> Dear Maiken and Eco-loggers,
>
> A few grad students at the University of Washington are also passionate
> about making science accessible to a larger audience. To that end, we have
> created a graduate level course and speaker series (currently partnered
> with Seattle Town Hall) called "Engage <http://engage-science.com/>" .
> These types of grassroots projects are easy to develop, and interest seems
> to be very high (although funding, very low). Our events usually attract
> crowds of between 30 and 70 people, covering a wide range of ages and
> backgrounds.
>
> Although global change is important, we have decided to take an
> interdisciplinary approach to disseminating science, and thus have
> incorporated young scientists from many different backgrounds. We feel
> that this broad approach will help engage a larger audience in the
> scientific process, which may in turn lead to civic engagement with
> scientific issues.
>
> As the ecologist of "Engage", I will definitely be joining the FAKT group,
> and hope to see many of you there, sharing ideas!
>
> --
> Rachel M. Mitchell
> PhD Candidate
> Project for Interdisciplinary Pedagogy Fellow, 2012
> School of Forest Resources
> University of Washington
> https://students.washington.edu/rachelmm/home.html
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 5, 2012 at 2:40 AM, Maiken Winter <[email protected]>wrote:
>
>> Dear eco-loggers,
>>
>> isn't it amazing how we pile up more and more knowledge, and still, change
>> is so slow that it becomes less and less likely that we will manage to
>> turn
>> in time before major tipping points in the earth's system have been
>> transgressed? As the German Advisory Council on Global Change points out,
>> we
>> need a Great Transition towards a sustainable society
>> (http://www.wbgu.de/en/flagship-reports/fr-2011-a-social-contract/ ).
>>
>> But it is incredibly hard to motivate people to change, especially older
>> people that are used to a certain way of life. Therefore, I believe one of
>> the most effective areas where change is possible are young people who are
>> not yet stuck in a certain way of life and who are open and curious for
>> change.
>>
>> To help move this change forward I have started my own little enterprise
>> (www.fakt-wissen.de) to develop programs that help students and teachers
>> truly understand the methods and results of ornithology, ecology and
>> climate
>> science.
>>
>> Of course, that idea is nothing new; but there are still way too few of us
>> out there to help people truly understand the issues at hand, and those of
>> us out there are not well connected with each other.
>>
>> Because there ARE people out there trying to do the same thing, I'd love
>> to
>> connect with YOU.
>>
>> Please become part of the facebook group FAKT and share your ideas about
>> science communication, develop new programs, establish a collaborative
>> transcontinental research project on science communication, find ways to
>> truly engage people, and become even more part of making this world a
>> better
>> place.
>>
>> See you there, and thanks for your interest,
>>
>> Maiken
>>
>> "In the end, we conserve only what we love. We will love only what we
>> understand. We will understand only what we are taught."
>>
>>
