$91,000 grant to bolster environmental education near redeveloped brownfield site in Rhode Island

Groundwork Providence based in Providence, Rhode Island recently won a $91,000 environmental education grant from the Environmental Protection Agency that will allow the organization to teach students about environmental stewardship.

"Groundwork Providence is thrilled to be able to offer nature-based field trips and science enrichment activities for Providence schoolchildren at our Prairie Avenue Greenhouse in South Providence, community garden in Federal Hill, and Hope Tree Nursery in the West End," Amelia Rose, executive director of Groundwork Providence, said. "We are so thankful to the EPA for this opportunity and to our partners at the Rhode Island Environmental Education Association and Providence Public School District."

The project, titled “Building Capacity for Urban Environmental Education,” will spend two years teaching students from neighborhoods near redeveloped brownfield sites about environmental issues related to waste, water quality, climate change, urban agriculture and non-chemical pest control. The grant was one of three environmental education grants recently announced for New England-area organizations.

"The projects taken on by these organization will help make a brighter future for New England communities," Curt Spalding, regional administrator of EPA's New England office, said. "Young people, educators and communities taught how to address the problems and challenges of environmental protection are bound to play a part in a healthier world tomorrow."