HomeMy WebLinkAboutEnv - 2015-02-19 - Item 2 - Appointment of Committee Liaisons
To:Environmental Committee Members
Subject:Earth Day Liaison
Earth Day Liaison
Volunteers complement and support the work of staff accomplishing important tasks
that would not otherwise be done, and support programs that could cease to exist
without their participation.
Volunteers bring a wide variety of skills, knowledge and experience with them, all of
which combine to strengthen the organization. Therefore, the City strives to provide
volunteers with meaningful work that suits their skills and goes beyond mere job
shadowing, as well as a rewarding and challenging community-oriented volunteer
experience for all those interested in the goal of promoting sustainable communities in
an urban environment.
In general an Environmental Committee liaison will:
Serve as a communication link between the Committee and a particular Sub-
committee, Taskforce and/or Working Group;
Provide guidance, support and advice when/where appropriate;
Assist with research, activities, report preparation and correspondence when
needed.
If required, they will attend the appropriate Standing Committee meeting to
present the Committee’s recommendation; and,
Maintain a positive working relationship with the other volunteers.
Earth Day
Each year Earth Day is held internationally on April 22. Earth Day Canada (EDC) was
created in 1991 as a national, not-for-profit environmental charity that provides
Canadians with an opportunity to make a difference where they live, work and spend
their leisure hours. It reaches out to youth, community and environmental groups,
schools, businesses, government departments and individuals across the county.
On a global basis, Earth Day’s mandate is to create and nurture a popular, highly visible
“window of awareness” in which individual awareness and actions are the primary goal.
EDC coordinates and promotes Canada’s celebration of International Earth Day and in
many communities the event has grown into Earth Week or Earth Month. EDC provides
user-friendly interactive programs, an events calendar, print resources and a website.
Earth Day is an excellent opportunity for the City to raise awareness of local
environmental initiatives and concerns and to encourage residents to take action on a
local level.
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Earth Day Liaison (Cont’d)
In general Earth Day liaison(s) will be responsible for the following:
1. Acting as the Environmental Committee’s connection / representative to the
City’s Earth Day Organizing Committee;
2. In association Step 1, participating on a Working Group responsible for one of
the following Earth Day activities put on by the City:
Community Litter Pick-up;
o
20 Minute Makeover;
o
Consulting Firm Challenge;
o
Community Clean-Up;
o
Earth Hour (occurs earlier in the spring, separate from Earth Day)
o
Living Earth Festival
o
Please note that more information on the various Earth Day activities can be found on the City of
Kitchener’s website: http://www.kitchener.ca/en/livinginkitchener/EarthDay.asp
3. Liaisons will be required to provide a status report at the March Environmental
Committee meeting.
Liaisons may ask other Committee members to volunteer for an activity on
o
Earth Day;
4. At the April Environmental Committee meeting, the liaisons will provide a further
update to the Committee confirming the list of Earth Day activities;
liaisons should provide specific details of the various Earth Day activities
o
so Committee members can attend;
5. At the May Environmental Committee meeting, the liaisons will be required to
provide a final update to the Committee on the success of the City’s Earth Day
events. This could be supplemented by the rest of the Committee describing
what they did for Earth Day.
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To:Environmental Committee Members
Subject:Community Environmental Improvement Grant (CEIG) Liaison
Community Environmental Improvement Grant (CEIG) Liaison
Volunteers complement and support the work of staff accomplishing important tasks
that would not otherwise be done, and support programs that could cease to exist
without their participation.
Volunteers bring a wide variety of skills, knowledge and experience with them, all of
which combine to strengthen the organization. Therefore, the City strives to provide
volunteers with meaningful work that suits their skills and goes beyond mere job
shadowing, as well as a rewarding and challenging community-oriented volunteer
experience for all those interested in the goal of promoting sustainable communities in
an urban environment.
In general an Environmental Committee liaison will:
Serve as a communication link between the Committee and a particular Sub-
committee, Taskforce and/or Working Group;
Provide guidance, support and advice when/where appropriate;
Assist with research, activities, report preparation and correspondence when
needed.
If required, they will attend the appropriate Standing Committee meeting to
present the Committee’s recommendation; and,
Maintain a positive working relationship with the other volunteers.
