Efforts throughout Oregon to offer education in sustainability extend from
the grade school level up through high schools, community colleges and to the
state’s universities. In addition, many adult education programs are available
that examine the concept of sustainability and offer information on sustainability
practices. Here are some examples.
In Stefni Stephens’ class at Highland View Middle School in Corvallis,
sixth graders are learning about recycling.
"I started teaching the recycling program in my classroom five years ago
and the kids are pretty good about it," said Stephens.
"We put red bins in all of the classrooms, which Corvallis Disposal now
supplies, and then my students go around on Fridays and pick up all those bins
and do all the sorting and get it [recycled materials] in the right places."
The recycling program is not a part of the curriculum at the school. It is up
to individual teachers to include recycling in what they teach their students.
Stephens believes that teaching recycling is a way to get students thinking
about wise use of resources and the importance of conservation.
The Environmental Middle School in Portland takes a more intensive approach
to teaching children about the environment and sustainability. As the name of
the school implies, the environment is emphasized in the school’s curriculum.
EMS, which opened in 1994, is a "Special Focus" school in the Portland
School District. All students are given a core group of environmental studies
that includes emphasis on rivers, mountains and forests. In addition, all classes
adopt a local open area such as a park or wildlife refuge that they monitor
and help maintain throughout the school year. Also, all classes plan, care for
and maintain school gardens that include native plant, wetland, historical and
cultural gardens.
A regional program called Cascade Earth Force is aimed at school-age children
throughout the state and is intended to teach young people active citizenship
and environmental stewardship.
Cascade Earth Force is headquartered in Portland on the Portland State University
campus and has been running for about a year. The program partners with the
PSU Center for Science Education. The parent program, Earth Force, is a national
organization with offices in many major U.S. cities, said Julie Magers, program
director of Cascade Earth Force.
Earth Force is funded by Pew Charitable Trusts. According to Magers, Earth Force
operates by providing programs and educational resources for formal educators
and youth leaders. For example, Magers said, the Cascade Earth Force office
offers adult educators a year-long professional development opportunity that
runs through the academic year. The teachers and youth leaders in the program
then take what they’ve learned directly into the classroom or organization
where they are working with the young people.
Near Joseph in northeastern Oregon at the Wallowa Ranch Camp, Dave Yost takes
a more hands-on approach to sustainability education. The camp is a week-long
educational opportunity in Wallowa County aimed at kids aged 12 to 16. The purpose
of the camp, according to Yost, is to introduce urban kids to rural Oregon and
natural resource-based industries. The Wallowa Ranch Camp consists of five week-long
camp sessions held each summer starting in June. The camp operation is in its
fifth year, according to Yost. Twelve kids—10 from urban areas and two
from Wallowa County—participate in each camp session. Yost, camp director,
started the camp with the support of Sustainable Northwest in Portland, a non-profit
group dedicated to helping community-based organizations around the state build
partnerships to promote environmentally sound economic development. Locally,
the Wallowa Ranch Camp has received support from Wallowa Resources, a non-profit
county agency created to coordinate county-wide efforts to improve natural resources
management and economic development.
Moving to the college level, the Northwest Center for Sustainable Resources
(NCSR) has been set up at Chemeketa Community College in Salem to develop natural
resources technology programs for high school and community college students.
"Our main focus is developing curricula with an emphasis on things like
ecosystem management and sustainable resources in natural resources technology
fields—forestry, fisheries, wildlife," said Susie Kelly, director.
"We also develop educational programs in geographic information systems
and agriculture." Funded by National Science Foundation’s Advanced
Technological Education program, NCSR is a collaborative effort of partners
from Oregon, Washington, northern California, Maryland and Minnesota, including
high schools, community colleges, four-year colleges and universities, private
industries, government agencies and American Indian tribes.
Sustainability education efforts at the state’s universities include the
Center for Water and Environmental Sustainability at Oregon State University.
The center was established to coordinate research, education and technology
transfer programs in natural resources sustain- ability. Staff at the center
work with other university faculty and the public to identify research and education
needs, and they help coordinate efforts to inform the public about environmental
and sustainability issues.
At the University of Oregon, The Institute for a Sustainable Environment has
been established to foster research and education on environmental issues. The
ISE’s programs encompass environmental themes in the natural sciences,
the social sciences, policy studies, humanities, and the professional fields.
The ISE is particularly concerned with encouraging interdisciplinary environmental
research, education and public service.
The Center for Watershed and Community Health at Portland State University works
with communities, business and government to show how environmental management
and sustainable practices can be economic assets and generate competitive advantage.
The center conducts theoretical and applied research, helps plan and conduct
educational opportunities, and partners with business and community groups to
develop and support new approaches to environmental management and sustainability.
The OSU Extension Service offers the Sustainable Living Project, which is designed
to help Oregonians make environmentally responsible consumer decisions. The
project’s mission is to reduce environmental degradation and improve quality
of life in the Pacific Northwest by fostering new consumption patterns and promoting
sustainable lifestyles. A major emphasis of the program is the importance of
taking a thoughtful approach to balancing economic, cultural and environmental
needs.
OSU Extension educators provide workshops and other educational opportunities
in which they cover a variety of forest sustainability topics. These include
maintaining the health of forest ecosystems; harvesting forests with careful
consideration of what to remove and what to leave behind; exploring new marketing
opportunities to maintain economic viability; and protecting biological, structural
and floral diversity in forests.
In agriculture, the OSU Extension Service offers programs emphasizing sustainability
with the goal of helping growers continue economically viable production while
maintaining the productivity of their land. Extension educators conduct programs
on maintaining soil fertility through use of cover crops and conservation tillage
practices, efficient irrigation strategies and integrated management approaches
for control of weeds and pest insects.
The OSU Extension Service 4-H Youth program provides sustainability education
to program participants through a variety of environmental stewardship programs.
For example, the 4-H wildlife stewards program helps youth understand the relationship
between wildlife and the plant life that makes up wildlife habitat. The OSU
Extension Service 4-H Youth program also offers sustainability educa- tion in
earth science, marine science, forestry and water resource program areas.