Spring 2026 News and Events - Australian Association for Environmental Education ACT

Yuma dear Environmental Educators in the Canberra Region 

Looking for an AAEE event but can't see it on the blog or on Humanitix? Scroll to the bottom for the rolling events calendar, most with links and dates. Or, send us an email at aaeeact@gmail.com and we'll help you find it.

But first, in case you missed it: 

October 25th is the due date for AAEEs annual award nominations.

Q: Do you know someone, a team, or a project that could do great things by being crowned the next national or ACT environmental educator of the year? 

Read more here: and nominate here. 

The awards will be announced in conjunction with the AAEE National AGM in November. Winners will be presented with a framed certificate and granted access to a free AAEE Professional Learning of their choice (over the next 2 years), as well as being featured on the AAEE website and social media.

The way this works is that ACT-based nominees (in all 4 categories) are automatically considered for both the national and ACT awards - no need to enter twice! 

With one exception! This is because the ACT also has an additional very special award category, recognizing excellence in emerging ACT-based environmental educators - the ACT Emerging Environmental Educator of the Year

Q: Do you know someone with big potential but a bit less experience who could really shine in the ACT Emerging Environmental Educator of the Year role for a year? Perhaps it's you! 

What to do: Let us know at aaeeact@gmail.com and we will guide you to formally nominate your person for ACT Emerging Environmental Educator of the Year 2026

To get ACT-specific updates by email, the best way is to email us to say hi at aaeeact@gmail.com. It's free to join the local subscription email list. To also get all the national and international EE news and event alerts straight to your inbox, plus a stack of member-only discount perks, join as a member of AAEE here.

Enjoy!

ROLLING EVENTS Calendar 2026 October November December There are almost too many things to mention them all - see events here; there's climate action education professional learning, AAEE member meetups, a Water Week learning circle and a launch of the new Green Water Detective water, cooling and regeneration education resource ... and more. The brilliant Beth Mitchell is AAEEs special guest at the 25th November 2026 AGM - more details soon - SAVE THE DATE. Do you have an environmental education or nature education event coming up which you would like to promote? Let us know at aaeeact@gmail.com Click here to see the latest articles at the Australian Journal Environmental Education - AJEE The AJEE's special focus collections are amazing: The Power of Stories for Social and Ecological Justice: An Assemblage of Narratives from Voices Unbound. All the latest articles here, including 'FirstView' JOIN or RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP HERE, the national team can be reached at admin@aaee.org.au We're looking forward to meeting new and familiar faces at these events and others we offer throughout the year. Reach the ACT team at aaeeact @gmail.com and check for monthly and other updates at the ACT AAEE blogspot    Kind regards Gabby, Karl-Erik, Glenys, Viv, Jodie and Donella   On behalf of the AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION - ACT Chapter  Working Towards Sustainability | Sharing learning | Working for change | Developing professionally Acknowledgement of Country We would like to acknowledge this ancient Country, with powerful mountains and waterways integral to the life and spirit of Canberra. We acknowledge the Ngunnawal people as traditional custodians of this landscape and recognise any other peoples and families with connection to these lands and region. We acknowledge the Indigenous knowledge holders both past and present whose ongoing guidance helps ensure healthy relationships between Country and humans; may we, as Environmental Educators’, learn from them to help us deepen our connection with Country. Copyright © 2026 Australian Association of Environmental Education ACT Branch, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive ACT AAEE emails? Let us know at aaeeact@gmail.com

Just in! More environment and nature education events will be added here as they come in! Got an event to share? Let us know at aaeeact@gmail.com

Nature Pedagogy in Early Childhood - Spring - Gabby Millgate and the Woden Valley Early Learning Centre team

Registration is optional via Humanitix

Watch WVELC here

When: Saturday 26 September 2026 10:00 am – 1:00pm - tours every 30 mins

Where: Woden Valley Child Care Centre, 1 Dann Cl, Garran ACT 2605, Australia

Who: The session will be co-run by Gabby Millgate, and the Woden Valley Early Learning Centre team.

Cost: No cost

 

Event Information:

A special Floriade community showcase at Woden Valley Early Learning Centre (WVELC), celebrating 10 years of Nature Pedagogy at WVELC .

