Virginia Coastal Program: 2004 Coastal Grant Project Description and Final Summary
Project Task:
FY2004 Task 04
Grantee:
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality - Office of Environmental Education
Project Title:
Environmental Education
Project Description as Proposed:
This project continues the work begun in 1989 to maintain and coordinate state efforts to educate and train coastal area citizens, educators, local government staff, and students with the goal to effect positive behavior changes toward the environment. The office will provide staff support to the Virginia Environmental Education Commission and will facilitate implementation of Virginia's business plan for environmental education. The plan has prioritized state goals to strengthen and promote environmental education and includes specific strategies and measurable targets. A major goal is to build local capacity toward delivering quality environmental education in each locality. Some of the specific work of the office includes implementation of the Virginia Bay Communications and Education Plan and tracking progress on education commitments of Chesapeake Agreement, maintaining the Virginia Naturally web site, implementing the environmental Standards of Learning , administering Project WET (Water Education for Teachers), and implementing the agency's communications and education plan. Staff will work closely with the Coastal Program Outreach Coordinator and other agencies to ensure effective information sharing, broad promotion of program materials, and linkages among state and local education programs.
Federal Funding:
$100,722.00
Project Contact:
Ann M. Regn, 804.698.4442; Ann.Regn@deq.virginia.gov
Project Status:
Grant Closed
Final Product Received:
Project Summary Provided by Grantee:
During the 2004 grant, from October 2004 through September 2005, the Office of Environmental Education made significant progress towards reaching the goals of Virginia’s master plan for environmental education (www.vanaturally.com/businessplan.html), particularly in providing meaningful watershed education for every student in Virginia. The Office of EE also partnered with the Virginia Department of Education to track and report on the state’s Chesapeake Bay Program C2K commitment on education (http://www.vanaturally.com/pdf/c2k.pdf). More than 100 educators attended a regional Bay education summit which focused on implementation and tracking of this commitment.
Professional development was one focus of staff efforts through the year. A Virginia Naturally conference attracted over 125 informal EE providers from around the state to learn more about new EE tools and techniques. Virginia Naturally, an initiative coordinated by the Office of EE, encouraged development of and provided technical support to regional environmental education alliances around the state. These alliances of informal providers facilitate coordination and collaboration on a regional scale. The Hampton Roads Alliance for Environmental Education is very active and has a page on the EE web site http://www.vanaturally.com/hraee/homepage.html
In addition to providing professional support to the state’s school systems and informal EE providers, the Office of EE secured and distributed more than $80,000 in financial support through funding from EPA and NOAA’s Chesapeake Bay Program. The Classroom Room Grants Program (www.vanaturally.com/classroomgrants.html) distributed more than $65,000 to meaningful EE projects addressing such topics as watersheds, wetlands and oyster gardening.
The Virginia Naturally web site has been redesigned. Particular attention was paid to enhancing the navigability of the site and making it easier for educators, students and the community to find what they need quickly. Staff also added EE success stories, information on grant funding opportunities (www.vanaturally.com/grants.html) and a page on Ways to Reduce Your Ecological Footprint (www.vanaturally.com/footprint.html). The web site calendar is continually full as partners add their events and activities to share with all EE providers and the community. Hits to site exceed 5,000 per month.
The 2006 Love-A-Tree kit (www.deq.virginia.gov/education/loveatree.html) supports clean air and links energy use to pollution. More than 2,000 kits were distributed.
The Office of EE supported DEQ’s Community Involvement initiative, producing materials to conduct 7 regional open houses www.deq.virginia.gov/info/meetings/homepage.html around the state.
Office of EE staff attended the Northeast Coastal Zone Management Partners Workshop to learn about social marketing and how to apply it to current and future EE efforts. Understanding this marketing technique which focuses on reducing the barriers to behavior change will aid the Office develop more strategic and effective communications for educators, students, citizens and others. For additional info: www.vanaturally.com & www.deq.virginia.gov/education.
Disclaimer: This project summary provides the federal dollars initially awarded to the grantee. Due to underexpenditure or reprogramming of grant funds, this figure may change. For more information on the allocation of coastal grant funds, please contact Laura McKay, Virginia Coastal Program Manager, at 804.698.4323 or email: Laura.McKay@deq.virginia.gov
A more detailed Scope of Work for this project is available. Please direct your request for a copy to Virginia.Witmer@deq.virginia.gov
