RCE Grand Rapids-2013
a) Criteria/ indicators used to assess aspects of RCE work/ project: Character count 300 words:
1. Engagement with the RCE community worldwide. Indicators: attendance at conferences (Tongyeong and Lima this year); conference calls or Skype conferences with colleagues in the global community (several with the Americas and Europe).
2. Cutting edge programs. Our Youth Virtual Conference on Water Issues was definitely cutting edge and received good reviews from our RCE colleagues. We will host another such Virtual Conference in the Spring of 2014.
3. Advancement of the mission of our RCE to extend the reach of ESD throughout our region. Creation of regional Community Sustainability Partnerships(CSP) (five already created; two more in development). Meetings of the CSPs within a region (two this year) to develop collaborative enterprises: resilient cities being the main thrust of our work.
2. Cutting edge programs. Our Youth Virtual Conference on Water Issues was definitely cutting edge and received good reviews from our RCE colleagues. We will host another such Virtual Conference in the Spring of 2014.
3. Advancement of the mission of our RCE to extend the reach of ESD throughout our region. Creation of regional Community Sustainability Partnerships(CSP) (five already created; two more in development). Meetings of the CSPs within a region (two this year) to develop collaborative enterprises: resilient cities being the main thrust of our work.
b) Successes of the RCE and lessons learned: Character count 300 words:
Youth Virtual Conference on Water Issues organized by RCE Grand Rapids involved RCE Curitiba, RCE Bogota (Medellin), RCE Saskatchewan and RCE Rhine-Meusse; RCE Lima has subsequently used the platform. This conference brought together secondary school students on three continents in a peer-eductional initiative. Each school developed presentation on one water-related issue and presented their findings to the other schools in a real-time virtual conference setting where they never had to leave their classrooms. Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids provided the technology (Blackboard Platform). This technology worked flawlessly. Challenges identified: 1. engaging RCEs in other parts of the globe given time differences. WEstern Canada and Europe are about as far as we can expect to reach and even that distance required getting some students to school very early and others staying after the traditional school day. 2. Because the license for the software permits access by all participants for one year following the conference, we had hoped that students and teachers would continue the dialogue around water issues; that has not happened.
Plaster Creek Watershed Initiative. Conducted by Calvin College in cooperation with RCE Grand Rapids this initiative monitored stormwater runoff in a tributary to the Grand River, educated citizens on stormwater pollution issues and involved citizens in clean-up and community education efforts. Lessons learned: the closer water pollution is to where people live the more likely they are to be engaged; or, said otherwise, "Think globally, act locally."
Seeds of Promise. This social equity and environmental quality initiative of RCE Grand Rapids works in a very low-income neighborhood of Grand Rapids to empower residents to address issues of poverty, unemployment, education and environment in their neighborhood. Lessons learned: 1) this work takes patience and a willingness to leave middle-class cultural assumptions behind and turn control over to the residents; 2) sustainability funding is hard to raise. Funders want to provide project funding but are reluctant to provide administrative financial support.
Plaster Creek Watershed Initiative. Conducted by Calvin College in cooperation with RCE Grand Rapids this initiative monitored stormwater runoff in a tributary to the Grand River, educated citizens on stormwater pollution issues and involved citizens in clean-up and community education efforts. Lessons learned: the closer water pollution is to where people live the more likely they are to be engaged; or, said otherwise, "Think globally, act locally."
Seeds of Promise. This social equity and environmental quality initiative of RCE Grand Rapids works in a very low-income neighborhood of Grand Rapids to empower residents to address issues of poverty, unemployment, education and environment in their neighborhood. Lessons learned: 1) this work takes patience and a willingness to leave middle-class cultural assumptions behind and turn control over to the residents; 2) sustainability funding is hard to raise. Funders want to provide project funding but are reluctant to provide administrative financial support.
c) Challenges experiences: Character count 300 words:
RCE Grand Rapids is an unfunded organization that lives on the good-will of its partners. Only to the extent that the institutions of higher education and the City of Grand Rapids are willing to provide staff, technology and other resources, does the RCE succeed. A change in leadership at any of the key stakeholder institutions might result in diminishment of the RCE efforts. This is not a sustainable situation. Our RCE must find stable, on-going funding to support its own staff if it is to succeed over the long-haul.
