Teachers Domain: Indigenous Perspectives on Climate Change in the Pacific Region

Wgbh Educational Foundation, Brighton MA

Investigators

Abstract

The WGBH Educational Foundation is collaborating with Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL) and the new Pacific Islands Climate Change Education Partnership (PCEP) to produce a digital library collection of purpose-built media resources presenting indigenous perspectives on climate change and related threats to the eco-system throughout the Pacific Island region (USAPI). Building upon findings from WGBH's Engaging Alaska Natives in the Geosciences project, an OEDG-supported Track 2 initiative, this new Track 1 project applies production strategies developed with indigenous populations in Alaska to a vast geographic region facing a related set of environmental challenges. The affiliation with PCEP enables informed, coordinated dissemination of these resources to teachers, students, and other educators throughout the region's multiple jurisdictions. Addressing such climate change-induced effects as sea-level rise, coastal erosion, coral reef bleaching, ocean acidification, and contamination of freshwater resources, topical foci is determined with the input of partner organizations and an Advisory Board of scientists and educators. Particular attention is being paid to indigenous perspectives on these impacts and presenting traditional knowledge and value systems as complements to the analyses of Western science. The goal is not only to inform the general public, but also to inspire local students and teachers to engage actively in mitigating the effects of climate change and to consider advanced study and possible careers in related fields, as these challenges have such direct and immediate impact on their lives. Deliverables include a collection of media resources produced by, with, and/or about indigenous peoples across the USAPI (including Hawaii, American Samoa, the Micronesian archipelago and the Mariana Islands), each fully contextualized for presentation on the PBS LearningMedia platform, the successor to WGBH's Teachers' Domain web site used for dissemination in the earlier Alaska project.