:

EARTH SPEAK 101

Introducing a new “eco-language” for the planet and how to use it in

working with others …

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 Most educators teach the “language” of a particular subject – biology, history, mathematics, etc. –
instead of using that language sparingly to reveal the underlying structure of a subject in a useable
and practical way. It is a great loss. People come away with an accumulation of names and numbers,
theories and terms, but very little they can do with those in their own lives. The argument is that this
approach teaches people how to think; the problem is it doesn’t teach them how to act.

Given all of our scientific and technological skills, we have lost a basic
grasp of what makes life possible here, and the planet is dying
ecologically as a result. Instead of embedding ourselves harmoni-
ously in the natural systems and communities that support us,
we have walled ourselves off from them. Today, we look upon
nature as a place to extract materials for our use, as a place
for escape or recreation, as a place to acquire trophies or
decorations, as a place to discard our waste. Nature is “with-
out” instead of “within.”

The reality is that people teach what they know and what many
outdoor leaders know is a reductionist form of biology. Earth
Speak is a new way of explaining how life functions from a
broader perspective using terms and expressions that reveal
instead of conceal. If we can change the language, we can change the perception and thus the
actions that are so devastating. For example, in Earth Speak, we don’t refer to trash cans, waste
baskets, or rubbish bins. These are all “cycle containers,” for everything placed in them ends up in
the planet’s cycles of the air, water, and soil. We cannot throw things away, even if we try. There is no
away here.““Learning any language takes time and practice; learning Earth Speak is much easier
because it deals with our daily lives. We can immerse ourselves in it regardless of where we live.

FUN - DA - MENTALS

Creating stimulating activities for conveying the essential processes of life …

Unfortunately, people grow up in our societies today primarily learning the language for the pieces of
life, not its processes. Take tree leaves as an example. In traditional nature education participants
learn how to use an identification guide and its key to name the trees. They learn the parts of a leaf
(vein, petiole, node, margin). They learn what people make with the wood of a particular tree. In other
words, they learn something about those pieces, but often miss the
fundamental process that leaves provide in capturing and using the
sun’s light energy to support life here. Multitudes of young people
collected, identified, and preserved those pieces of life without grasp-
ing their vital role. Earth Guides strive to convey in a fun and partici-
patory way that a sunlight “catcher and converter” embodies the
largest chemical process on the planet. This section will serve as a
template for producing alternative activities, and provide some
practical examples to try out.

VISUAL TOOLS

Sharing motivating visualizations of how life functions …

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 Most people are visual learners; they need to see something to help
them make the abstract more concrete. Earth Guides use four symbolic
illustrations in explaining how life works on this small planet, while
helping their participants develop four special senses through using
them to create a more harmonious relationship with the systems that
sustain all life here. This is the visual language that underpins Earth
Speak. Today, we must use more images and less words for our multi-
cultural world.

POETRY IN PROCESS

Practicing a way to capture the essence of life with both the head and
the heart …

It is common in the field of outdoor learning to ask people to write

poems about the pieces and places of life. Earth Guides ask them to write and share lyric poems
about the processes of life. Poetry is the art of capturing and sharing essence.

Today, people need to feel the processes and process the feelings. This section will help the partici-
pants “catch the flow.”

PREMISES AND PRECEPTS

Maximizing leadership through maxims …

Earth Guides create their own paths in helping others live more lightly and joyously within the planet’s
natural systems and communities, but they follow important signposts along the way. Several of them
are crucial for not getting lost. Even more important, if the path chosen does not run through your
own home at some point, then it will become a dead-end for the planet. The answers for tomorrow
can be found in the participants’ work today.

Those who want to become a Certified Earth Guide (CEG) through the institute’s School of the Earth will
complete the exercises and send their work to the institute for feedback.

Certified Earth Guides who want

to become trainers for the
institute will apply to begin
conducting Earth Guides ses-
sions on its behalf. Trainers will
set their own fees, with a small
percentage going to the institute
and its School of the Earth.

