School enviro awards open

Schools  are  being  urged  to act quickly to win share of this year’s $20,000 Northland Regional Council Environmental  Curriculum Awards.

Council  Environmental   Education  Officer Susan Botting  says  schools  have  until  4pm  Tuesday  May 14 to apply for funding  via the awards, which aim to boost environmental education in the North.

Ms Botting says the council recently sent fliers to 150 Northland schools alerting them to the awards. “Each school can apply for a maximum $2000 in Environmental   Curriculum Awards funding,  which must be spent on school-based environmental education projects.

“Although the May 14 deadline is some time away we’re urging  schools  to get their  applications  in  a soon as possible as this helps us avoid a last minute rush that can slow application processing times.”

Ms  Botting  says  last  year 18 Northland  schools were funded for school ground  projects ranging  from a mobile henhouse to creating a heritage garden.

She says applicants  need to clearly highlight  how their  projects  will contribute  to the  sustainable  use of Northland’s  environment – a key regional council goal.
Application  forms  can  be  downloaded  from  the council’s website  www.nrc.govt.nz/eca.  The  website also includes  details of previous  award winners  and their projects.