Manitoba Grants for Education for Sustainable Development 2010

Successful recipents have been selected for the 2009 Manitoba Grants for Education for Sustainable Development.

The Grants | Priority Areas | Eligibility | Selection Criteria | Application Process | Planning Support

Are you a Kindergarten to Grade 12 educator who is interested in preparing students to live sustainably on the planet?

Would you like your students to become informed and responsible decision makers? Would you like to provide your students with opportunities to play active roles as Canadian citizens and contribute to social, environment, and economic well-being now and in the future?

If so, we invite you to apply for a grant that will help you accomplish this goal.

The Grants

Manitoba Education and Manitoba Hydro continue to offer Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Grants to promote sustainability in classrooms. Manitoba Education and Manitoba Hydro want to support schools in which educators work together to plan and teach ESD. The grants will provide up to $2000 to cover expenses, such as teacher release time, professional development, and teaching/learning resources for sustainability education. MECY staff will also provide grant recipients with planning support.

The objectives of the grant are to:

1. Support schools in their efforts to help students acquire the knowledge, skills, values, and life practices that contribute to a sustainable future.
2. Contribute to effective practices in education for sustainable development.
3. Provide students with opportunities to make decisions and analyze sustainability.

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Priority Areas

Education for Sustainable Development involves learning about social, environmental, and economic factors in relation to quality of life. Priority areas (or sustainability topics) in each of these three dimensions are identified in the United Nations Decade for Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014).

Sustainable Development Priority Areas

Socio-Cultural	Environmental	Economic
Human rights Peace and human security Justice Gender equality Cultural diversity and intercultural understanding Community and culture Health HIV/AIDS Governance Demographics Equity and rights	Natural resources: water energy agriculture biodiversity and habitat conservation fish forests air Climate change Rural transformation Sustainable urbanization Disaster prevention and mitigation	Poverty reduction Corporate responsibility and accountability Market economy Energy efficiency and conservation Consumption and waste management Economic performance Agricultural viability Mining Employment Education

Topics selected for development should clearly link to one of these priority-areas. Each topic must be examined from the sustainable development viewpoint, which incorporates social, environment, and economic factors.

For information about the priority areas and their connections to Manitoba Kindergarten to Grade 12 learning outcomes, please visit MECY’s Education for Sustainable Development website.

Teaching / learning should be:

• Interdisciplinary and holistic: where learning for sustainable development is embedded in the whole curriculum and is not a separate subject.
• Value-driven: where the shared values and principles underpinning sustainable development are made explicit, so that they may be examined, debated, tested and applied.
• Applicable: where the learning experiences offered are integrated in day-to-day personal life.
• Locally relevant: where local issues are addressed, allowing students to make connections with their community.

Teaching and learning should also address:

• Critical thinking and problem solving: where students develop their confidence in addressing challenges and opportunities of sustainable development.
• Multi-method: where students use text, art, drama, debate, experiential learning, and a variety of strategies to explore sustainability.
• Participatory decision making: where students participate in decisions on what they learn and how they learn it.
• Team Work/ Collaboration: educators and students learn and work together to acquire knowledge, skills, values and life practices in their school and community that contribute to
  a sustainable present and future.

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Eligibility

Kindergarten to Grade 12 English, Français and French Immersion public schools in Manitoba are eligible to apply. Applications from urban, rural and northern public schools are encouraged.

Projects will be selected and up to $2000 will be awarded to the school. The implementation must be completed by the 2010-2011 school year.

Tree planting projects are not eligible. Schools wishing to pursue tree planting projects should submit an application to the Manitoba Hydro-Forest Enhancement Program. For information call: 360-4934 or visit the Manitoba Hydro website.

Selection Criteria

The ESD planning and development must:

• Involve students in collaborative goal setting, and planning.
• Address a topic from a sustainable development viewpoint, incorporating social, environmental, and economic perspectives.
• Be interdisciplinary in nature, ideally involving two or more educators with different areas of expertise, who work together to plan and teach a topic focused on a sustainability (e.g., a language arts teacher and a science teacher may work together on a topic that will be delivered as part of both courses).
• Have a local connection, involving students with their community.
• Involve students in analyzing issues and making decisions leading to actions aimed at achieving a sustainable future.

Application Process

Deadline for applications is February 12, 2010.

A selection committee including educators, Manitoba Education and Manitoba Hydro staff, will review applications. Successful applicants will be informed in April, 2010.

Application Form:

Printable ( 26 KB)
Fillable ( 62 KB)

Mail, fax, or email applications to:

Education for Sustainable Development Grants
Manitoba Education
Instruction, Curriculum and Assessment Branch
1567 Dublin Avenue
Winnipeg MB R3E 3J1
Fax: (204) 945-1704
Email: anne.macdiarmid@gov.mb.ca

Assistance in completing your application may be obtained by calling Anne MacDiarmid:

Telephone: (204) 945-6943
Toll-Free: 1-800-282-8069, extension 6943

Planning Support

Manitoba Education will provide planning support to grant recipients by addressing topics such as:

• interdisciplinary planning
• ESD resources
• ways to engage students/involve students in decision making

Note: A summary report will be required by May 31, 2011.

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