We want to arrange for some

earth education centers to
become international Earth
Guides Training Centers. Let us
know if you would like to nomi-
nate a site.

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 Together, we’re offering an alternative...

The following excerpts are from the cover letter accompanying the Annual Report
of the British Fund for Earth Education. Lynnette Borradaile is the coordinator..

Back in the mists of time (1987?), we had an International Earth Education Conference
hosted by Kindrogan Field Centre. As organiser, I needed a leader for a demonstration
Conceptual Encounter with a group of local youngsters. I went to my boss, a real earth education sceptic. He
accepted the challenge and took away the guidance. On return from delivering the activity, he said words to
the effect of “Well, I wouldn't have believed it, but those kids reacted just as was described in the guidance,
and it all worked really well!....”

Wind forward to 2023, the same ex-boss, now retired and a grandfather, was invited to do a ‘nature walk’ for
his granddaughter's class at school - children aged 9-10. He decided against his preferred science ap-
proach, and dug out his old ACC Walks folder and put together, by any other name an ‘Earth
Walk’. Delivered it, and the kids and teachers loved it! He was ecstatic! When visiting him a couple of weeks
later, he proudly holds up a book (which even I hadn’t seen yet!!) and says ‘look what I found on Amazon!’...it
was of course a copy of the new Earthwalks leadership book. He's read it and I am sure will continue
delivering for his 6 other, younger, grandchildren. There is hope yet!!

Did I also tell you about the Ranger I met? In conversation I found she
had become a Countryside Ranger as a direct consequence of being
entranced by Earth Education when a pupil taking part in an Earth-
keepers programme run by an Outdoor Centre in Argyll, for Fife
Council schools. We know it works, we know it brings about changes
in choices made by those who engage....can we use our energy now
to make Earth Education more visible in the digital age; before
everything becomes sanitised and virtual? I hope so ….

Wishing you good health and happiness in 2024.

Bright spots of colour among wet leaves - yellow and pink flowers,
harbingers of spring!
Smiles from a soggy Scotland...

Lynnette

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 Together, we’re offering an alternative...

GEORGE WILLIAMS COLLEGE

For those familiar with the institute’s original home, and the location of our first workshops, we
have received some sad news. The college’s field campus in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin is being
sold.

George Williams was the founder of the YMCA in London in the 1840s, and the college began
as a training arm of the YMCAs in the US. Over time it became focused on social work in
general and then added outdoor education and environmental learning to its curricula.

Thanks to Nelson Wieters, who created the LERA Department in the college, and was president
of the American Camping Association, the original publisher of Acclimatization, we were able
to establish an office at the Lake Geneva Campus and begin offering workshops in the 70s.
Nelson had contracted with the National Park Service to train park rangers in the new emphasis
on education about the environment and invited our ACC team to become involved. After
receiving positive feedback, the park service invited us to conduct that training throughout the
US and the institute grew as a result. Eventually, the national park service in Britain heard about
our work and invited us to conduct a training session there as well, and the institute expanded
into countries around the world.

Due to the initial interest in our work, we established the institute in 1974, and many of our
current volunteers participated in those early Lake Geneva workshops. After a half-century, and
a dozen publications in the educational side of the environmental movement, we are still work-
ing to help people live more lightly, joyously, and thoughtfully on this incredible planet.

For the hundreds of outdoor leaders who attended our workshops at Lake Geneva in the 70s,
including the graduate students in the LERA Department, it is regrettable that a successful
vision of the campus as an international environmental learning center could not be developed.
The potential was always there, and those of us that passed through always sensed it, but the
perspective was lacking. When people are committed to a particular vision, it is often difficult
to see another, even when it appears before them.

As the Chicago architect, Daniel Burnham put it: “Make no little plans for they have no
magic with which to stir men’s blood.” The Lake Geneva base of George Williams
College died for the lack of imaginative risk.

Annual Report/11
 Together, we’re offering an alternative...

