Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

CANADA #42:International Polar Schools Program  (International Polar Schools Program)

Outline
This multi-partner, comprehensive program based in Canada has several components aimed at pre-university students, teachers and non-formal educators with these common goals: • To encourage and facilitate exchange between the target participants across the circumpolar North, for sharing and learning about common issues; • To encourage and facilitate exchange between Arctic school and non-formal youth educational communities and those in other parts of the world, for increased understanding of polar issues; • To increase awareness, knowledge and understanding of polar issues at the pre-university level in many parts of the world; • To assist polar research by encouraging meaningful data collection by pre-university groups in the North. The primary components of the proposed program include: • The establishment of a “Polar School” network which would encourage schools and non-formal youth educational organizations in any geographic location to participate in and be recognized for polar-related projects; • The establishment of ongoing environmental monitoring stations in schools and related youth education organizations across the circumpolar North, for scientific study. • Creating an Internet-based forum for exchange, including a web site for registering and archiving exchange activities, storing related educational materials, and acting as a clearinghouse or portal for related activities. • The production of educational kits focused on polar issues (with teacher and student activities, poster, etc.), with distribution to Canadian schools. • On-line distance learning opportunities for school communities (K-12), youth education organizations, as a form of public outreach. • The production of an interactive science display on polar issues for loan to Polar Schools.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
The exchange and learning components of this program relate to Themes 3 and 6. Firstly, within the circumpolar world itself as a community of shared interest and environments, then secondarily through communication to a broader network. The intent is that pre-university schools and non-formal youth education organizations (e.g., outdoor education centres) around the world will have an opportunity to learn about the polar regions through educational activities, and contact with Arctic school communities by electronic means. Themes 1 and 2 are reflected in the intent to set up a network of ongoing environmental monitoring stations at schools in the North (legacy is the training of teachers and interested non-formal youth education organizations in the North, and subsequently students in GLOBE environmental monitoring protocols).

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
One proposed partner for environmental monitoring is GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) whose international scope includes over 100 countries and 14,000 schools. Contacts can be made through this network. A past example is the GLOBE/Arctic POPS project with participation from GLOBE schools in 7 circumpolar countries.

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
World-wide potential through a web site with the focus on the Arctic circumpolar region. Circumpolar focus of direct school involvement, with international school access through internet and developed resources.

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: n/a
Antarctic: n/a

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
Partners contribute as obligations: time, product(s) review, promotion / communication through their networks (e.g., magazines), and possible financial contributions. Resources on proposed web site shared for educational and/or participatory projects (e.g., data collection). Significant financial support will be development / management of bilingual web site, production of educational product(s), program maintenance.

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
Physical scientific legacy will be a distributed network of circumpolar schools with simple yet valid environmental monitoring equipment. Intangible legacy will be that of an established polar-related education program and ongoing network of teacher, non-formal educators, students, and the interested public.

How is it envisaged that the required logistic support will be secured?

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
Project is endorsed in principle by the Canadian Wildlife Federation (CWF), one of Canada’s largest NGOs (see www.wildeducation.org and www.cwf-fcf.org). This project also has “endorsement-in-principle” from EECOM: The Canadian Network for Environmental Education and Communication, a well-established national NGO (www.eecom.org). This pre-proposal has been reviewed and is being submitted by the Canadian Steering Committee (CSC). Ongoing discussions will integrate this pre-proposal into a larger network of related national and international initiatives. The CSC has initially sorted this pre-proposal into: THEME: Education, Outreach & Communication SUB-THEME: Education and Training

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE

Is the project a short-term expansion (over the IPY 2007-2008 timeframe) of an existing plan, programme or initiative or is it a new autonomous proposal?
New

Most components of the proposed program are new initiatives. The environmental monitoring component will be an extension of the GLOBE (www.globe.gov) program. The GLOBE Program includes scientifically based protocols for school use (K-12) for the study of atmosphere, water, phenology, land cover and soil. As well, there are Yukon/Canadian-developed GLOBE protocols for snow study.

How will the project be organised and managed?
Program will be overseen by one of the potential partners (TBA), which will act in a coordinating role. Staff will be hired to fulfil this role. Some components of the program will be contracted out (e.g. the development of the interactive science display). Other components will rely on the established expertise of certain partners (e.g. the Canadian Wildlife Federation for experience in producing educational kits for nation-wide programs such as National Wildlife Week and Oceans Day; and GLOBE for monitoring).

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
Education: Teachers (schools), youth education organizations (non-formal educators) receive high quality instructional, educational product and opportunities for meaningful participation to further understanding of the North. Outreach: Interested public may participate in awareness of the North. Communication: Key messages promoted through partnering organizations’ communication vehicles (e.g., magazines, PSAs, Web sites, related programs).

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
GLOBE already has a well-established system of data management. GLOBE data entered at the organization’s web site are archived, mapped, graphed and easily retrieved. These data are used by the scientific community and available to students worldwide. Learning and exchange through electronic networks will be documented for reference on an Internet web site.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
There is no secured funding at this time. Potential funding can come from private foundations, NGOs and various government sources. Rough estimates of costs (in CAN$): Program coordination: $50K Monitoring network (GLOBE), for materials and training: $40K Electronic network, website, and promotion: $35K Education kits, and distribution to schools in Canada $50K Development of on-line learning component: $15K Interactive science display development: $25K Interactive science display transportation costs: $25K French translation of materials $25K TOTAL: $265K

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
As this proposal would likely be the most ambitious education and outreach program aimed at pre-university audiences, it would seem logical that this organization/program would provide a clearinghouse or web portal function. It could encourage other agencies to adopt a polar focus in their activities for the year as well as acting as registry/links pages for polar-focused projects around the world. (e.g. Green Teacher magazine—www.greenteacher.com—has expressed an interested in focusing an issue of their publication during IPY). 2 2 Define the approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities, or in the case of community-based projects, the duration of the program. Proposal writing, securing funding, initial planning: 2005 “Product” development and testing: 2006 Program delivery and activity: 2007-2008 “Legacy” activity and followup: 2009

PROPOSER DETAILS

Remy Rodden
Box 2703 (V-18)


Whitehorse Yukon
Y1A 2C6
Canada

Tel: 867.667.3675
Mobile: no
Fax: 867.393.6206
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation