Empowering Students through Train-the-Trainer Workshops Case Study Presentation Ms. Tahira Mohamad Abbas, RCE Greater Portland 8th Americas Regional Meeting 23-25 September, 2019, Burlington, USA

1. 8th RCE Americas Conference:
“Human Health & The Environment”
September 23-25, 2019
Burlington, VT
Empowering Students Through Train-the-Trainer Workshops
Tahira M.Abbas, M.A
RCE Greater Portland
abbas.m.tahira@gmail.com

2. Mental Health & Well-being
 Mental health effects: integral parts of the overall
climate-related human health impacts
 Lack of visibility: “not merely the absence of disease”
 SDG 3 / Target 3.4 : 1st time explicitly on a global agenda
 Prioritizing mental health: central to achieving the SDGs

3. Linking the physical and psychological impacts of
climate change. (INFOGRAPHIC BY ECOAMERICA)

4. The Narrative
 Media and culture
representations
 Routine exposure to risk
messages: doom & gloom
 Climate skepticism

5. Adverse Effects
 Routine exposure to information about
overarching threats : adverse
 Sense of cynicism, hopelessness,
fatalism, heightened risk perceptions,
etc.
 Eroded sense of self and collective
control; anxiety disorders
 Psychological barrier to active
involvement: solutions seem insignificant
to scale and magnitude of threats.

6. How To Address
Challenges?
 How do we overcome psychological
barriers that inhibit engagement and
build awareness to empower students?
 GPSEN collaborated with experts to
design trainings addressing sustainability
issues through eco-psychology and social
justice lenses.
Trainings created by:
 Kathy Stanley, M.A.
 Rebecca Lexa, M.A.
 Kevin Thomas, M.A.

7. Train-the-Trainer Model
 Leverage resources
 Scale up impact
 Higher satisfaction
 Sustainable practices
 Cost-efficient

8. Structure & Curriculum:
GPSEN Motto
EDUCATE: Grounded in educational foundations
EMPOWER: Promote attitudes and tools to make a difference
ENGAGE: Provide proactive strategies and pathways

9. Train-the-Trainer Workshop Series
 “Strategies for Hope and Resilience” (Piloted February, 2017)
 “Facing Climate Change” (Piloted April, 2017)
 "Empowering Students for Environmental Justice“ (Piloted May, 2019)

10.  Funded by:
 Portland Community College’s Green Initiative Fund (TGIF)
 PCC’s Student Government Eco-Social Justice Initiative
 Funds supported trainer fees, course materials,
operations & refreshments
 Administered by GPSEN

11. Outcomes
 70 students attended PCC workshops
 45 Oregon Department of Environmental
Quality employees trained
 45 participants in AASHE presentation
 9 participants in AASHE pre-conference
workshop
 50 people attended Global RCE workshop in
Japan (2017)

12. Lessons Learned:
 A strong need for these lessons
 A collaborative community is needed for this work
 Work closely with trainers to achieve desired outcomes
 Include more interactive activities
 Provide more time to dig into tough topics
Next Steps:
 Requests to offer each of the workshops in the coming year
 Will continue to revise and improve workshops
 Collaborate with student clubs for leadership development
 Increase community partnerships
 Align workshops with SDGs

13. GAP Priority Action Areas
 3: Building Capacities of Educators and Trainers
 4: Empowering and Mobilizing Youth
 5: Accelerating sustainable solutions at the local level

14. Upcoming project:
Research-Practice-Policy
SDGs Meet-ups
 Bridging the gap between
sustainability stakeholders in
research, practice, and policy
on each of the SDGs
 GAP 1: Advancing policy
 GAP 5: Accelerating sustainable
solutions at the local level

15. Current GPSEN Initiatives
 Governance: strategic plan; apply for grants
 Outreach & Communications: advance partnerships
 Research & Curriculum: expand Fellows program
 Programs & Events: UN Days; Fall EcoChallenge;
Train-the-Trainer Workshops; Sustainability
Symposium; and Networking Socials
 Mentoring new RCEs in US
 For more: visit RCE Portal/GPSEN website:
www.gpsen.org

16. Future
partnerships
 Focus on partnerships with private
sector
 Portland’s largest employers are
health care providers: OHSU,
Providence health, KAISER Permanente
 Exploring opportunities for
partnerships with local health care
providers
 KAISER report on climate action (2019)
 In addition to partnerships with:
 Technology Industries
 Media Stations
 K-12 Schools

17. Thank You!
Questions or Comments?
Tahira M. Abbas, M.A.
abbas.m.tahira@gmail.com
www.gpsen.org