West Chester, PA (May 28, 2024) – Four projects that promote environmental education and stewardship among students and young people in Chester County will receive more than $60,000 in state funding, state Senator Carolyn Comitta announced.
“Meaningful environmental education programs help prepare the next generation to understand the growing impacts of climate change and address its impacts through environmentally informed decisions based on science and sustainability,” said Comitta, who serves on the Senate Education Committee and as minority chair of the Senate Environmental Resources Energy Committee. “And it’s especially important that these programs reach environmental justice communities – reinforcing our duty to ensure that everyone has access to healthy food, clean air and water, and safe homes.”
The funding, made available through the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Environmental Education Grants program, is as follows:
- $5,000 for the Philadelphia Ethical Society to support the Camp Linden Children’s Summer Program, a summer camp that engages at least 150 school-age children from Chester and Philadelphia counties in lessons and activities addressing climate change and water pollution.
- $30,000 for the Stroud Water Research Center Inc. to develop outdoor learning programs at sites in five partner school districts, located in Chester and Philadelphia counties. The project will create curricula and support outdoor learning spaces on school campuses to provide meaningful outdoor learning opportunities for teachers and K-12 students. The learning spaces will also provide water quality and wildlife habitat benefits.
- $5,000 for the Stroud Water Research Center Inc. to support the Discovering the Connections between Streamside Forests and Climate Change program and to create and implement a new PA STEELS (Science, Technology & Engineering, Environmental Literacy and Sustainability) standards-based lesson addressing the vital role streamside forests play in mitigating climate change impacts on freshwater resources.
- $20,512 for the Spirit & Truth Fellowship for the Faith-based Climate Justice Educational Initiative, which engages residents in Chester, Delaware, and Philadelphia counties through a church-based climate education project. The program involves an autumn leadership training, monthly meetings, local education events, and an annual conference.
The projects impacting Chester County come as part of $980,256 in total Environmental Education Grants funding awarded to 56 projects statewide. Nearly all of the projects will support people in environmental justice communities, Pennsylvania communities that are more threatened by climate change, air pollution, and water pollution.
“These projects help connect people to the ways we can protect the air we breathe and the water we drink, and many of them encourage learning at any age whether you’re a kid or an adult,” said DEP Acting Secretary Jessica Shirley. “Nearly every grant we are awarding will support people in environmental justice communities to improve educational opportunities and people’s connections to their environment.”
The 2024 funded projects will deliver a wide range of environmental learning opportunities including providing youth with unique immersive field experiences, engaging community residents in practical climate mitigation projects, supporting school districts’ efforts to develop new STEELS standards-based curriculum, and many more.
Environmental Education grant applicants include schools and colleges, environmental and community-based organizations, county conservation districts, and eligible businesses. Applications for the 2025 Environmental Education Grants Program will likely open in August 2024 with an application deadline of mid-November 2024.
The Environmental Education Grants Program was established by the Environmental Education Act of 1993, which sets aside 5 percent of the pollution fines and penalties DEP collects annually for environmental education in Pennsylvania. To date, DEP has awarded more than $14 million in Environmental Education Grant funding to support more than 2,200 projects.