Network for Emergent Socio-Scientific Thinking (NESST)

For Youth

• Opportunity to join the NESST Youth Ambassadors Program, connecting youth (14-18) in local and global settings through in-person and virtual exchange programs
• Connect with professionals to learn about complex global topics, and develop localized solutions Leadership opportunities for youth ages 14-18 to take action in their own communities
• Opportunities for mentorship from scientists, professionals, educators, and researchers in a variety of fields

For Formal and Informal Educators

• Opportunity to join the NESST Teacher Ambassador Program to tend to your teaching practice within a community of purpose
• Access to resources that summarize existing research, curriculum and other best practices in the field Opportunities to field test new content and curriculum, and shape emerging practices
• Gain experience with tools and resources to support your teaching and learning practice

For Academic Researchers and Educational Scholars

• Collaborate and participate in research studies and identification of research gaps
• Opportunity to contribute to and lead publications in the field
• Advance personal and professional studies within a supportive community of purpose

For Scientists and Industry Professionals

• Engage directly with students and educators to share your work and experiences, and build capacity for scientific literacy
• Contribute personal knowledge to a global movement aiming to shift systems
• Learn and share best practices on how to engage youth with complex issues
• Advance environmental and social goals through public-private partnerships

Self

NESST challenges members to reflect on their own practice and experiences through virtual and in-person convenings, conversations, and intergenerational mentorship.

Community

NESST facilitates the exchange of ideas, and development of professional networks of youth, formal and informal educators, researchers, scientists, and business leaders working across borders, generations and disciplines through specialized collaboration spaces to discover new paths forward in a changing world.

Global Network

NESST members connect their communities around the world through collaborative publications, action research projects and continued discourse on complex global topics.

NESST is an inclusive, collaborative, action-oriented community of purpose and emergent practice supporting STEM education for a sustainable future.

As a community of purpose, NESST values include:

• Commitment to education as a foundational element in a changing world
• Inclusion, collaboration and connection
• Evidence- and research-based practices in STEM and education
• Honoring, embracing, and amplifying diverse ways of knowing and understanding
• Engaging and elevating youth as decision-makers in their own communities, and in their own education process
• Embracing emergence in the context of complex socio-scientific issues and in the process of developing the network
• Solutions-oriented approaches to issues of sustainability and other complex challenges
• Valuing process alongside outcomes

NESST’s future-focused, transdisciplinary actions inspire optimism through local solutions to global challenges. Contact: Katherine Blanchard (BlanchardKP@si.edu)

NESST Glossary Terms: 

• Glossary Terms 
• Glossary terms contextualized for youth 
• Glossary terms contextualized for educators 
• Glossary terms contextualized for researchers 
• Glossary terms contextualized for NESST Members 
• Additional selected resources