Feedback from India

We received the following letter from Dr. Pranav Trevedi who has been implementing earth education in
India and wanted to respond to our concern that not enough earth educators are managing to get partici-
pants to take that last crucial step: internalizing the understandings, developing the feelings, crafting the
lifestyles, and joining others in actions.

Dear Professor Van Matre,

Indeed, you're so right in pointing out how action is missing at a larger level in Earth Education and how the
‘whole’ is difficult to grasp for most. I remember, just like you, my Guru in India - Lavkumar Khachar was
also lamenting in his last years how we haven't done enough...whereas I was thinking he has done so much
for nature education and preservation!

It appears that the ‘biological’ human brain is largely tuned to the (ape-like) clan-living context. Transcending
the “limited/biological self” is a (spiritual) process of upgrading the consciousness or breaking the shell
(=comfort zone) as they call it! Action at a larger level would require many of us younger people to expand
our limited approach. At another level, the individual feels constrained by the system that is set in exactly
opposite direction to what he's trying to do! The individual-system interface is always uneasy; with the system
ultimately engulfing the individual and his revolutionary thoughts/efforts! If at all it survives; it'll be in small
pockets or remnants. It is thus possible to have many such ‘communes’ which practice earth education
principles, but to have Governments and people at large to follow this at country levels, especially like India
with such a huge population may still be utopian...

Having said that, I'm not shying away from my responsibility to give it a try and shall be more attentive to this
need in my future programmes

warm regards,

Pranav

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Together, we’re offering an alternative...

Programs and Research

Programs
In 2023, we heard from many centers offering earth education programs that they are continuing to recover
from the pandemic, with more youngsters participating and, in some cases, returning for overnight pro-
grams. Unfortunately, some sites that closed in the last few years have not reopened.

Earthkeepers Levels
We are providing new guidelines on implementing additional levels of the Earthkeepers programs for centers
or schools offering that program. In Earthkeepers, participants earn four keys (K-E-Y-S), K (Knowledge) and
E (Experience) during the initial 3-day springboard experience at the Earthkeepers Training Center
to become Apprentice Earthkeepers, and Y (Yourself) and S (Sharing) during the follow-through
back at school and home, as they practice being an Earthkeeper. Upon earning their 4th key (S),
participants become Earthkeepers Level I, receiving a yellow bead to add to their key chain.

We encourage centers or schools offering the Earthkeepers program to offer other levels for those
who have completed Level I by earning all four keys and their yellow bead. For Level II, sites can
offer the full Sunship Earth (10-12 year olds) or SUNSHIP III (13-15 year olds) program with some
additions to bring in the participants’ previous Earthkeepers experience, such as using a K box with
a note from E.M. to introduce the ecological concept activities, an E box with a note from E.M. to
introduce the feelings activities, and a Y box with a note from E.M. to introduce the follow-though.
After completing the follow-through, participants receive a blue bead to add to their Earthkeepers key
chain.

Another option is to create homegrown experiences that include 1) Knowledge -- building on understandings
of the four ecological concepts from Earthkeepers as well as knowledge on action strategies for reducing
impact, 2) Experience – outdoor experiences to increase joy, kinship, reverence and love for the natural
world, 3) Yourself – participants taking personal actions to break environmental bad habits and adopt new
positive habits, 4) Sharing – participants share their experiences with others. Again, with opportunities for
participants to use their four Earthkeepers keys to open boxes introducing parts of the experience and using
notes from E.M. as well. When participants complete all the components, they should receive a blue bead.

A center or school that has the capacity could offer Sunship Earth for Level II and a year or two later offer
SUNSHIP III for Level III (red bead). It would also be possible to design a homegrown experience for Level II
and then offer Sunship Earth or SUNSHIP III as Level III. Of course, homegrown experiences could be
created for both Levels II and III.

