2025 Call for Proposals
The Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative is convening place-based education experts and practitioners from across the globe to present at our 9th national Place-Based Education Conference being held at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan, November 12–14, 2025.
We are seeking dynamic proposals containing a combination of information and interactive learning that leverage lessons learned and highlight proven approaches to place-based teaching and learning.
PBE Conference attendees are diverse in age, ethnicity, geography, educational background, and experience. Our audience is typically made up of K-12 educators/administrators/students, university faculty/staff/students, non-formal educators, early childhood professionals, natural resource professionals, staff of community organizations, business leaders, policymakers, and funders.
We strive to create a welcoming and supportive conference environment where all attendees can learn and grow and where the PBE movement can build and gain further traction.
The deadline for conference proposals is 11:59 pm ET April 27, 2025. For an idea of past conference content,see the 2023 conference program here.
All potential presenters will be contacted about the status of their proposal by May 1, 2025. We require initial presenter confirmation by May 15, 2025.
To help create access to the latest innovations, issues, outcomes, and research related to PBE, while also creating conference pathways that meet each attendee where they are in their PBE journey, the conference planning team has established several “strands” (listed below). Strands are aslo routed in our conference priority to create community, creativity, and collaboration amongst all attendees.
2025 Conference Strands
Additional strands may be added once proposals are evaluated.
Advancing Civic Literacy & Engagement
Local decision-makers and decision-making processes shape our places every single day. PBE connects the learning process to the real-world people and processes that have the power and resources to affect change in the community. At its best, PBE empowers and positions learners to actively participate in, even lead, civic processes that affect local decision-making. How does your PBE work increase civic literacy? How does your approach to PBE connect to, and include engagement with, representatives of government and governmental processes? How has civic engagement through PBE changed your community? On the governmental and community partner side, how do you create opportunities for schools, students, and community members to learn about, and participate in, civic and governmental processes and decision-making?
Equity & Accessibility
PBE is dynamic, and can be universal! PBE can take place in a diversity of settings, from rural to urban, from schoolyard to national park, from garden to stream. How are you leveraging the resources of your place to make PBE possible? What strategies and methods do you utilize to make PBE experiences accessible and relevant for all learners? How do you prioritize safety and personal comfort for each learner? What tools and strategies do you use to surface, acknowledge, and support cultural diversity and diversity of lived experiences of your students as they connect to place? How do you navigate and spotlight complex, sometimes untold histories and historical injustices that have shaped your place and community? Take us deeper into your approach for making PBE accessible and relevant to all learners, and in authentic service to all communities that you engage with.
Field Notes/PBE Research
PBE scholarly research is a growing field, and we welcome the sharing of research findings, strategies, needs, and opportunities! The PBE Conference is a critical gathering point for scholars to network, learn from peers, and disseminate their research findings. Additionally, we encourage program evaluators and individual educators to share evaluation and assessment outcomes of PBE programs and projects. Please consider that you’ll likely present to a mixed audience of peers in your field, community and school leaders, and practitioners seeking to deepen their understanding of the outcomes and benefits of PBE.
Getting Started with PBE
How did you get started with place-based education? Turn your experience and success into mentorship for attendees who are just beginning their journey into PBE! Consider sharing your strategies, techniques, stories, and resources for building a place-based education program, project, lesson, or school-wide initiative.
Leadership in PBE
Place-based education efforts require visionary leadership, school and community champions, supportive policies, and sustained access to professional development and peer-to-peer mentorship. How has your school or community cultivated place-based education leaders?
Regenerative & Resilient Communities
PBE puts learning into action, directing learning outcomes to generate real-world, community-based impacts. It also invites the learner to take ownership of the future of their community, and develop a sense of place and belonging. How has PBE strengthened your community by addressing critical local issues and needs, or by building toward a safer, healthier, more just future? How are you incorporating local, state, federal, or international sustainability frameworks or resources into PBE? How does PBE leverage and strengthen your local or regional economy by connecting learning experiences to relevant career opportunities and mentors? Take us beyond the schoolyard, deeper into the community, to explore what’s possible when education means shaping the future of the place you call home.
Taking it Outside
Transitioning to, and getting comfortable with, teaching and learning outdoors takes time, curiosity, practice, mentorship, and support! How do you prepare your students to be comfortable and engaged in outdoor learning settings? What routines of observation and inquiry do you utilize? What strategies do you use to teach through, and within, specific place-based settings, such as schoolyards, creeks, shorelines, local parks, gardens, etc.? What strategies and resources do you use to assess learning in the outdoor classroom? Share what makes your time outside effective, manageable, and worthwhile!
Alternatively, the PBE Conference is an opportunity for participants to recharge and rediscover (or discover anew) their connections to nature, to place, and to one another. We encourage you to leverage your facilitation skills, outdoor teaching strategies, and personal connections to nature to invite conference attendees to experience and connect with place through direct experiences. Ditch the presentation room in favor of the beautiful grounds of Eastern Michigan University’s campus, and help us create space for participants to connect with nature and one another!
Your Place, Your Stories
PBE puts the learner directly into the story of their community – its history, its present needs and opportunities, and its future potential. Just as the story of a place shapes the learning experience, the stories of PBE shape the field. The conference is your chance to become the storyteller and share the meaning of your PBE work. How has your community transformed through PBE projects? What have your students taken away from their learning experiences? How did those experiences change them? How has PBE inspired and guided student career interest and pursuit? How has PBE changed you – as a human, an educator, a community member? How has PBE changed the culture of your school, or your school’s relationship to the broader community? The stories of our PBE work inspire, inform what’s possible, and motivate us to reach further with this approach to education. Step back from the day-to-day and consider where the meaning sits within your PBE work, and then consider how best you can share that meaning with our community.
PRESENTATION REVIEW CRITERIA
Presentation proposals will be reviewed and rated based on the following criteria:
– Organization, clarity, and descripion of presentation content and activities
– Relevance of the presentation’s focus/topic to conference’s PBE strands
– Nature and quality of intended outcomes for attendees
– Presence of proven or innovative ideas, strategies, tools, and/or resources that encourage excellence in the field of PBE
– Inclusion of demonstrated solutions to common issues, barriers, and needs associated with PBE teaching, learning, and community engagement
– Opportunities for dialogue, interaction, and collaboration amongst session attendees
– How the session connects to issues of access, relevance, and inclusion in PBE (for example, by exploring location-specific PBE in rural or urban communities, designing PBE experiences for neurodiverse learners, or centering PBE learning in culturally-relevant practices)
CONFERENCE REGISTRATION
As a non-profit organization, the GLSI depends on sponsorships and registration fees to cover all conference expenses. We strive to keep our registration rates at or below those of similar, multi-day national events. We require all presenters to register for the conference and are not currently able to offer “presenter discounts.” (Note: Presenters may qualify for an established conference discount, once final rates are determined. Please check back for updates)
Thank you for your willingness to share your time, knowledge, and expertise with others!
Questions? Please contact Jan Sneddon at conference@greatlakesstewardship.org.