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May 1, 2003

PENNSYLVANIA DEP PRESENTS $50,000 ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION GRANT TO TEMPLE UNIVERSITY AMBLER AT EARTHFEST 2003

A little morning rain did little to dampen the spirits of more than 1,500 visitors and 50 exhibitors at Temple University Ambler’s first outdoor, educational celebration of Earth Day — EarthFest 2003.

“I don’t think we could have asked for a better event. Our goal with EarthFest was to promote environmental awareness through the use of sustainable concepts,” said Dr. Jeffrey Featherstone, director of event-sponsor the Center for Sustainable Communities at Temple University Ambler. “With exhibitors ranging from the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to grassroots efforts such at the League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, I think we achieved and surpassed our expectations.”

During EarthFest on April 22, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) provided a helping hand in Temple University Ambler’s continued commitment to promoting environmental education and community sustainability.

Pennsylvania DEP Southeast Region Director Joe Feola announced the awarding of a $50,000 environmental education grant to the Center for Sustainable Communities. The grant is the largest of 70 awards totaling $400,565.

“Education is our best tool to get people to appreciate our environment and better understand what it takes to preserve it,” said DEP Acting Secretary Kathleen A. McGinty of the grant awards. “All of these projects will increase awareness and promote practices that serve to protect and preserve our natural environment. Earth Day invites people to view the world from a different perspective and challenges them to understand more than anything the connection between their actions and the impact they have on our environmental resources”

According to the DEP, the environmental education grant allocations are made to help schools, universities, conservation districts, and organizations promote environmental awareness and stewardship across the Commonwealth.

At Temple University Ambler, the Center for Sustainable Communities will utilize the grant to begin the first phase of a project to develop curricula and workshops to assist educators in teaching environmental studies. The project will help teachers meet one of the nine recently enacted Pennsylvania Academic Standards for Environment and Ecology, which requires educators to provide students with instruction related to the state’s environmental laws and regulations. Upon successful completion of phase one of the project, the center will receive another $50,000 award for the implementation phase of the project. Limited resources currently exist for classroom use.

“The Center is particularly excited about the grant award as it will engage educators representing many disciplines and institutions from around the state,” said Dr. Featherstone. “Our team has substantive knowledge of the subject matter and extensive experience designing and teaching environmental studies classes.”

The Environmental Education Act of 1993 requires five percent of all fines and penalties collected annually by the DEP to be set aside to stimulate environmental education in Pennsylvania. Including these 70 grants, the DEP has awarded more than $3.5 million in support of environmental education since 1995.

At EarthFest, the DEP also presented Temple University Ambler with a $1,500 award for their first-place finish in the department’s “Rush to Recycle Challenge.” Competing against 19 other colleges and universities, the Ambler campus took first place in the “Existing Recycling Programs” category by increasing the baseline level of recycling by an astounding 268 percent.

In addition to the DEP’s grant award, other significant visitors to EarthFest included U.S. Representative Joseph M. Hoeffel. Congressman Hoeffel, a staunch advocate of a variety of environmental concerns, helped secure a $1.5 million Housing and Urban Development grant for the Center for Sustainable Communities.

D. James Baker, President and Chief Executive Officer of event exhibitor the Academy of Natural Sciences praised the event and expressed interest in partnering with the Center and Temple University Ambler in future endeavors.

“This is the first Earth Day event in the Philadelphia region in a very long time. You have industry, non-government organizations, schools, everyone has come today to promote awareness of the stewardship of the Earth,” he said. “I’d like to see the Academy be a place that reflects the types of things we are talking about here.”

With the success of EarthFest 2003, event planners are already looking toward the future.

“Our intention was to try to develop what could become an annual celebration of Earth Day on campus,” said Dr. Featherstone. “Based on the positive feedback we’ve received from visitors and our exhibitors, we’re looking forward to another EarthFest in 2004.”

For more information about the grant presentation or Temple University Ambler EarthFest 2003 call the Center for Sustainable Communities at 215-283-1540.

CONTACT: James Duffy, (215) 283-1290, duffyj@temple.edu, release available by e-mail