#1503: Listening to the Land and Sea: Community Learning at Crystal Cove Conservancy

This community engagement workshop explores how environmental learning can be designed, enacted, and studied across interconnected land and sea systems. Centered at Crystal Cove State Park, participants engage in an immersive field-based experience that illustrates how public landscapes support connections among schools, community organizations, and professional science and land-management communities. Drawing on learning sciences perspectives, the workshop integrates guided exploration of inland and coastal ecosystems with structured reflection and collaborative sensemaking. Participants examine how learning designs incorporate scientific practices, local ecological phenomena, and community relevance, and how participation structures influence inquiry, equity, and civic reasoning. The workshop also considers how Crystal Cove’s existing STEM programs provide a meaningful context for examining field-based learning in environmental and climate education. Participants collaboratively generate design principles and research questions to inform future educational efforts and study.