The Green Team is an environmental organisation based in Edinburgh that enables young people involved in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award to engage actively in conservation.
Overview
PROJECT SUMMARY
The Green Team is an environmental organisation based in Edinburgh. It was established in 1995 to enable young people between the ages of 14 and 25 and involved in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award to engage actively in conservation. Since then over 700 young people have worked at numerous sites around Edinburgh and the Lothians to conserve and restore wild places, and improve the environment for people and wildlife.
The Green Team promotes active learning through enjoyment in the outdoors. Young people are given the opportunity to carry out a variety of conservation tasks. They are also encouraged to spend time exploring the countryside, discussing environmental issues and taking part in environmental art, crafts and games.
The Green Team is now well established as the key organisation in Edinburgh and the Lothians involving young people in practical conservation and environmental projects. It is able to engage with a large number of young people through a unique brand of environmental activity, supported by a core of dedicated and experienced volunteers.
KEY PARTNERS
The key people from outside the community were:
City of Edinburgh Council - provided office space and start-up assistance and continues to support the project
Scottish Natural Heritage- provided two major funding grants, and their Community Projects Officer provides advice and support and monitors the conservation work
FUNDERS
Funding has come from:
- Scottish Natural Heritage - two grants for staff and project costs
- City of Edinburgh Council - start-up assistance, continued support for accommodation and administration costs
- Corporate donations - to support the purchase of a minibus
THEMATIC CRITERIA
Edinburgh Conservation; Education; volunteering opportunities.
Plan
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
To work with young people to restore and conserve wild places as an important part of learning about the natural heritage of Scotland.
FUTURE STEPS
The project is ongoing, for as long as funding continues
The Green Team is unique and fills a gap - no other organisation in Scotland is offering this form of environmental education work to young people
The conservation work that the Green Team undertakes is structured to fit within the overall strategy and maintenance programme for the particular site they are working in. Close partnership working with countryside rangers ensures that the work is useful, needed and will be maintained.
When undertaking work in urban spaces the Green Team publicises the planned work beforehand to the local community, and looks for opportunities to involve young local people in carrying out conservation work and maintaining the site.
Day-long and residential weekend activities for young people participating in the Duke of Edinburgh Award programme or the John Muir Award, will continue to provide the main focus for the Green Team
Green Tomorrows was launched in 2002 - to provide advice, tools, technical support and site visits to projects devised and led by young people. Green Tomorrows can also provide a project leader, free of charge, for certain projects in designated areas, thanks to funding received from City of Edinburgh Council. In its first operational year it has exceeded its projection of 6 projects a year, and has attracted a diverse range of organisations including: the Princes Trust; The Rock Trust (for homeless people) and students from Jewel & Esk Valley College. The popularity of Green Tomorrows has created a need for a paid staff post as it is anticipated that demand will grow considerably over the next few years.
Progress
The Manager of The Duke of Edinburgh's Award in Edinburgh secured the services of a volunteer with an outdoor recreation qualification, who had also been a Duke of Edinburgh Award participant, and in 1995 the Green Team was established to enable young people (aged 14-25) to engage actively in conservation.
City of Edinburgh Council provided start-up support and free office space within The Duke of Edinburgh's Award in Edinburgh offices. The John Muir Trust also gave support and helped to form the management committee for the Green Team.
The Green Team Project Co-ordinator worked on a voluntary basis for most of the time for the first two years, but managed to secure enough volunteer leaders to develop a programme of conservation activities. By the end of the first year up to 12 young people/month were taking part in activities which included environmental games and art, and conservation work such as tree planting and footpath repairs.
In 1998 a two-year lottery grant was secured by Friends of the Award in Edinburgh and the Lothians to promote environmental opportunities for young people in the Edinburgh and Lothians area, and this enabled a full-time worker and a part-time project assistant to be employed. This became a separate project called LEAP 21 but worked in tandem with the Green Team. LEAP 21 had two main aims to:
- support groups of young people involved in local environmental action projects
- promote participation in the Duke of Edinburgh Award
LEAP 21 provided a focal point and created a network of contacts within the environmental community. This targeted work led to improved co-ordination of projects and volunteers and promoted environmental opportunities to new groups. LEAP 21 folded at the end of the 2-year grant period but its work made a significant contribution to the development of the Green Team.