CEIG
The Community Environmental Improvement Grant program was created to foster a
sense of environmental stewardship throughout the City. The City offers this grant to
organizations that undertake environmental stewardship projects. Applications will be
accepted from non-profit groups, neighbourhood associations and communities of
interest. A ''community of interest'' is defined as a group of individuals who voluntarily
associate with each other because they have identified common environmental
concerns that impact the city. A limit may be placed on the number of grant applications
considered from schools or school related entities in a given year.
The objectives of the grant are to:
Increase awareness of how Kitchener residents view and treat air, water and
land resources, and encourage solutions to improve the quality of these
resources;
Promote healthy lifestyle practices;
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Community Environmental Improvement Grant (CEIG) Liaison (Cont’d)
Foster a sense of environmental stewardship;
Promote and initiate the development of short term, intermediate and long term
community-based environmental programs; and,
Support environmental research.
A total of $5,000 is budgeted annually to the CEIG program
, with the maximum
grant of $3,000 to be awarded to any one applicant.
In general CEIG liaison(s) will be responsible for the following:
1. The liaisons will meet in September/October to review the submitted applications
to identify which applications comply with the prescribed grant eligibility
requirements;
2. All eligible grant applications are circulated with the next meeting’s agenda
package;
All Environmental Committee members are e-mailed the CEIG scoring
o
sheet. Members are to complete the scoring sheet and return it
electronically to the liaisons via staff;
3. Following Step 2 the liaisons will meet with staff to compile the cumulative
scoring sheet and prepare a draft recommendation;
4. The cumulative scoring sheet and draft recommendation will be presented for the
Committee’s consideration at the October meeting;
5. The liaisons would then assist staff in presenting the recommended CEIG
applications at a November Planning and Strategic Initiatives Committee (PSIC)
meeting; and any recommendation arising from that Committee would be
considered at a November/December Council meeting;
6. Liaisons will be required to follow-up with the respective grant recipients
regarding
the status of their project/program;
o
the submission of any progress reports; and
o
their attendance at a future meeting to provide an presentation/update on
o
the status of the project/program
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To:Environmental Committee Members
Subject:Kitchener Natural Areas Program (KNAP) Liaison
Kitchener Natural Areas Program Liaison (KNAP)
Volunteers complement and support the work of staff accomplishing important tasks
that would not otherwise be done, and support programs that could cease to exist
without their participation.
Volunteers bring a wide variety of skills, knowledge and experience with them, all of
which combine to strengthen the organization. Therefore, the City strives to provide
volunteers with meaningful work that suits their skills and goes beyond mere job
shadowing, as well as a rewarding and challenging community-oriented volunteer
experience for all those interested in the goal of promoting sustainable communities in
an urban environment.
In general an Environmental Committee liaison will:
Serve as a communication link between the Committee and a particular Sub-
committee, Taskforce and/or Working Group;
Provide guidance, support and advice when/where appropriate;
Assist with research, activities, report preparation and correspondence when
needed.
If required, they will attend the appropriate Standing Committee meeting to
present the Committee’s recommendation; and,
Maintain a positive working relationship with the other volunteers.
Kitchener Natural Areas Program (KNAP)
Kitchener’s Natural Areas Program (KNAP) is a community-based stewardship
program. The goals of the program are to: engage the community in stewardship
projects, educate people about Kitchener’s natural areas and create opportunities for
people to experience nature in the city. In its first two years the program created more
than 6,000 stewardship and education hours, and made contact with 2,250 people in
the community. Activities may include tree planting, invasive species control, ecological
restoration, natural area cleanups and nature walks.
Kitchener has more than 850 hectares of natural area, ranging in size from 1 hectare to
areas greater than 50 hectares. There are more than 75 natural areas in the city that
make up 65% of the City’s park system. In our natural areas you can find; old growth
trees, rare and endangered species, wetlands and cold water streams. They are
valuable and important places providing social, economic and environmental benefits to
the community. Dominated by native vegetation these areas include meadows,
waterways, wetlands and woodlands.
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Kitchener Natural Areas Program Liaison (KNAP) (Cont’d)
In general the Environmental Assessment liaison will be responsible for the
following:
1. The liaison will attend all KNAP meetings (not more than 4 per year).
2. The liaison will provide a brief update after each KNAP meeting to the
Environmental Committee.
3. The liaison will inform Environmental Committee members on KNAP stewardship
working days so that members have the opportunity to sign-up to participate in
activities of their interest.
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