Gamiing Nature Centre awarded Community Leadership Project grant
Gamiing Nature Centre was awarded a $750 grant in the Community Leadership Project event on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2013.
Students Matthew Fitzgerald, Ryan Wheatley, Lee Scholl and Austin Carmichael gave the winning presentation on the subject of creating a sustainable washroom at Gamiing Nature Centre, arguing successfully about the environmental benefit and cost effectiveness of their idea to upgrade the current washroom and make it more sustainable. The students also pledged to volunteer their time to help make their idea a reality.
The Community Leadership project explored the links between community and the environment. Working in teams, students in the common first semester Leadership in the Environment course, chose a non-profit organization in the City of Kawartha Lakes area and an issue or project that agency is involved with. The projects supported increased student understanding about the role that community organizations play in relation to caring for and contributing to a healthy environment.
The winning project was chosen by a panel of three judges. The judges were: Donna Villemaire, Councillor for Ward 8 for the City of Kawartha Lakes; Brenda Roxburgh, Assistant Executive Director of VCCS Employment Services; and Anne Blondin, C-Links Social Mapping Intern and Fleming alumna.
C-Links also wishes to acknowledge the other finalists for their excellent projects. Choosing a winner was not an easy task for the judges. The remaining finalists were: Emma Northey, Andy Williams, D’Amour Walker, Nathan McCullough, Mike Evers, Julia MacDonald, Tyler Johnson, Mitchell Kincaid, Ryan Constable, Hayden Ramsay, Amy Collins, Michael Laird and Trent Meyers.
C-Links would also like to acknowledge all of the organizations who participated in this project for their involvement. The Community Leadership project could not happen without them.
The guest speaker for the evening was Krystyna Dart, a 4th year Trent University student studying Forensic Science. She is conducting community-based research in the City of Kawartha Lakes through C-Links with Safe Communities Kawartha Lakes. Krystyna spoke about her research which involves conducting a priority setting exercise to determine the most common injuries in the City of Kawartha Lakes. Her research will be very beneficial for Safe Communities and the work that they do in the community.
C-Links: the Community Links Centre for Community-Based Projects and Social Mapping would like to thank everyone who was involved in this year’s Community Leadership Project Finals for all of their hard work in making the event a success.
C-Links was founded in 2011 and facilitates community-academic relationships through community-based education and community service-learning. Its goal is to engage students, faculty and the community in educational experiences which develop collaboration, innovation and empowerment for all involved. Through C-Links, local City of Kawartha Lakes businesses, not-for-profits, charities and municipal government will improve their ability to address relevant community-identified concerns through student research and other kinds of projects. C-Links was made possible through the generous funding of the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
Groups and organizations wishing to get involved in community-based learning are invited to submit community-inspired proposals that outline research questions and/or describe a service project.
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For more information, please contact:
Project Coordinator: Shantal Ingram
Phone: (705)324-9144 ext. 3092
E-mail: shantal.ingram@flemingcollege.ca
Website: www.c-links.ca