In 1999 the Green Team secured its first major grant, from Scottish Natural Heritage, to cover staff and project costs. This enabled the project to expand and increase the number of activities. A follow-on two-year grant from Scottish Natural Heritage was awarded in 2001. In 2003 the Green Team is offering 9 weekend projects and 10 daylong projects. In addition to this a new strand has been launched called 'Green Tomorrows', to provide support and advice to young people who wish to carry out their own environmental projects.
Initially the Green Team was established as a way of providing conservation opportunities for Duke of Edinburgh Award participants, and they do still make up the majority of the Green Team volunteers. Awareness talks to schools and youth clubs has introduced Green Team to new audiences however, and wider ranges of young people from diverse backgrounds are becoming involved.
The Green Team is now a registered charity in its own right, but the link with the Friends of the Award and The Duke of Edinburgh's Award in Edinburgh remains strong. The manager of The Duke of Edinburgh's Award in Edinburgh is still a member of the Green Team management committee and the two organisations continue to share office space.
Review
OUTPUTS
- Created an opportunity for young people to participate in conservation work - over 700 young people have been involved in Green Team since the 1995 launch
- Recruited and trained over 40 volunteer leaders
- Undertaken a wide variety of different conservation projects in over 25 country parks and public spaces in Edinburgh and the Lothians
MEASURING ACHIEVEMENTS
- Evaluation forms are distributed to young people on residential projects
- Evaluation forms are distributed to volunteer leaders following training courses
- The volunteer leaders meet on a monthly basis
- The management committee meets four times a year
The project has been more successful than anticipated - there is now a waiting list of young people wanting to take part in the activities
Green Tomorrows has exceeded its targets and is proving to be far more popular than originally envisaged
UNEXPECTED OUTCOMES:
The success of Green Tomorrows, and the diversity of the organisations wishing to take part in it, has demonstrated a greater interest in conservation and environmental work amongst the general public than was expected
The organisation is now far more safety conscious and liability conscious than it was in the past.
BENEFICIARIES
Young people - increased access to conservation work; gained confidence, social skills and experience of being away from home on the residential weekends; opportunities to work towards an Award; opportunities to become volunteer leaders
Volunteer Leaders - opportunity to pass their love of conservation on to the next generation; opportunities to obtain training in conservation, youth skills, first aid, environmental games and activities; career development for conservation students wanting practical experience
General Public - benefit from the enhanced beauty, accessibility within country parks and urban areas as a result of the conservation work
Schools, Youth Groups - increased knowledge and awareness of conservation and the environment as a result of the talks and presentations given by the Green Team staff
NEED FOR THE ORGANISATION
Green Team began in 1995. It was created initially to make environmental and conservation work more easily accessible to young people participating in the Duke of Edinburgh Award in Lothian Region, and continues to operate throughout the area.
NEED FOR THE PROJECT
The Duke of Edinburgh Award in Edinburgh operates through City of Edinburgh Council. The Award is open to young people between the ages of 14 and 25 who select a variety of activities to pursue by way of working towards the different levels of the Award - bronze, silver and gold. The manager The Duke of Edinburgh's Award in Edinburgh became aware of the low level of involvement in conservation work by the Award participants. This was not due to lack of interest in such work but because of the tendency of many environmental groups to only use adult volunteers. Conservation work was not easily available and difficult to access, and offered very few opportunities for young people to get involved.
The problem was the lack of opportunities for young people to participate in conservation and environmental projects
The John Muir Trust, a conservation charity based in Edinburgh, launched its own national environmental Award in 1995 and was looking for conservation partners.
KEY STEPS
In 1999 the Green Team secured its first major grant, from Scottish Natural Heritage, to cover staff and project costs. This enabled the project to expand and increase the number of activities. A follow-on two-year grant from Scottish Natural Heritage was awarded in 2001. In 2003 the Green Team is offering 9 weekend projects and 10 daylong projects. In addition to this a new strand has been launched called 'Green Tomorrows', to provide support and advice to young people who wish to carry out their own environmental projects.