Because participants are asked to make lifestyle changes at each level, some time is required between levels.
When participants have completed both levels II and III, it is likely that two years will have passed, so partici-

Annual Report/13
 pants will be young adolescents for Levels IV (white bead) and V (green
bead). For Level IV, homegrown experiences will need to be created.
While incorporating Knowledge, Experience, Yourself and Sharing, the
experiences should recognize the growing sense of independence and
responsibility of this youngsters this age, including opportunities for them
to get further out into nature and into their own human communities.
Participating in a Muir Trek would be a suitable experience to include. To
become a Level V Earthkeeper, participants need to help with an Earth-
keepers program or a class doing Earthkeepers follow-through activities.

We ask each center or school that wants to offer additional levels of Earthkeepers to submit their ideas or
plans to us before they offer them so we can provide some feedback. There is no formal application form;
sites simply send an email to me (International Program Coordinator: bruce@ieetree.org), and we will get
feedback to them. Of course, I will be happy to talk with anyone about ideas during the planning stage.

Changes to the system for sites offering our programs

When a program site wishes to offer one of our programs (Earthkeepers, Rangers of the Earth, Sunship
Earth or SUNSHIP III), they purchase a program package for a one-time fee. The program package includes:
site specific permission to offer the program, including use of the trademarked names; duplication masters
for student booklets and material; leader information; a book with the program description; and activity
descriptions and duplication masters. Program sites also purchase from the institute a “per participant” set of
materials (for example, keys for the Earthkeepers program) for each person who participates in the program.

Until now, each site has also paid an Annual Program Fee ($100 US) that serves as an annual Licensing Fee
for offering the program. Every January, we send an Annual Fee invoice to each site and ask it to complete a
brief online survey with information about the programs they offered the previous year. We also provide a
membership in IEE (value $50 US) to the site.

We are making some changes to simplify the system. We are eliminating the Annual Program Fee. Instead,
purchasing the “per participant” materials is how sites will cover the Licensing Fee.

However, we are requiring each site to maintain a membership in I•E•E at the Organizational level ($50
USD) or higher in order to maintain a connection with current site directors and staff. Also, we will still require
the completion of the annual program survey so that we can keep up with what’s happening in our programs
around the world.

Research
Research involving earth education programs has been underway for more than 40 years. In the first 20
years, most were small studies undertaken as part of a university graduate program. These studies, while not
published, provided important feedback to the local sites offering the programs that were investigated. In the
last 20 years, much more research on earth education programs has been published in peer-reviewed
journal articles.

What do we know from this research?

Participants in earth education programs consistently:

• Increase their understanding of ecological concepts.

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 • Adopt more pro-environmental values and attitudes.
• Make positive changes in their environmental behavior and actions.

Earthkeepers is the program most studied. Three studies found significant gains in understandings, values
and attitudes, and behavior for participants in Earthkeepers1,2,3. In the 2013 study1, those increases were
maintained for most participants one year later. Classroom follow-through for Earthkeepers was also stud-
ied4. More experienced teachers were found to better support the participants in completing the program at
home and school, and those students had a much higher completion rate; the article describes the support
they provided.

The Sunship Earth program has also been found to result in increased environmental understandings, values
and attitudes, and behavior5. In a retrospective study of adults who had participated in the Sunship Earth
program when children, former program participants were found to have more pro-environmental attitudes
and actions6.

Two studies7, 8 found gains for participants in three different programs: Earthkeepers, Sunship Earth, and
SUNSHIP III. Another study of these three programs9 followed a group of youngsters who participated in the
three programs over the course of four years to learn about how their understandings of ecological concepts
developed over time.

Values and attitudes were found in an investigation of Earthkeepers to have a more direct influence than
knowledge on behavior; knowledge is important but is meditated by values and attitudes10. Positive environ-
mental attitudes have also been shown to lead to more gains in knowledge7, 8.

A group of studies of five sites in the Czech Republic, one of which offered Earthkeepers, looked at the
importance of program characteristics that are central to earth education programs such as organizers
(frameworks)11 and values and attitudes12 in program success, and the positive impact of the structure and
characteristics of a program on attitudes and behavior13.

