Fostering climate hopefulness: a synthesis study of the impacts of outdoor environmental education programs

BSCS Science Learning, in partnership with NatureBridge and the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE), will conduct a comprehensive research synthesis study examining the impacts of outdoor and nature-based environmental education programs on educator and youth participant outcomes over a thirty-year period (1994–2024). The project, funded by the National Science Foundation's Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings under the STEM Education program (CFDA 47.076), will analyze existing peer-reviewed literature to identify program design elements, professional learning approaches, and pedagogical practices that influence climate-related emotions and learning outcomes. The study will produce a descriptive model of individual factors (knowledge, attitudes, values, emotions) and external factors (program interventions, educational activities, community projects) that affect learning in informal STEM and environmental education contexts.

The project deliverables include identification of research gaps, theories of change, and critical insights regarding leverage points where informal environmental education programs demonstrate measurable influence on educator and participant outcomes. Research findings will be disseminated in multiple formats—targeting outdoor educators, practitioners, researchers, scientists, policy makers, and the general public—to ensure accessibility across environmental education stakeholders. This $497,829 Project Grant award, which commenced September 1, 2025, and extends through August 31, 2027, will contribute new evidence to inform current theories and practices in educator professional learning and program design within the informal STEM education sector, with climate hopefulness serving as the guiding conceptual framework.

Abstract

This project, led by bscs science learning with partners naturebridge and the north american association for environmental education (naaee), will conduct a research synthesis study to understand the extent, range, and nature of existing literature outdoor and nature-based environmental education programs, including the impacts of outdoor environmental program designs, professional learning, and pedagogical practices on educators and youth participant outcomes over a thirty-year period (1994-2024), and highlighting the role of climate-related emotions. The research will be broadly disseminated and communicated in multiple formats tailored to reach the many value holders of environmental education programs: outdoor educators, practitioners, researchers, scientists, leaders or policy makers and the general public. This research synthesis study will provide new evidence and knowledge of the relationships among outdoor and nature-based environmental education programs, program design, pedagogical practices, and climate-related emotions of educators and youth participants. Using climate hopefulness as a guiding concept, the research synthesis will review published articles and literature across multiple fields related to environmental education over a thirty-year period. The contributions will be identification of gaps in current research, theories of change, critical insights and leverage points where informal stem and outdoor environmental educational programs have had an influence, and impacts on current theories and practices addressed in educator professional learning and program designs. The research will also potentially contribute a descriptive model of the individual or internal factors, such as knowledge, attitudes, values, and emotions, and external factors, such as program interventions, educational activities, community project, that affect learning and engagement in outdoor and nature-based environmental education. The findings from this research synthesis will inform practices for nature-based environmental education programs and professional and a wider range of pedagogies to prepare educators and reach youth program participants. This synthesis project is funded by the advancing informal stem learning (aisl) program, which seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of stem learning in informal environments. This includes providing everyone multiple pathways for accessing and engaging in stem learning experiences. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are not planned for this award.