LOCAL INVOLVEMENT
The Manager of the Duke of Edinburgh Award in Edinburgh
John Muir Trust Education Manager
Duke of Edinburgh Award participant who became the project manager
Volunteer leaders
Direct Involvement
Management committee - 13 people
Volunteer Leaders - 40 people
Indirect Involvement
Participants - 700 since the project began
Country parks and public spaces - approx 25/year
Schools and youth groups - approx 15/year
Local people have been encouraged to get involved as a result of:
- Green Team participants have mainly become involved via the Duke of Edinburgh Award or the John Muir Award
- Posters are distributed to libraries, community and sports centres, and cafes and the Green Team staff deliver talks to schools and youth groups
- The management committee is comprised of local people, including representation from the young people participating in Green Team
- The young people attending Green Team residential weekend events are consulted on the task that is required of them, and they decide as a team how best to tackle it
- The Green Team also works with community groups which look after green spaces
- Local involvement has increased over the years to the stage where there is now a waiting list of young people wanting to participate in Green Team activities
Local involvement has changed in the following ways since the start of the project:
- The Green Team is now a charity in its own right rather than being a project within The Award in Edinburgh. It has created its own website and publicity materials and this has led to increased awareness and profile
- Continued partnership working with the Duke of Edinburgh Award in Edinburgh and the John Muir Award brings new participants and volunteer leaders to the Green Team
- Promotion of the project to schools and youth groups, and other young people who might not be familiar with the Duke of Edinburgh Award
- Provision of training for the volunteer leaders to ensure they are adequately qualified and to offer them development opportunities
- Is a member of the Edinburgh & Lothian Regional Environmental Education Forum (ELREEF)
EXTERNAL INVOLVEMENT/SUPPORT
Key people from outside the community were:
City of Edinburgh Council - provided office space and start-up assistance and continues to support the project
Scottish Natural Heritage- provided two major funding grants, and their Community Projects Officer provides advice and support and monitors the conservation work
Other support was given from:
The countryside rangers and landowners who allow the Green Team to undertake conservation work
Other organisations involved were:
Scottish Natural Heritage & City of Edinburgh Council - very supportive relationships, provided both funding and guidance
BTCV - provide external training for the volunteer leaders, at reduced rates
The Manager of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award in Edinburgh performed the role of Development Worker and guided the project through set-up to recruiting a volunteer staff team, and encouraging young people to become involved.
Scottish Natural Heritage became involved in 1999 and since then their Community Projects Officer has provided support, advice and guidance when needed.
External involvement has increased in that the Green Team now has the services of the Scottish Natural Heritage Community Projects Officer. Also the relationship with the John Muir Trust has grown into a very productive partnership with much sharing of knowledge and volunteer leaders.
FUNDING
Funding has come from:
- Scottish Natural Heritage - two grants for staff and project costs
- City of Edinburgh Council - start-up assistance, continued support for accommodation and administration costs
- Corporate donations - to support the purchase of a minibus
Funders have been very supportive.
The one-day activities are free of charge, but the weekend residential activities cost £25 per person. This generates enough income to cover the costs of the weekend
The Green Team offers training in environmental games and activities to outside organisations, and this is an area that they hope to expand as the demand is there
LESSONS LEARNED
- Activities need to be carefully chosen - hard, physical work is unpopular and can alienate otherwise enthusiastic volunteers
- On residential weekends, the young people are prepared to work hard but still want showers and comfortable accommodation
- LEAP 21 was successful during its 2 years, but adequate monitoring and evaluation of the work was not undertaken to demonstrate this to potential funders. As a result replacement funding could not be found and the project had to fold.
ADVICE TO OTHER ORGANISAITONS
- Need to have people/contacts with project management skills
- Having the link with the Duke of Edinburgh Award in Edinburgh created a ready-made pool of volunteers, so try and find some partners who could benefit you.
|
Communities 