You can find these papers and others at: https://coe.arizona.edu/bruce-johnson-resources

Please contact me if you would like to learn more about our programs or about research or evaluation.

Bruce Johnson
International Program & Research Coordinator
brucejohnson@ieetree.org

References

1. Baierl, T.-M., Johnson, B., & Bogner, F. X. (2021). Assessing environmental attitudes and cognitive achievement within 9
years of informal earth education. Sustainability, 13, 3622; doi: 10.3390/su13073622.
2. Baierl, T.-M., Johnson, B., & Bogner, F. X. (2022). Informal earth education: Significant shifts for environmental attitude and
knowledge. Frontiers in Psychology, 13:819899. doi: doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.819899.
3. Cincera, J. & Johnson, B. (2013). Earthkeepers in the Czech Republic: Experience from the implementation process.
Envigogika, 8(4), 1-14.
4. Cincera, J., Johnson, B., Kroufek, R., Kolenaty, M., & Simonova, P. (2020a). Frames in outdoor environmental education
programs: What we communicate and why we think it matters. Sustainability, 12, 4451; doi: 10.3390/su12114451

Annual Report/15
 5. Cincera, J., Johnson, B., Kroufek, R., & Simonova, P. (2020b). Values education in outdoor environmental education
programs from the perspective of practitioners. Sustainability, 12, 4700; doi:10.3390/su12114700.
6. Felix, L., & Johnson, B. (2013). Back in the classroom: Teacher follow-through after an earth education program. Applied
Environmental Education & Communication, 12(3), 187-196.
7. Johnson, B., Bires, N., & Buxner, S. (in review). Long-term influences on adults of participation in an earth education
program in middle school.
8. Johnson, B., & Cincera, J. (2015). Examining the relationship between environmental attitudes and behaviour in education
programmes. Socialni Studia, 12(3), 97-111.
9. Johnson, B., & Cincera, J. (2019). Development of the ecological concepts of energy flow and materials cycling in middle
school students participating in earth education programs. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 63, 94-101; doi: 10.1016/
j.stueduc.2019.08.003.
10. Johnson, B. & Cincera, J. (2021). Relationships between outdoor environmental education program characteristics and
children’s environmental values and behaviors. Journal of Adventure Education & Outdoor Learning. doi: 10.1080/
14729679.2021.2001756.
11. Johnson, B. & Cincera, J. (2022). Earthkeepers: The relationship between instructional strategies and program outcomes.
Envigogika, 17(1). doi: 10.14712/18023061.636.
12. Johnson, B., & Manoli, C. (2008). Using Bogner and Wiseman’s Model of Ecological Values to measure the impact of an
earth education program on children’s environmental perceptions. Environmental Education Research, 14(2), 115-127.
13. Manoli, C. C., Johnson, B., Hadjichambis, A. C., Paraskeva-Hadjichambi, D., Georgiou, Y., & Ioannou, H. (2014). Evaluating
the impact of the Earthkeepers earth education program on children’s ecological understandings, values and attitudes, and
behaviour in Cyprus. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 41, 29-37.

DONN EDWARDS
A founding director of the institute in 1974, Donn Edwards, has died.

Donn had a long list of roles during his nine decades on this small planet --
from English teacher, scoutmaster, camp director, sailboat captain, theater
director, scuba diver, champion dog trainer, plus numerous practical skills.
He went back to university for another degree in his 50s wanting to add
veterinarian to that list. However, after earning a science degree, he discov-
ered the vet school thought he was too old. So the university hired him to
teach biology instead. He never seemed reluctant to tackle another project
or role -- taking on the lighting and set design for a new performing arts
center for almost twenty years after he retired.

Donn was a friend and mentor for numerous students and campers over
the years and served the institute in many ways.

His was a life well-lived.

16/Annual Report
Together, we’re offering an alternative...

