This grant agreement will allow the pittsburgh parks conservancy (PPC) to develop a junior young naturalist program to give more opportunities to young people in the pittsburgh area to be exposed to…

The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy (PPC) was awarded a $130,626 Project Grant from the Environmental Protection Agency Region 3 under the Environmental Education Grants Program (CFDA 66.951) to develop a Junior Young Naturalist program. The program will provide environmental education to middle school students through Propel Schools' summer camps for five weeks and a one-week intensive program for 12 youth ages 13-15. It will also provide $5,000 subawards to five organizations to support out-of-school environmental clubs and combat tree canopy loss in disproportionately impacted communities through education and tree planting activities. The program aims to increase participants' interest in sustainability, green careers and identity while promoting urban forestry. The PPC will measure outcomes including knowledge gained, social-emotional support and awareness of trees' climate mitigation benefits. The award period is from April 3, 2023 through May 31, 2024.

This grant agreement will allow the pittsburgh parks conservancy (PPC) to develop a junior young naturalist program to give more opportunities to young people in the pittsburgh area to be exposed to environmental careers, learn from racially diverse environmental professionals, and complete projects that help green communities and mitigate the effects of climate change. Activities:the pittsburgh parks conservancy project will contain three main activity strands, which are to provide environmental education to middle school students during propel schools' summer camps for 5 weeks, a 1-week intensive environmental educational summer program called the junior young naturalists program for 12 youth ages 13-15, and targeting out-of-school environmental engagement with 5 subrecipients to both provide education and diversify recruitment for PPC's junior and high school young naturalist programs as well as battle tree canopy loss in affected communities.subrecipient:the conservancy will be providing $5,000 subawards to five subrecipients ($25,000 total) to assist out of school youth environmental clubs/organizations with their environmental programs and to battle tree canopy loss in disproportionately impacted communities.outcomes:the anticipated deliverables and expected outcomes are for the youth to demonstrate increased interest in and knowledge of sustainability, green technology, and green stem careers; an increased sense of stem identity and belonging; ongoing social-emotional support; and increased awareness of the benefits of an urban tree canopy in mitigating climate change and air pollution, as well as support tree planting and maintenance activities by subrecipients to improve the tree canopy in their neighborhoods. The intended beneficiaries include teachers, students, and families in the pittsburgh, PA, community.