Caretakers of the Environment

Nova Scotia - Canada

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Organizing Successful Student Conferences: Five reports from the field

"Ideally, environmental education enables students to discover their own community environment and the cultural, environmental and historical roots that have laid its foundation. Understanding one's culture and recognizing the intricate interaction and relationship between culture and community environment might be an important first step in respecting the cultures developed elsewhere in the world under different environmental circumstances." -- Dr. Arjen Wals, President of Caretakers of the Environment International


This is the expressed goal of Caretakers of the Environment International-Canada (Nova Scotia) in working towards the new millennium as well as in the work we have done for the past 10 years in supporting annual Nova Scotia Student Provincial Environment Conferences (SPEC).

With SPEC, senior high school students and teachers and their community from a selected school in the province host a three day conference of their peers from other schools. The following reflection on SPEC98, by students from the host school, outlines the planning, event and follow-up processes. The conference typically involves the direct participation of about 75 people and touches 12-15 school/communities in Nova Scotia.

Student Provincial Environmental Conference, 23-26 September 98
Host: Whycocomagh Consolidated School, Whycocomagh, Cape Breton
Theme: R.E.A.L.-- Radically Active Environmental Living
Students' Reflection on Process, October 98

What happened and when?

February 98

The community and school of Whycocomagh was approached by Caretakers of the Environment-Canada (Nova Scotia) to host the 9th Student Provincial Environmental Conference (SPEC98) Class Presentation made to students by Jim Mustard and Kate Graves

March 98

Students pick the theme to reflect "active living and appreciation of nature"; weekly meetings begin

April 98

Registration begins and carries into May and especially September Site selection

2...

May 98

Summer student hired by Nova Scotia Environmental Network (NSEN) to support process. Sonia Murray is an active member of the NSEN Youth Caucus and worked with NSEN last year to organize a regional youth Ecotopia

June 98

Sonia visits classrooms in the Halifax area to make students aware of SPEC98 after familiarizing herself with Caretakers- Canada

August 98

Fundraising, press contacts and special event skills are shared with student organizers in Whycocomagh. Sonia prepares and conducts a one day work camp in Cape Breton for the student organizers

September 98

Organizers gain food sponsorship as part of ongoing committee work
Conference takes place 23-26 September

October 98

Press, finances, sponsorship "Thank you's" and a follow-up news letter are left on the "to- do" list.

Throughout this time the committees are changing to meet capacity/needs. (Students are comfortable with this.)

What worked and what didn't?

The organizing group of 10+ were united by the process of organizing the conference. They came to trust each other as well as the process. They developed comfort in using the telephone and noted improved interpersonal communication skills. Their confidence grew with new responsibilities. They felt respected and befriended. They experienced non-ageism (agelessness?).

In post-conference reflections, the organizing students felt that they were slow to re-establish their group in September, after the summer "vacation". Students said they didn't communicate enough with the general community of Whycocomagh. They considered their communication with their own school community was also weak.

They created a full agenda and they had the sense that there was not enough time to do everything. This led to resourceful re-scheduling on-site, and the planned community service work was unfulfilled.

They noted that the cliqueishness they anticipated was not present at the conference. 3...

Individual observations:

We got along really well. Team building, good activities and participation all helped. No judgement of what or who we were. We were all equal. I learned to be more open to other cultures and ideas. At home, I am more open to ideas. I listen better. P.

I practiced turning negatives into positives. Trust, positivity and enthusiasm all played a role. D.

Registration is a stressful and exciting job. I made new friends. T.

People's perception is that we are really weird, now. We had bonding time through activities and hard work. In the beginning communication was weak. G.

Changes happened. Finances, you have to start really early or you won't get considered. It all depended on us. R.

I was on the phone constantly. Who is coming? My emotions were strong. The schedule was hectic and I made new friends and strong connections. A

We got along despite screw-ups around the food and the hectic pace. J.

"Pass!" You decide what I mean by that. (Joke!) I learned that a lot of people can pull together really quickly. I felt alive! There was a chain formed while we worked together and you didn't need to be connected to everyone. It was a positive, together, rushed, never-ending experience. I.

Next we were spasaming-out. By mid-Sept we knew who was doing what and we were happy and energetic. On the last day of the conference we were sad. _.

It was earth focused, environmental-like. We were happy with the activities, canoeing. There were communication glitches. Swamp-like in getting through. It was sad at departure time _.

It was like a heartbeat. I thought we were dead in the water in August. Then September we were in overdrive. October we're back to normal. C.

WE have to change the way we live. Thats what we learned at the conference. C.

The controlled flow of info and experiences created an opportunity for self-improvement. The passion to live an active style of living is contagious. K.

One of the most important parts is helping participants learn to work with and understand people with different backgrounds and cultures. J.

It is very true that even if the interest is there, without support and connections with others it is very difficult to take on projects and stay interested. S. 4...

Follow-up required:

Caretakers of the Environment - Canada thanks:
Jim Mustard and Margaret Thompson, Don Black and Kathryn Graves,
Sonia Murray and her family, Whycocomagh Consolidated School,
Friends of the Environment Foundation, the Nova Scotia Environmental Network,
Government of Nova Scotia

Many participants of S.P.E.C. view environmental education as community-based learning. That is, the development of local environmental awareness which furthers appreciation of our natural beauty, history, ethnic and cultural diversity as well as our technical and scientific sensibilities.

For our 10th (September 1999)annual provincial conference we have begun out-reach to Black Nova Scotian youth as well as to youth in the deaf community. These are two youth groups not typically involved, who we believe will both benefit from, and make important contributions to, our environmental education network. Preliminary contacts have been made with both communities.

Caretakers-Canada operates through the volunteer efforts of community members and high school students and teachers. Their efforts have been increasingly supported with contributions of in-kind services by community members.

Our average annual budget has been about $5000. With this money we have developed a communication programme linked to a variety of special events associated with SPEC. We support high schools in their fundraising by gifting them with packages of environmental posters created at our suggestion by graphic design students of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. CEI-Canada also prepares and sends a delegation to the annual international environmental education conference held in a different country each year by our parent organization, Caretakers of the Environment International.

Caretakers of the Environment International--Canada (Nova Scotia)
1657 Barrington Street, Suite 125, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3J 2A1
(902) 423-9005, fax: (902) 454-6605,
Email: cei.canada@gmail.com
www.caretakers4all.org/ceican.htm

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