Beginning on Monday (6/10) environmental leaders throughout Ohio met for the first of three sessions of the Ohio Environmental Leaders Institute (OELI) aimed at building knowledge, skills, and professional relationships to help them collaborate across sectors and disciplines to address issues related to the environment and sustainability. Participating in the Institute are thirty-four leaders from a variety of sectors, including local and municipal government agencies, non-governmental organizations, private industry, and public institutions. The leaders will meet three times over the course of the summer to learn and develop collaboration and leadership skills with a focus on leading for climate change and leading on energy. Anne Baird, program director in the School of Environment and Natural Resources and one of the coordinators of the OELI notes, “there are several other similar programs offered at other Universities including University of Virginia’s Virginia Natural Resources Leadership Institute, and North Carolina State University’s Natural Resources Leadership Institute all following a similar format. We hope that a professional cohort forms that can support each other and provide leadership for collaborative problem solving around environmental issues.” Joe Bonnell, program director in the School of Environment and Natural Resources and Maggie Lews, lecturer, Fisher College of Business also coordinate the Institute.
Sponsors of the Ohio Environmental Leaders Institute include Ohio State University Extension, OSU’s School of Environment and Natural Resources, and
OSU’s Office of Energy and the Environment.
To learn more about the OELI visit, oeli.osu.edu.
Image: OELI day one Ohio 4-H Center , June11, 2013 Session I: Leading for Sustainability