- RSVP reminder for the Hennepin County environmental education network meeting next week
- Overview of the nearly $500,000 in Healthy Tree Canopy grants awarded
- Bat Week resources and event
- Good Steward grant opportunity
- Bird webinar and E-STEM online course information
- Updates on Green Partners grant projects from MN Renewable Now, Tangletown Neighborhood Association, and Hiawatha Watershed Adopt a Drain and Neighborhood Clean Ups
 Show and tell: integrating technology in outdoor and environmental education
Monday, October 16 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Kroening Nature Center, 4900 Mississippi Court, Minneapolis, MN 55430
Join environmental educators and outdoor professionals to learn how they are using technology as part of their educational approach. We will gather for lunch (provided by Hennepin County) followed by an informal “show and tell” where attendees can learn from each other about apps and other technology. The show and tell will be outdoors, weather permitting.
Optional: share how you use technology
Whether you use an app, a device, or a website to enhance learning for your participants, you are welcome to share your experience with other educators.
 The county awarded 25 Healthy Tree Canopy grants totaling about $499,700. Grant projects will take place in 13 cities, on two affordable housing properties, at five schools, and through five nonprofit organizations, including congregations and neighborhood associations. More than 620 trees will be planted through the grant projects.
The grants will:
- Fund the collection of data through tree inventories, which is critical to increasing and diversifying the tree canopy and responding to emerald ash borer.
- Address the impacts of tree pests and pathogens by improving city forestry capacity and treating or replacing and replanting ash trees that are threatened by emerald ash borer. Grantees are required to plant at least one replacement tree for every ash tree removed.
- Educate residents on the benefits of trees and engage them in tree planting efforts.
- Improve livability and reduce disparities by planting trees in neighborhoods throughout the county experiencing disproportionate amounts of economic, environmental, and health inequities.
- Protect people and increase the county’s resilience to climate change – important goals in the county’s Climate Action Plan – by increasing the benefits that trees provide. These benefits include capturing carbon, reducing air pollution, and taking up stormwater, and providing shade to counteract the urban heat island effect.
Grant projects that include environmental education and engagement
Two of the cities receiving grants will integrate environmental education and engagement into their projects. Brooklyn Park plans to conduct education on emerald ash borer and hold volunteer tree planting events to replace 30 ash trees. Eden Prairie will create signage to educate the public about emerald ash borer.
Learn about the grants awarded.
Bat Week is an international, annual celebration to raise awareness about the need for bat conservation. Read on to learn more about bats in Hennepin County, a bat resource to give your audiences, and an event on Saturday, October 28.
Bats in Hennepin County
 Bats are an important part of our ecosystem as they eat up to half their body weight in insects every night. Not only do they eat mosquitoes, they also contribute billions of dollars' worth of agricultural production by eating pests.
Hennepin County is home to seven species of bats, including the federally endangered northern long-eared bat. These species depend on decaying trees, caves, mine shafts, and bat houses to raise their pups in the summer and to shelter in for the winter.
Bats in our area are struggling due to disease, habitat loss, climate change, and development, but you and those you teach can make a difference! Share these easy ways to help bats:
- Leave dead trees standing.
- Manage forests in the winter, when bats and nesting animals are less likely to be disturbed.
- Protect wetlands and other sources of freshwater.
- Don’t use pesticides. They can poison or kill bats, who are natural pest controllers.
- Keep cats indoors.
A safety note about bats: a very small percentage of bats (less than 1%) have been reported to carry rabies in Minnesota.
- Due to the small risk of rabies, do not pick up an injured bat if you find one. Contact the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota (info@wrcmn.org or 651-486-9453).
- Report sick or deceased bats to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (dnr.state.mn.us/reportbats).
Educate your audiences about bats
 Use the building and maintaining your bat house (PDF) pamphlet to educate your audiences about the benefits of bats, how to build and maintain a bat house, and other ways to help bats. Consider integrating this pamphlet as a take-home resource after night hikes.
Order printed versions of this 5.5" x 8.5" pamphlet at no charge.
Minnesota Bat Festival
Saturday, October 28 from 1 to 5 p.m.
Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, 3815 American Blvd. E, Bloomington
Celebrate and learn about the unique role that bats play in the environment at the Minnesota Bat Festival! Experts from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, University of Minnesota, and Hennepin County will share information about bat houses, bat disease research, surveying Minnesota’s native bats, and how to support bats in your backyard. Free tree seedlings and bat houses will be available while supplies last. The event is free and includes activities for all ages.
Printable event flyer you can share with your audiences (PDF).
Apply for a Good Steward grant
 Turn your environmental ideas into reality with support from a Good Steward Grant. Funding is available for smaller projects that improve surface or water quality, enhance natural areas and promote environmental stewardship to the community.
Grant applications are being accepted now through Tuesday, November 14. Learn more and apply online: Good Steward Grant.
Typical projects include:
- Rain gardens
- Stream bank stabilization
- Native vegetation restoration
If you have questions or need assistance with the application, contact Ellen Sones, ellen.sones@hennepin.us.
Compost awareness week poster and video contest
The International Compost Awareness Week Committee holds a poster and video contest each year. The winning entries will be used to promote International Compost Awareness Week in May 2024.
The video contest is open to youth ages 10 to 13 and the poster contest is open to anyone 14 years or older. The theme this year is “COMPOST…Nature’s Climate Champion!” The deadline to enter is Wednesday, November 1. Learn more about both contests.
E-STEM Education 4-week online course from Cornell University
October 23 to November 19
E-STEM Education is a 25 hour course for teachers, educators, volunteers, and leaders who want to help youth become scientifically literate, environmental citizens. Participants will learn how to integrate environmental and sustainability education into STEM in formal and nonformal settings. They will also learn more about inquiry-based learning, project-based learning, and other active learning pedagogies, and develop their own E-STEM lesson or activity plan.
Cost: $70
Learn more and register.
Birds for all webinar
Thursday, October 26 from 2 to 3 p.m.
 This webinar will help educators harness student interests in nature, habitats, and inclusivity using birds! Join the American Bird Conservancy, North American Association for Environmental Education, and Project Learning Tree to discover hands-on resources that use birds to create fun, inclusive, and authentic learning experiences for everyone! No prior birding experience required. Register.
The following organizations received a Hennepin County Green Partners grant. The grants provide training, support, and funding to organizations to implement projects that engage residents to learn about, protect, and improve the environment.
MN Renewable Now engages residents to switch to clean energy in north Minneapolis
 MN Renewable Now is engaging residents in north Minneapolis to “Power North”. The Power North project combines strong community relationships with clean energy expertise to empower Northern Green Zone residents and businesses to choose clean electricity.
The project works with youth to door knock in north Minneapolis communities and host pop-up events. North Green Zone residents and businesses in the City of Minneapolis are also empowered to choose clean electricity and reduce their energy consumption. The project will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, decrease energy burdens, and activate a community clean energy ethos.
Trash boom capture system installed on Lake Hiawatha
 This summer, Freshwater teamed up with River Network, Friends of Lake Hiawatha, Osprey Initiative, the City of Minneapolis, and the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board to install a litter capture device to help clean up Lake Hiawatha. Trash entering the lake through a storm drain outfall is captured by a series of floating booms where it can be collected, sorted and analyzed. This collaborative project will help to raise community awareness around clean water and protect the diverse ecosystem of this beloved lake. See the trash capture system in action and learn more in this video.
Tangletown Neighborhood Association Association’s events series about managing waste from electronics and appliances responsibly
Join Tangletown Neighborhood association to learn how you can responsibly manage electronics and appliance waste at one of these upcoming online events.
|
