EECOM

Pre-Conference Activities

We offered a variety of pre-conference sessions at the EECOM 2019 conference. Information on each of our workshops including dates, times, and costs can be found below.

Not sure where to go? Check out this map of the UofS campus

 

Session #1
Boreal Forest Eco-Tour
Location Bus Pick Up at University of Saskatchewan Education Building – East Doors

Travel to Prince Albert National Park

Facilitator(s) SunDogs Excursions, Prince Albert National Park, Glenn Sutter, & Joyce Belcher
Date(s) Wednesday, May 8 – Thursday, May 9
Start Time 9:30 am on May 8: Bus to PA National Park
End Time 3:30 pm on May 9: Bus to Saskatoon
# Participants 17 
Cost $280, tax included
Description Join us for a pre-conference ecotour to Prince Albert National Park area. We will be staying at the iconic Elk Ridge Resort in cabins, located in a friendly luxurious setting in the heart of the boreal forest. Hike along the trails of the national park with park interpreter staff, participate in nature writing with True Nature writing, spend an entire morning on a climate change and nature focused program led by SunDogs Excursions, sing around a campfire with Glenn Sutter, a local musician. Arrive back in Saskatoon on Thursday evening in time for conference evening activities.

 

Session #2
Sustainability Education Policy Forum
Location Room 2010, Education Building, University of Saskatchewan
Facilitator(s) Marcia McKenzie & Nicola Chopin (Sustainability Education Research Institute and Sustainability and Education Policy Network)
Date(s) Thursday, May 9
Start Time 10 am
End Time 12 pm
# Participants 40
Cost Free
Description This session is for administrators, policy-makers, and educators. Discuss key learnings from research conducted by the Sustainability and Education Policy Network in K-12 schools about the relationships between sustainability in education policy and practice. Participants will workshop sustainability engagement in their own setting, drawing on implications from the study.

 

Session #3
Relational Healing, Climate Change, and Indigenous Land-based Learning
Location Tipi in The Bowl, Education Building, University of Saskatchewan
Facilitator(s) Jeff Baker & Kevin Lewis
Date(s) Thursday, May 9
Start Time 1 pm
End Time 4 pm
# Participants 15 
Cost Free
Description In this session Drs. Kevin Lewis (Cree) and Jeff Baker (Métis) will lead participants in ceremony and land-based activities that provide teachings regarding our interconnectedness with the land, one another, and the cosmos; and discuss the importance of these understandings for addressing climate change and socio-ecological justice more broadly.

 

Session #4
University of Saskatchewan Campus Sustainability Walking Tour
Location University Services Building entrance, University of Saskatchewan
Facilitator(s) Matt Wolsfeld, Office of Sustainability
Date(s) Thursday, May 9
Start Time 1 pm
End Time 2:30 pm
# Participants 25 
Cost Free
Description Join the University of Saskatchewan’s Office of Sustainability on a walking tour that highlights sustainability initiatives and operations around the university’s beautiful campus, including gardens, green buildings, and cultural sustainability touchstones.

 

Session #5
Project WET Canada 2019-2021 Implementation Strategy Workshop
Location Room 1020, Education Building, University of Saskatchewan
Facilitator(s) Lizabeth Nicholls, Project WET Canada
Date(s) Thursday, May 9
Start Time 12 pm
End Time 4 pm
# Participants 20
Cost Free
Description This workshop is for provincial and territorial Project WET Coordinators and senior Project WET Facilitators throughout Canada to provide input to an Implementation Strategy for 2019 – 2021 to best reach northern, Indigenous, and Francophone/French Immersion educators with Project WET 2.0, Projet WET- Module 1 (French) and Getting Little Feet WET (ECE) certification professional development workshops. Lunch and refreshments will be provided.

 

Session #6
Helping Environmental Education Associations Build their Capacity – An EECOM Leadership Summit
Location Room 2002, Education Building, University of Saskatchewan
Facilitator(s) Alberta Council for Environmental Education (Gareth Thomson) & SaskOutdoors (Leah Japp)
Date(s) Thursday, May 9
Start Time 12 pm
End Time 5 pm
# Participants 30 
Cost $25, tax included (includes morning coffee and tea, as well as lunch)
Description In this full day workshop, you will participate in organizational development activities to support your association, contribute to a change agenda to advance environmental education in Canada and where you live, and launch a national network. This workshop is designed for Canadians who work with their provincial or territorial environmental association, and will include a networking social from 4-5 pm.

 

Session #7
Brewing Beer Naturally
Location 9 Mile Legacy Brewing, 229 20th Street West, Saskatoon
Facilitator(s) Barrett Miller
Date(s) Thursday, May 9
Start Time 6:00 pm
End Time 10:00 pm
# Participants 20 
Cost $70, tax included
Description The 9 Mile Legacy is a story of two families- neighbours that have weathered hard times and celebrated good times together for the better part of a century.  We are called “9 Mile Legacy” because we aren’t that original – we are simply carrying on generational tradition of working together. For this workshop, 9 Mile will be hosting Barret Miller, a home brewer from Forte Whyte Manitoba, who has been brewing his family beer since he was knee high to a grasshopper. In this workshop, Barrett will teach you how to brew a prairie beer, using a technique perfected by his grandfather.

Brewer for an evening includes:

  • Learn to brew with Barret Miller alongside head brewer and co-founder of 9 Mile Legacy Brewing Garrett Pederson
  • Orientation and instructions before you mash in
  • All materials included
  • Finish your evening with a 9 Mile Legacy Beer!

 

Session #8
Mapping out a Strategic Path to Advance Ocean Literacy in Canadian Classrooms and Communities
Location Room 3133, Education Building, University of Saskatchewan
Facilitator(s) Lisa (Diz) Glithero (Canadian Ocean Literacy Coalition) and Danika Strecko (Ocean Wise)
Date(s) Thursday, May 9
Start Time 9 am
End Time 1 pm
# Participants 40
Cost Free
Description The health of the ocean is a global priority, signified by the UN’s Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030). Making ocean literacy more prominent in Canadian K-12 classrooms is crucial element to developing an ocean literate society wherein citizens and stakeholders are “able to make informed and responsible decisions on ocean resources and ocean sustainability.” (Ocean Literacy for All: A Toolkit, UNESCO, 2017, p. 16.) The aim of this workshop is to convene interested education stakeholders to build off the work of CaNOE’s conference for ocean educators in July 2018 and to engage in critical discussions on developing more strategic and coordinated pathways to (better) embed ocean literacy into Canadian K-12 curricula. Although national interest in ocean health and conservation is increasing, many young Canadians (and teachers) have limited opportunities to engage in ocean literacy education opportunities that foster not only awareness but moreover, agency and action. This workshop will also enable ocean education leaders to a) collaborate on identifying key mobilization activities, joint initiatives and/or upcoming opportunities to co-leverage (e.g., National Science Literacy Week 2019 — ocean theme) and b) gather strategic input from the education sector to feed into the Canadian Ocean Literacy Coalition’s efforts to develop a national ocean literacy strategy before the start of the UN decade. This pre-conference is being supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).