All Articles

Hometown Heroes Times Two

18 August, 2010

Alternatives Journal is a media sponsor of Earth Day Canada’s Hometown Heroes Awards Program. Introduced in 2004, the awards recognize unsung environmental leaders who have made a positive difference within their communities. This year marks the first time that EDC has handed out two awards: one to an individual and a second to a group.

Nominations are received from across Canada on Earth Day (April 22), and judged by a panel of community, business and environmental leaders. The winners receive cash prizes of $10,000 each.

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Trees in the ‘Hood

12 August, 2010 | Nicola Ross

In 2005, Andrea Dawber came across a project named Walk Here. She recalls thinking about Davenport, the tree-challenged Toronto community where she lives: It needs to be green here, she realized, if people are going to walk here. And so began GreenHere, the 2010 winner of Earth Day Canada’s Hometown Hero group award.

Published in: Environmental Education 36.5

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Dogged Determination

12 August, 2010 | Nicola Ross

Heather MacFadyen relates her horror upon returning to her weekend home in Canmore, Alberta, after a six-week hiatus. “I was driving along the road that leads to our place when I realized that something was missing. What had been a mature lodgepole pine forest a few short weeks ago was now an open field.”

It was 1998, and a developer had razed the trees to make way for yet another housing development in the burgeoning town that has more than tripled in size in 20 years. Located at the eastern entrance to Banff National Park and a 90-minute drive from Calgary, Canmore is a hot commodity for Albertans interested in a mountain getaway.

Published in: Environmental Education 36.5

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The Canadian Environmental Education Directory

12 August, 2010

Across Canada, students are flocking to environmental courses in record numbers. In a report released this June, the Environmental Careers Organization (ECO) found that enrolment in environment-related university programs increased by over 40 per cent between 2000 and 2007, which was roughly 15 per cent higher than the average enrolment increase in all other programs over the same time period.

“The stigma toward environmental education has changed,” says ECO’s marketing director Chris Stewart. “It’s not just about cleaning up garbage – there are opportunities for environmental grads throughout all levels of society.”

Published in: Environmental Education 36.5

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Sustainable Minds

12 August, 2010 | Kate Davies

A radical transformation of education would develop an ecologically literate society – one that understands the principles of ecological systems and uses them to design human systems.