How SEED Grew From a Dream to a Global Initiative.
When EPI’s alumni leadership award provided funding to Student Education for Environmental Development (SEED), it was a fledgling idea dreamed up by four university friends. Less than a year later, EPI alumnus Cameron and the three other SEED co-founders found themselves sailing along the Norwegian coast with a cohort of other young adults to celebrate their projects’ recognition by the World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA). Cameron’s course experience with EPI in Yellowstone not only provided him with the adaptability and flexibility needed to manage a volunteer project as a full-time university student, but also came in handy during his UN-sponsored sailing excursion.
Cameron and his friends came up with the idea for SEED after noticing the sparse use of composting facilities in Montreal, where they all attend McGill University. Rather than simply install more bins for organic waste, the SEED co-founders decided to incorporate an educational component into their project, citing a lack of sustainability lessons in their own schooling. The four SEED members traveled to local schools to share their “Compost in a Jar” activity, which allowed students to make and take home a glass jar of food waste to watch it decompose into soil. Students and teachers loved it, and soon SEED was looking for more funding and guidance to keep their program running.
They found WFUNA’s “Under the Starry Sky” program, which encourages teams of young adults to submit proposals for projects that address the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. SEED’s environmental education program was one of 30 projects chosen out of 3000 submissions to receive WFUNA guidance on implementing and managing their project, as well as an invitation to attend a 9-day celebratory sail along with Norwegian coast with fellow awardees from around the world. In between their duties serving as the crew of the ship, SEED and the rest of the attendees presented their projects to UN delegates, Norwegian school children, and each other, spreading awareness of the good work done by young adults worldwide. Cameron said it reminded him of his EPI course in Yellowstone, where he and his classmates were tasked with cooking, cleaning, and conducting research in unfamiliar outdoor environments.
After the trip, Cameron and the rest of the SEED crew have continued to expand the reach of their program through funding from McGill University and Forces AVENIR. They’ve brought on additional volunteers, developed more curriculum, and are reaching out to more schools. All it took was a little seed funding from EPI to get started.
Do you have an idea for a project (or an existing project) that will address climate change or help a climate-threatened species, community, or ecosystem that could use some funding? Apply to EPI's Alumni Leadership award!
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