Opens 27 May.... closing date 16 August

The team at Mother Earth are delighted to announce that the Mother Earth Reward will open for entries on 27 May!  The closing date is 16 August.

As per previous years, 3 enviroschools will receive a $2500 Reward for a project they have done/ are doing that makes an outstanding contribution to food and healthy eating in the community.

Due to the success last year, they will also run the ‘Peoples Choice’ vote again. Voting is open to everyone and the 10 finalists will be up on the Mother Earth Reward website.

This year they have another exciting new category.  ‘Most Promising Entry’. This is a special reward of $1500 for a school with a project that demonstrates a lot of promise even if it’s not off the ground yet. There will also be some additional resources as well as the cash as part of this prize – more details to be revealed soon!

Schools can join the database now so they’re kept in the loop with Mother Earth Reward communications. 

For more information see www.motherearthreward.co.nz and to sign up click on the Register button.

Save time, save money, save the planet!

EcoDeals is about bringing great offers on eco-friendly products into the inbox of every day Kiwis and make it easier and more affordable to be environmentally responsible.

EcoDeals believe in giving back and free choice, so a percentage of each sale is donated to non-profits and charities aligned with their mission. Best of all you get to chose; just tick which charity you would like your contribution to go to on the check out page and voila you have helped a worthy cause.

The Enviroschools Foundation is one of two charities chosen by Eco Deals, so by supporting Eco Deals you are also supporting The Enviroschools Foundation.

For more information on Eco Deals see their website

Inspirational NZ documentary film

Our Green Roadie is an inspirational documentary, providing heaps of motivation and inspiration to anyone wishing to make change and live their dreams. 50 New Zealanders shared their stories about living and working 'green'. The film was created by Mother and son duo, Emma Heke and her 7 year od son Connor. The movie is 105 minutes long, and the associated DVD plays all zones worldwide.

The movie will premiere at the Reel Earth Film Festival 2013.

Copies of the movie are available now on DVD for $25 + $3 postage in NZ. If you order more than one copy the postage is free.

Please email emmaheke@xtra.co.nz

The movie trailer can be viewed here: https://vimeo.com/55198564 

For further information about the film visit facebook.com/OurGreenRoadie 

"Tomorrow's protectors of the wilderness are the kids who play in it today"

This story of New Zealand wilderness adventure and kiwi ingenuity was favourite of the New Zealand international film festival. But its real purpose was to inspire environmental protection by “education through fun”. Its characters are kiwi educators, scientists and iconic adventure pioneers like AJ Hackett.

Here is how USA environmental educators embraced it:

Professor Adam Green, USA

Science teachers in NZ also recognised Last Paradise as a way of getting pupils excited about science and sustainable energy:

The Education Gazette Advocates Last Paradise as a teaching tool 

During the NZ cinema tour there were so many calls for it in schools that the producers have worked with National Geographic to create a 52 and 94 minute education versions of the film.

These education dvds are now available at discounted price to NZ schools from:

http://www.lastparadisefilm.com 

WINNER: Best Eco-Adventure, XDance USA.

WINNER: Most Popular NZ Film, NZ International Film Festival.

BEST OF BANFF:  Banff Film Festival, Canada.

2013 Challenge and Workshop series info out now!

The 7th The Outlook for Someday sustainability film challenge is underway for 2013. The deadline for this years' challenge is the 13th of September.

The basics are the same as ever: make a sustainability-related film, any genre, filmed with any camera and any length up to five minutes. The challenge is open to anyone up to the age of 24, individual or in a team.

Film-making workshops

The Outlook for Someday presents its third annual series of free one-day sustainability film-making workshops, with the largest number of workshops ever scheduled to give more young people across New Zealand the chance to participate. Open to students from school years 7 to 13 as well as teachers and youth workers, the workshops offer an opportunity for young people and adults to upskill together.

33 workshops are being held between May and August, including a pilot series of two Māori-focused workshops specifically for tamariki and rangatahi Māori, one in Auckland and the other in Wellington.

Each workshop runs from 9am to 4.30pm.

Spaces are limited to 25 participants per workshop.

21 and 22 March 2013

About 160 children from 15 schools throughout Bay of Plenty came together for a two-day Hands on Water Expo, held at a Paengaroa farm park.

Eddie Grogan, General Manager Environmental Management at the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, said the hands-on expo showed the value of agencies working together to educate and inform their communities.

“Water is an important issue for everyone”, he said. “As well as reaching a great group of enthusiastic Years 4 -10 students, the Expo was an opportunity for people from different organisations to share their skills and knowledge. I think we learned as much as the students!”

The Bay of Plenty students are already using what they learned at the Water Expo, with a variety of projects underway to tackle water issues in their communities.

Planting riparian strips to protect waterways , conducting a school-wide water use survey, and collecting rainwater for use) are among the actions schools are taking to raise awareness of water use and the need to carefully manage this precious resource.

For a full report on the expo please see the post-event statement. 

Welcome to the new layout of The Enviroschools Foundation website. 

We've been busy shifting content and creating new, and hopefully improved navigation so you can find your way around and access resouces in a much easier way!

The main changes are with the top navigation where you will now see our two programme areas, Enviroschools and Te Aho Tū Roa added, as well as a tab called 'In the Spotlight'. 

In the Enviroschools programme tab you will find information on what the programme is about and how it is implemented in regions, as well as links to both Enviroschools resources and general resources around sustainability. For early childhood centres and schools you can access the Members Area through here too. 

In the Te Aho Tū Roa tab you will find information in te reo Māori on resources and whakangungu, as well as what's happening with Kōtuia! in 2013.

The 'In the Spotlight' tab is a place where we can highlight current themes, focuses or projects and share resources, tools and inspirational stories to help teachers and students on their sustainability journey. 

There are a few extra things added into the News and Events section but the layout remains the same for the rest of the site. Happy clicking around, and any feedback is much appreciated, just email Esther :) 

Homepage photo credit: ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/environment