ESD Project Initiative Peta White and Kim Dohms and the Student Researchers Sponsored by: Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment’s

The ESD Project Initiative Surveying ESD Initiatives in the RCE Saskatchewan Region using student researchers to collect the data.

Themed area working groups… Six Thematic Issues: Climate Change Health and Healthy Lifestyles Farming and Local Food Production, Consumption, and Waste Minimization Reconnecting to Natural Prairie Ecosystems Supporting Bridging Cultures for Sustainable Living and Community Building Sustainable Infrastructure including Water and Energy Cross-cutting themes: Sustaining Rural Communities Educational Approaches for Regional ESD

What are we doing? The Student Researchers work together and independently. We meet once a month and have jointly designed our inventory survey. We use the survey quite independently to gather our information, coming together to decide how we might present it.

The RCE Student Researchers Employed from November 2007 to December 2008 Peta White, Kim Dohms, Jill Arkles, Emma Findlater, Holly McKenzie, Brooke Leurer, Billy Patterson, and Ann-Marie Urban Employed in 2009 Peta White and Kim Dohms Selection process Action process

Billy Patterson Ann-Marie Urban Emma Findlater Jill Arkles Peta White Brooke Leurer Kim Dohms Holly McKenzie RCE Student Researchers

What are our challenges?  Engaging people to respond to our survey requests.  Creating understanding of potential for this inventory.  Creating understanding of why people should take the time to complete the survey.  How best to present the inventory information.  How best to collect and manage data.

How have we addressed these?  , personal phone calls, and filling out surveys ourselves using information from webpages has helped engage people.  Focused on potential for networking and research possibilities; online survey form brings participants to RCE homepage for further information that cannot be captured in a single or phone call.  Focused on networking and collaborating for increased identification of ESD initiatives.  Created template of survey; first as a document and then as an online survey form.  Online survey form deposits data into database for easier data management.

Our Online Survey… You can view our survey at:

Our Online Survey…

What have we found?  226 ESD Projects have been reported so far (with the desire to add more on a continual basis)  Searchable Database (excel)  ESD Project Reports (All projects and each Thematic Working Group)  Visual Representation (map)

Questions? Thank you