GREENVILLE SALTPETER CAVE

In the early 90s, on the day we purchased Dr. Jim Wells’ farm in Greenville, West Virginia, we received an
unexpected phone call. The voice on the other end said he was our new neighbor and heard we might be
interested in buying a little property. When we explained that we had just bought a farm, he replied they had
a bit of a cave on their land. We knew immediately what he was referring to. It was the land on the other side
of the hills forming Cedar Cove. In fact, we had already talked among ourselves that it would be good to add
it someday to our international home. With its panoramic view of the longest mountain in the Appalachians,
an important Saltpeter Cave, and a creek running through both the land and the cave, it would add much to
our new base.

Designated a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service, the Greenville Saltpeter Cave is an
important bat hibernaculum as well as a significant cultural site. The West Virginia Department of Natural
Resources believes it is one of the most successful winter homes in the state for several species of bats,
including a couple of endangered ones. And its Saltpeter Mine was active on the “Gunpowder Trail” during
the American Civil War.

The National Natural Landmark program was created to

recognize outstanding natural features of significant
biological and geological value. There are only about 600
such landmarks in America, and the Greenville Saltpeter
Cave is one of them. Actually, three cave systems come
together here in a stunning glen in the forest.

As the site of a frontier fort, a water mill, a saltpeter mine,

and an early colonial settlement west of the Appalachians,
plus a National Natural Landmark, the institute believes
the Greenville area should be celebrated as both an
important natural and cultural area. Sometimes people
forget what they have and look farther afield for their
inspirational models, while overlooking the richness
outside their own doorsteps.

Looking after a cave was never part of the institute’s mission, even one designated as being of such impor-
tance, but we felt we couldn’t just walk away from taking on the responsibility when it appeared on our
doorstep. So it was a stretch financially for the institute to purchase an another section of land and develop a
system of trails and clearings for visitors to use in enjoying its dramatic karst topography. For those unfamil-
iar with grooming trails, it is a time-consuming and labor-intensive process that Mother Nature makes sure
never ends.

Eventually, the institute purchased an easement to access the portion of the cave under the adjoining land as
well. We formed a group of those interested in this special place: FOG (spc) -- Friends of Greenville (salt
peter cave), and developed a system of waivers for those who wanted to enter the cave for recreation, educa-
tion, or interpretation. And we worked with the state Department of Natural Resources and the regional
caving community to establish visitation guidelines and seasonal closures. Over the years we welcomed
many cave visitors coming through the institute’s hollow, Cedar Cove.

Annual Report/17
In addition, the institute successfully submitted a proposal to the US Fish and Wildlife Service to gate all the
entrances to the cave in order to protect its important bat colony, and then assisted in its implementation. In
short, our investment has been substantial. Visitors to Cedar Cove from many states and other countries
have helped the institute care for this very special place.

Today, it is still possible to see the remnants of those earlier visitors, plus its saltpeter mining days – we found
one inscription inside dated 1832 – and given its accessibility, we suspect the cave was used as a refuge,
hundreds, if not thousands, of years earlier.

When the farm containing the remaining portion of the cave came on the market a couple of years ago, we
decided we did not want to take on the financial responsibility for managing the additional property since that
land had been rather degraded, and we had an easement already to access the portion of the cave under that
area.

As a result, we reached out to all of our contacts and political representatives in an effort to spread the word
that this important site was up for sale. Fortunately, The Conservation Fund in Washington, DC came
forward and purchased the farm.

In the midst of the Fund’s negotiations, we were asked if the institute would be interested in selling its portion
of the cave property as well. Initially, we were reluctant to do so. Our staff, interns, and volunteers had spent
a considerable amount of time and energy clearing the original homestead site, establishing trails and
clearings for the cave entrances, and managing visitor access.

However, when The Conservation Fund suggested it might turn over the land to the West Virginia Land
Trust, and perhaps we could form a relationship with the trust to continue using the site for our educational
and interpretive purposes, plus help look after it as funds permitted, we decided to pursue that idea.

