Funding Ocean Conservation - A Resource

Courtesy Foundation Center Press Kit

This is FANTASTIC!

Thanks to the good work of The Foundation Center and its supporters, our work to find and fund strategic work on behalf of healthy oceans just became infinitely easier. Through this great new resource it is also so much easier to find work partners and examples of what types of projects and partnerships are succeeding. 

I was able to search on grants to the state of Hawai'i, then filter those into the five types of projects: capital and infrastructure, continuing support, capacity building, research & evaluation, and program development. 

I could also look at them as four types of work: fishing and aquaculture, marine science, marine wildlife protection, and ocean & coastal waters. 

I could keep on going to look at individual recipients, all by clicking through on the wind rose charts and drop-down menus that make that memorable hard-bound Foundation Directory a museum piece. 

It really is fantastic! The graphic, interactive approach is a great support to the more traditional keyword and search term approach. I am sure you will love it.  

A huge thanks to these funders who supported the development of www.fundingtheocean.org:  

• The Campbell Foundation
• The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust
• Oak Foundation 
• David and Lucile Packard Foundation
• The Tiffany & Co. Foundation
• SunLight Time Foundation  

Don't try to fund ocean health, science, or awareness programs at your zoo, aquarium, nature center, science museum or coastal parks without it!

Kickstarter and Green Museums: Cynwood Station

The crowd is helping to fund a  green preservation project: Kickstarter supporters have contributed more than $5000 to fund the stormwater management project that will keep water out of the Cynwood Train Station and help preserve it long term. In the process, the project creates a welcoming space, provides educational/demonstration opportunities, and improves local water quality to boot.  What’s not to love?

The station is part of the Cynwood Heritage Trail in Lower Merion Township, PA. It is an active-use public transport station being revitalized as part of a more sustainable approach to community living.

Sarah Francis is a project board member and green consultant (LEED-AP for existing buildings) for the Cynwyd Station Revitalization Project.  This project was her idea – on the ground and on Kickstarter – and it’s part of the green vision for the site.

Here’s a description from the Kickstarter site:

The sustainable landscape was designed by North Street Design, LLC, in conjunction with students of the Engineering School at Villanova University. The most impressive element of the initiative is its innovative, multifunctional rainwater harvesting system, designed specifically for the station. Tanks made from recycled materials can also be used as benches for trail users and commuters, and the collected water will irrigate surrounding gardens, lowering our tap water use, while also preventing runoff from causing more soil erosion in the gardens.

They have already fully-funded the project, but the rest of the money raised in the next two days will contribute to additional stormwater management on site. Sarah Francis writes:

the extra money will go towards the other elements of the ...site, including plantings and supplies for 2 rain gardens, and a planted trench along the foundation of the station.

I’ve contributed.  I hope others will consider supporting this project and using it as an example for their own work.

Is anyone else out there crowd-funding their green projects?

Get Your Green On!

You've heard me say it before: environmental sustainability is a hugely overlooked area of programming for every single kind of museum. It's a connect-with-the-community opportunity. What are you waiting for!  

The concept of No Child Left Inside is a powerful tool for museums trying to connect with the growing movement to expect environmental awareness, literacy and participation by the nation's youth. But first we have to help kids get outside.

If you need any encouragement to help address the national need to get children up off their behinds, away from a screen, and outside doing something - playing with friends, exploring alone, playing a sport, making art with found materials, climbing a tree, gardening or building a tree house, counting lady bugs for science class, or learning to make a solar panel to power their phones - here are some options for you.

Remember, museum people don't have to know it all; we just have to use our critical thinking skills and professional training to uncover knowledge - for ourselves and our visitors - and find some funding to help.  Here are a few resources for both those:

Information & Programming

• The book from 2005 Last Child in the Woods
• Let's Move: Michelle Obama's program to get all of us exercising and eating well
• Resources for students and educators at the Environmental Protection Agency
• North American Association for Environmental Educators (think AAM or AASLH but for environmental instructors - it's a gold mine
• Find your Cooperative Extension Service office and partner with them
• See if you state has a No Child Left Inside advocacy group
• Check out the really cool program by NOAA and the Public Gardens group on Climate Change
• They even have an adaptable sign and cell phone tour you might want to try
• APGA's 2012 Conference Education Session PPTs

A Few Funding Sources

• Small Grants for New England States' Environmental Literacy Programs
• Current funding opportunities from NOAA for supporting environmental education programs and for training educators
• Visit your state's version of the Department of Natural Resources to check funding announcements
• Toyota's Together Green Environmental Program Funding
• Small grants at the National Environmental Education Foundation

And this is just to get you started....more next time.