The Inter Tribal Council, the Southwest Enviornmental Health Sciences Center and a number of Tribes in Arizona are funded by the EPA to conduct Envrionmental Education among Tribal members in 2020 and 2021.
Overview
Tribal Voices is a collaborative project overseen by the Inter Tribal Council of Arizona. It includes multiple Tribal offices and the Southwest Environmental Health Sciences Center
Goals
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Promote community and student environmental stewardship through culturally relevant activities that lead to Environmental Stewards Community Projects.
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Develop environmental literacy among youth in 5 tribal communities that encourages youth to pursue environmental education and careers.
Project Description
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Partnership meetings at the beginning for training about: EE Continuum, Indigenous EE and Project Based Learning, at the midpoint to assess reaching benchmarks, and at the end for summative evaluation and planning next steps.
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In school presentations about local environmental issues, traditional ways of interacting with the environment, by elders and professionals, and environmental and environmental health careers.
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Interviews of elders in the community to further explore traditional ecological knowledge.
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Field trips to see environmental issues first-hand and to learn more about the careers.
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School Based Intergenerational discussions about solutions to develop and implement Environmental Stewards Community Projects to address one issue the community faces in a culturally appropriate way.
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Demonstrations of environmental stewardship through articles, photos, and drawings submitted to the SWEHSC Indigenous Stewards Magazines and presentations at the Tribal Forum.
Who will be involved?
Students
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20 per community
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Gain environmental education, learn about environmental careers, engage in environmental health projects
Teachers
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7 per community
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Assist students with developing projects, help in hosting educational events
Elders
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4 per community
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Provide traditional knowledge, build intergenerational connections with students
Environmental Professionals
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2 per community
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Present on careers, provide environmental education presentations, assist students in completing projects
Community Members
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10 per community
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Includes parents, general public, and community leaders
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Identifying community environmental health issues, help students develop projects