Has anyone else seen a program like this or participated in such a program? Here's a program to "train the trainers." Acterra is a Bay Area environmental nonprofit. The year-long program appears to foster a close-knit, supportive community of committed participants.
Be The Change Program
Description:
Starting each September, Acterra's environmental leadership program engages diverse participants - from business leaders to educators to scientists to social activists - in a year-long training program. Offering monthly seminars, workshops, student projects, panel discussions and field trips, the program emphasizes building skills that enable people to act within the organizations where they work, live, worship and play to bring about significant changes in how they relate to the natural world. The program requires a full day each month, plus occasional evening programs and project work time.
Curriculum
The program weaves together six areas of learning, culminating in an individual or group project where participants can apply the skills they are learning.
Visionary Leadership -
learn how to inspire and engage others in creating solutions that balance ecology, economics and social equity.
Environmental Information -
become familiar with Bay Area ecology, our region's critical environmental issues and key concepts of natural science essential for decision-makers.
Skill Building -
develop expertise in motivating others, conflict resolution, public speaking, meeting facilitation, group dynamics, fund-raising, campaign organizing, etc.
Networking -
meet and learn from key leaders who are active locally: public officials, directors of environmental groups, business managers, academics, etc.
Personal Mastery -
hone your sense of purpose, refine skills in self-management, find your work/life balance, and cultivate inner resources to prevent burnout.
Practice -
design and implement individual or small group projects that exercise your developing skills as an agent of change. Exercising their skills as catalysts and innovators in greening our local communities, the "environmental entrepreneurs" of Be the Change's pioneer class initiated a variety of creative projects during the 2005-05 program year. Class projects ranged from radio spots about sustainability success stories to managing resources for zero waste, from using solar energy to installing programmable thermostats, from recycling waste and reducing water usage to a full cost accounting of the ecological services of Menlo Park's Bayfront Park.
More info: http://www.acterra.org/leadership/index.html
- Steve Raney,
Cities21,
Palo Alto, CA
Be the Change Program to Train the Trainers
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Hi to Steve and everyone else on the CBSM list-- It's not often that I find myself extolling the virtues of Cleveland to a list serve, in fact this may well be the first time, but your interest in sustainability learning and "doing" groups is the perfect reason! Please take a look at the following link, describing a program similar to Acterra's: http://www.e4s.org/content/learn_sigroups.asp The organization I'm directing you to is E4S (Entrepreneurs for Sustainability). Their program, much like the Acterra version, develops green teams within organizations (cultural, academia, manufacturing, corporations, hospitals, hotels) identifying goals and action plans for implementing sustainability within their processes, products, and presence. The SIGs (sustainability implementation groups) do site visits, tap resources, and are designed as peer learning groups. It's probably over dramatic to say E4S has single handedly turned the regional rust belt ship toward sustainability, however, many of the finger prints on the oar that IS turning the ship belong to members of this vast network of people, services, resources, and friends. Here is an additional link about E4S from Joel Makower's blog after visiting last November. http://makower.typepad.com/joel_makower/2006/10/when_it_comes_t.html If you'd like to touch base, get into more specific program details, contact Holly Harlan or Stephanie Strong (both cc'd).
Linda.
Linda Robson
Finance & Administration
Fellow for Energy Studies
www.case.edu/news/sustain
Doctoral Candidate,
Organizational Behavior CASE
Weatherhead School of Management
Office: (216) 368-5328
Cell: (216) 233-9560
Hi Steve,
From the look of the curriculum, there is a relatively new program in Ontario (Canada) called Young Conservation Professionals (YCP) that is similar. YCP is an amazing program (I may be biased because I am a participant this year) training young professionals to move forward as positive leaders in the conservation/environmental field. More information is at http://www.uoguelph.ca/~claws/ycp/about1.html. In fact, I learned about FSB through the YCP program.
Cheers,
Phung Tran
Project Planner
Muskoka Heritage Foundation
Bracebridge, ON
http://www.muskokaheritage.org/
Hi Steve,
A similar program is being delivered in Australian communities, called Sustainability Streets. This project brings people together to get to know their neighbours and learn about living sustainably; after participating in a range of workshops covering topics like energy, water, waste, sustainable gardening etc, SS groups develop and implement their own projects. The overall aim is to build up sustainable communities at a very local level, and the project has had some great outcomes. For more info check out http://www.voxbandicoot.com.au/sustainability_street.html
Cheers,
Anna Strempel
Household Program Coordinator
Moreland Energy Foundation Ltd
PO Box 276 Brunswick VIC 3056
Ph: (03) 9381 1722
Fax: (03) 9381 1733
www.mefl.com.au
One program that comes to mind that is similar to Be the Change...http://www.acterra.org/leadership/index.html is the Master Composter Program in Edmonton, Alberta.
Thirty to forty residents are accepted into the program each year. They engage in a 40-hour program of learning about composting, the 4Rs, Edmonton's waste management system, public speaking and communications. In return for all that free learning, participants give 35 hours of volunteer service to the city in various capacities - helping to staff displays, provide expertise at composting events, social marketing pilots, taking shifts at the re-use centre, or various other projects of the City's or of their choosing. The City now has a long list of engaged volunteers to call upon for various tasks related to resource recovery and composting.
Learn more at www.edmonton.ca/waste http://www.edmonton.ca/waste
Scroll to Master Composter on the left side.
Heather Wheeliker
Coordinator, Waste Education
Alberta Environment Education & Outreach Section
www.environment.gov.ab.ca
2005-14: UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development
Celebrate! Environment Week:
June 3 - 9, 2007 Wetlands: Your Action Counts! www.environment.gov.ab.ca/edu/eweek/
Waste Reduction Week: October 15 - 21, 2007
www.wrwcanada.com
Compost Awareness Week: May 4 - 10, 2008
www.compost.org