We would simply like you to come and experience it and imagine how a child would feel if they were part of planting a Floriade Garden

The event will celebrate the ways young children encounter nature, place, beauty, curiosity and belonging through early childhood education.

Each space will offer a different expression of Nature Pedagogy, children’s participation and ecological learning, with opportunities to move through the service, listen, observe and experience the environments for yourself.

This is not a workshop about nature pedagogy. It’s a chance to experience it—and take it back with you.

You might also like this - Online AAEE Professional Learning Course - Climate Strategies in Early Years - Insight to Implementation - September and October

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Country as Teacher Workshop 20th August 2026 with Monty Nixon

  

Booking link at Humanitix

When: Thursday 20th August 2026 4:00 – 6:30pm

Where: The Crosbie Morrison Room, Australian National Botanical Gardens

Who: The session will be co-run by University of Canberra PhD student Monty Nixon

Cost: AAEE members $30, non-members $60

Follow on with a Country As Teacher Practitioner Network course:https://www.catpn.com/what-we-offer/our-courses

 

Event Information:

For millennia, Country has been the central knowledge-holder in society, guiding people to live in relational reciprocity and maintaining social and ecological balance.

This workshop offers an introduction to Country as Teacher pedagogy and invites participants to begin considering its possibilities within Environmental Education. It provides a starting point for engaging with a way of knowing, being and doing that honours longstanding Indigenous knowledge systems.

Monty is one of two inaugural national Australian Association of Environmental Education (AAEE) JEDI's - Awardees of the Justice Equity Diversity and Inclusion Award. He was also ACT's Emerging Environmental Educator for 2025. He is presently completing his PHD ‘Country as a Teacher’ at the University of Canberra.


Join us at ANBG to explore the above ideas and how they can be incorporated into your educational practice.

Why become a member of AAEE? https://www.aaee.org.au/get-involved/become-a-member/

Online AAEE Learning Circle - Children Need Nature - Making Children’s Access to Nature Visible in Early Learning - 12 August 2026 - Gabby Millgate

 

Booking link at Humanitix

When: Wednesday 12 August 2026 4:00pm - 5:00pm AEST

Where: Zoom

Who: Co-hosted with AAEE and Gabby Millgate, Nature Pedagogy Leader at Woden Valley Early Learning Centre, author of the WVELC Children's Nature Access Survey tool, and an Early Years Climate Strategy author and pilot participant.

Cost: $10/$5 for non-AAEE members,  $0 for AAEE members and AAEE volunteers . Donations for this month's AAEE Learning Circle welcomed.

Follow on with an AAEE Professional Learning Course (3-part, online, September and October): https://events.humanitix.com/professional-learning-course-climate-action-in-early-learning

Event Information:

Children’s long-term wellbeing, resilience and environmental understanding are shaped by their everyday experiences with the natural world.

Following Australia’s first National Climate Risk Assessment (September 2025), there is growing recognition that children will need the knowledge, skills, dispositions and relationships that help them participate in a changing world.

Yet many educators and services are asking an important question:

How do we even start?

Online AAEE Professional Learning Course - Nature Connection for Primary School Educators - August and September

 

Booking link at Humanitix

When: Thursday 13 and 27 August and 10th September 2026 , 7-8.30pm AEST

Where: Zoom

Who: Dr. Lisa Siegel

Cost: AAEE members $180, non members $300 

Get in quick for one of 5 special ACT educators discount codes : ACT Member ($100 off, making it $80) = ACTMEMBER

ACT educator Non Member ($100 off, making it $200) = ACTPL

ACT Member: https://events.humanitix.com/nature-connection-for-primary-school-teachers?accesscode=ACTMEMBER 

ACT Non Member: https://events.humanitix.com/nature-connection-for-primary-school-teachers?accesscode=ACTPL

Event Information:

The research is in!

There is strong evidence that being outdoors at school demonstrates "a strong relationship with lower levels of anxiety" (de la Osa et al., 2024) and that "people with more personal contact with nature are more likely to engage in activities or behaviours that support and protect it" (Soga & Gaston, 2024).

Are you an educator who can see the benefits of nature connection for your students? Would you like to learn more about the hows and whys of teaching through/with nature?

Join us for an interactive online professional learning series designed to support educators bring nature connection into everyday teaching and learning.