Core Concepts
Developing a set of core concepts for conservation education was an important first step in moving the the Association's North American Conservation Education Strategy forward. To be effective in our efforts, we need to speak with one voice and clearly state what we want every citizen to know and understand about:
1. The conservation of fish and wildlife and related resources
2. Managing fish and wildlife resources
3. Fish and wildlife agencies
A nationally agreed upon set of core concepts was therefore needed and developed. See below for the process used.
See the link for Conservation Education Core Concepts for a list of the concepts. The concepts are listed in an Excel file. When viewing the concepts keep the following in mind:
• The mission and vision of the Association's North American Conservation Education Strategy are listed at the top to show the interrelationship between the Strategy and Concepts. The vision includes a list of five outcomes we hope to achieve.
• The concepts are organized under the vision/outcomes they most represent (highlighted in yellow.)
• The concepts highlighted in green are those selected as the top 11 concepts.
• Order does not indicate relative importance.
• The concepts address only that part of conservation education which focuses on fish, wildlife and their management.
From a national perspective the Conservation Education Core Concepts (CE Concepts) will provide us foundation from which to work with partners. The top concepts can also be integrated into marketing efforts of the Association and its members.
Agencies and organizations will be putting the CE Concepts to good use as well. A few examples include:
• Jerry de Bin, chair of the committee that has been responsible for this task, said that when his agency (Alabama Department of Conservation & Natural Resources) was asked to review the Core Concepts in December, that it was the first time in the history of the agency that all five divisions came together to work on CE strategic plans. When the Core Concepts were finalized, they conducted a series of extended follow up sessions to further tailor the CE Core Concepts and Top 10 messages to ensure CE is mission-critical to the DCNR and its five Divisions.
• Some agencies and organizations will be using it to review and evaluate their current programs.
• Some state agencies will correlate the CE Concepts into their conservation strategies of their state Wildlife Action Plans.
Plans for modification
The CE Concepts will be a living document and the Goal 2 Committee will be developing a system to make modifications. One of the first things the committee plans to do is to look for important concepts that might have been missed.
The process to develop an approved set of CE Concepts was as follows:
• A survey asking groups to provide input on Conservation Education Concepts went to every state, federal and NGO member of the Association. We received an excellent response as follows: 28 state agencies, one Canadian agency, one federal agency, and six NGOs. Many additional NGO's participated in the state agency concept meetings.
• February 27-March 2 a group of 22 individuals (including two state directors – Corky Pugh and Glen Salmon) representing states from each region, NGO's and the USFWS met in Springfield, MO to review the results of the Conservation Education Concept Survey. Using the ratings and recommended wording changes from the survey, the group deliberated hard on each point.
• The recommendations of the Springfield group were emailed to the EOD Committee a week prior to the EOD meeting and were then discussed at the EOD Working Group meeting. One change was made as a result of those discussions.
• The EOD Committee approved the recommendations of the EOD Working Group which also included a list of the top eleven concepts and the understanding that we had to include some language to reflect Mexico . One piece of language was added to reflect Mexico .
• The top eleven concepts were presented at the Association's business meeting and approved.
• Many at the EOD working group had asked that the concepts be peer reviewed, so as one final step we asked some members of the National Association of University Fisheries and Wildlife Programs to review the concepts. The concepts we received suggested some tweaking and additions, but overall it was felt that the document contained valuable guidance for implementing CE. We will save their suggestions and consider them in the next round of revisions.
To review all of the approved core concepts click here.
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Core Cocepts Links:
Approved Core Concepts
Core Concept Working Group Participants
Important Links:
Thanks to those involved!
We want to thank everyone who was involved in this important process:
• The Goal 2 Committee responsible for the core concepts
• Everyone at the agency/organization level who participated in the CE Concept Survey
• The group of 22 individuals who worked thirteen hour days to review the survey results.
• The sponsors who made this work possible: Ducks Unlimited, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation, National Shooting Sports Foundation, Bass Pro Shops, Wonders of Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• Those who participated in the EOD Working Group and EOD Committees
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