Once again, we felt we couldn’t walk away from seeing the entire Saltpeter Cave area in the hands of one
entity committed to its preservation. After 30 years investing in the site and dreaming about its potential, it
was a major decision for the institute. Although the cave is closed now for the specialists to assess the health
of its bat colony and surrounding area, we hope it will be open again someday for public visitation.

This year is the golden anniversary of the cave’s

designation as a National Natural Landmark. It
seems fitting that it will now be under the protection
of the West Virginia Land Trust in perpetuity. As
educational and interpretive designers, the institute
hopes to be of assistance in its future. We have
offered to design an interpretive plan, including
extensions of the pathways and clearings created on
the institute’s portion of the land over the past 30
years. And we will propose that the local Indian
Creek Conservancy, which the institute was instru-
mental in creating, could be involved in monitoring
and maintaining the site.
Together, we’re offering an alternative...

As an independent, thank each member

alternative voice in
the education side of
the environmental
2023 Supporters who helped sustain
one of these efforts
for thinking of us
movement, and one Giving during the year.
that pays its own (so we may give)
way, the ongoing
Annual Appeal Futures Fund (The earth education tree is
support of our mem-
Tribute Fund Internships supported around the world
bers remains crucial to Special Contributions Cedar Cove Crews by its volunteer “trunk” of
our success. We have
Cedar Cove Wish List Associate representatives.
established a number of Many of them also help us
Cedar Cove Development Fund
options—in finances, Founder’s Roster financially. Whenever they appear
services and goods—for Noble Thews in the lists that follow we’ve printed
making such contributions to Publications Fund their names in bold letters.)
the work of the institute. We

Earth
ra titud e to Sunship
fg
My debt o ing that
e n s e . Experienc Thanks
for the
is im m ago— work
m any years you do
prog ra m s o I view the .
u e s to in form how
conti n y life. –Kit Kle
w I live m in
world, ho –Sallie W
elte

♥ Thanks for the special contributions from Bill Hart, Sue and Bob
Brown, Alaska Wildland Adventures, Kirk Hoessle, and Steve and
Karen Gartland Murray...

and our first lifetime memberships for Randi Light and Sue and
Bob Brown. Bravo!

Annual Appeal
Valentines are special ways of sharing, and we appreciated receiving these in 2023:

♥Alaska Wildland Adventures27

♥Kirk Hoessle31
♥Kit Klein29
♥Jan Muir37
♥Kathleen Reese27
♥Steve Van Matre38
♥Rob McKinnon36
♥Karen Gartland Murray17
♥Richard Roberts11
Ginger Wallis17
♥Sallie Welte25

♥gifts of $50.00 or more

(The numbers indicate how many years, including the current year, we have received Valentines from each contributor.)
 Financial Report
For the Year Ending June 30
(all figures in U.S. dollars)

Income:
Books/Publications/Materials $13,556.20
Memberships/Contributions $11,513.07
Sale of National Natural Landmark property $413,087.60
Educational Sessions $5,550.00
Program Development (General) $545.00

Total Income $444,251.87

Expenses:
Books/Publications/Materials $7,649.97
Program Development 5,400.00
General and Administrative Operations 27,841.75

Total Expenses 40,891.72

Net Gain $403,360.15

Restricted Funds * $258,595.22

(N.B. Since much of our program development work is carried out by volunteers, we
can keep this category of our expenses much lower. Restricted Funds can only be used
for specific purposes, depending upon the nature of their source and any limitations
that accompanied them. In addition, the figures above do not include the portion of
membership and training fees, nor publication and program sales, that remain with the
organization’s Affiliate Branches and Representatives around the world. )

The institute's Annual Report is compiled by the Executive Staff and produced by Laurie Farber.
Thanks to all those who contribute.
Copyright © 2024, The Institute for Earth Education,
Cedar Cove, PO Box 115, Greenville, WV 24945 USA. Phone: 304-832-6404
Fax: 304-832-6077 Email: info@ieetree.org Website: www.ieetree.org