Reflecting on & building environmental education capacity
Environmental education doesn’t happen by accident
It happens because people like us choose to show up with curiosity, care and a belief that understanding our environment is essential to our collective flourishing. It happens in classrooms and community halls, on coastlines and in city streets, wherever educators help others make sense of the places we live and the changes we’re all living through.
In 2025, AAEE’s 45th year, we were reminded of what becomes possible when environmental educators are supported, connected and trusted.
Throughout the year, we gathered not just to learn, but to learn together. In Learning Circles, conversations unfolded that were practical and honest, shaped by real experience. People came with questions, ideas and a willingness to share what had worked (or didn’t). Nearly 800 registrations for Learning Circles reflects something deeper than professional development: it’s a desire for connection, reflection and shared purpose.
That same spirit carried into the AAEE Biennial Conference. Over three weeks, educators from across the country came together across disciplines and generations. Ideas were tested, perspectives widened, and we were reminded that we’re not working alone. All our efforts are part of a larger, collective endeavour.
AAEE is built on small acts, offered generously.
In 2025, volunteers across eight Chapters contributed more than 11,000 hours of their time. These hours became local gatherings, mentoring conversations, shared learning and quiet encouragement. They became moments where educators felt seen, supported and less alone in the complex work we undertake.
We also saw our very first sEEd grants take root. Six micro grants of $1000 each supported member-led projects: early ideas, local responses or brave experiments. These were not large interventions, but they didn’t need to be. Their power lay in what they enabled.
One recipient told us:
“Meaningful contributions like the AAEE sEEd grant enabled us to bring specific expertise into our young community.”
This is how change often begins, through trust, timing and collective support.
All of this rests on foundations that are sometimes easy to overlook. Behind every Learning Circle, conference session and shared resource is a small team and a committed volunteer executive tending the systems that hold the work together.
In 2025, donor support strengthened those foundations and we’re incredibly grateful. This kind of work is quiet, but it is essential. It allows educators to be supported with intention and consistency, now and into the future.
Our work rarely makes headlines, but its influence is lasting.
When you support AAEE – by becoming a member, making a donation, or sharing your story – you are contributing to an active network of educators who carry this work forward every day, in ways that ripple far beyond what any single organisation could do alone.
However you choose to contribute, you help make what comes next possible.
