Environmental Education Has a Place Here Too

People around the world are now more than ever aware of the current environmental crisis our earth is experiencing. From taking small steps to reduce an individual’s carbon footprint to developing renewable energy technologies, it is clear that environmentalism is becoming a large part of almost everyone’s average, daily life.

Even so, there still seems to be a disconnect between our busy and advanced lives and the natural world that surrounds us. Kids would rather stay inside to play video games rather than go for a bike ride with friends, and even adults seem to think that going outside takes too much time and energy. To help rid of this disconnect, one recently growing trend is the implementation of environmental education centers.

Often times when people think of the phrase “environmental education center,” they think of building that is located in the middle of the woods, away from all the rest of civilization. The thought of school-aged children camping out for a few days as a class field trip comes to mind.

Here at CREEC, we believe it is more than that.

To us, an environmental education center is something that needs to be attractive and inviting to ALL community members. It’s a place that allows individuals to discover who they currently are in their relationship with nature, and who they want to become. An environmental education center should focus on how to bring people and their local natural environment together.

But people still seem to ask us, “what are you doing in an urban place like this [Saint Michael]?”

The answer, our friends, is quite simple. You asked for it. In fact, in a community survey conducted in the fall of 2015, 64% of participants indicated they “strongly agree” that environmental education is an important topic in the United States. In addition to that, 52% of participants from the same survey also answered that they were “very likely” to visit an environmental education center were one to be located within their community.

Therefore, we can conclude that we, as a community, were open to welcoming an environmental education center into our home. We found that the general public was ready to take on the challenge of incorporating environmental education into all of our lives.

An environmental education center doesn’t have to be located in the middle of the woods way up north to be effective in teaching people about the environment. Actually, we believe it is needed here in urban areas more than others. Our daily habits have a direct impact on our surrounding environment, and vice versa. Yes, air and water pollution, climate change, etc. affect all areas of the earth. But if people don’t care about their local environment, how can we expect them to care about somewhere they may only interact with a few times throughout their lives?

If you are not convinced yet, here’s CREEC’s original proposal summed up into 5 reasons why we were so adamant about becoming a part of the urban Saint Michael community:

1. Environmental education centers provide access to environmental knowledge and interaction with local nature. Additionally, they give insight on how individuals impact the environment, and can provide tips on how people can make small changes to their daily lives so that they can be more environmentally friendly.

2. The education provided by such centers helps expand the curriculum for all types of schools, elementary through college level. Having hands on experiences, focused on local ecology and river science, can provide numerous opportunities to regional schools for community engagement and scientific inquiry.

3. Environmental education centers can also increase community engagement with environmentally aware businesses. By partnering with such organizations on events and programs, businesses have the chance to share their stories and provide ways for the community to support environmentally-friendly organizations.

4. The community space of environmental education centers can be open for all to use and attend, therefore allowing it to serve as a local place to go to with friends and family – ultimately building the community.

5. Environmental education centers have the ability to contribute to the health of local economies by acting as small-scale tourist attraction; therefore bringing in more customers to other local businesses.