An Overview Of Our Solution
Children are avid learners which influence their behavior for the rest of their lives, and more significantly, change the behavior of future generations through their children and their childrens’ children in an ever-increasing possible world-wide movement. Many organizations have initiated REACTIONARY programs to change behaviors to adapt to climate changes. The earth needs PROACTIVE changes which target the core issue – strengthening governmental policies and regulations on climate change at the local, state, national and global levels. Governments respond to a ground-swell of a concerned populace demanding change, such as our youth who become the voting-age populace to demand the reduction of the negative effects to the planet which cause climate change. Our youth are the “seeds” for true climate behavioral change.
- Population Impacted: 1,600
- Continent: North America
Last name
Organization type
Context Analysis
The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula was established in 1987 as a 501(c)(3) organization. We operate two Clubhouses in Port Angeles and Sequim northwest of Seattle, Washington. We are focused on developing outdoor youth leaders with an understanding of environmental stewardship and its positive effects on climate change. Four hundred youth each summer participate in our ten-week summer programs. Field trips include visiting and comparing differences between saltwater shorelines and freshwater shorelines, touring an oyster farm, and kayaking; also hiking in the Hoh Rain Forest - one of the largest temperate rainforests in the U.S.
The Olympic National Park environmental stewardship youth programs led by the Park’s Rangers can create the next generation of leaders who value the natural world and understand of the importance of preserving it.
Describe the technical solution you wanted the target audience to adopt
Children are a key factor in generational leaning and behavior patterns for promoting climate change behaviors if they are educated in environmental stewardship and its impact. Our youth are developing an appreciation of the environment which may result in becoming a voice for climate change. Like an acorn which begins as a tiny seed that grows into a mighty tree oak tree, our youth are the “seeds” for true climate behavioral change. Officials respond to a ground-swell of a concerned populace demanding change. McDonalds Restaurant shareholders will vote to eliminate plastic straws because nearly a half-million individuals petitioned for plastic straw elimination due to environmental concerns of plastic.
Our youth are learning about our Government’s role and legislative processes. Their “hands-on” environmental education activities and understanding of the need for stricter climate change regulations can be personally explained to Legislators who effect climate change legislation.
Type of intervention
Describe your behavioral intervention
We are following the six-step behavioral change process of the RARE organization. In partnership with the Olympic National Park (ONP) we have completed Steps 1 (Identify Challenge) Develop youth awareness of climate change impacts, and Step 2 (Identify Bright Spots) Team with ONP which is located adjacent to Sequim and Port Angeles and take youth on outdoor field trips in our Puget Sound/Salish Sea region; and are at Step 3 (Develop Pilot Sites) by having our youth interact with the many types of nature activities within the Park and on field trips. We are at Step 4 (Low-Cost Delivery At Scale) by providing nearly 400 youth each year for the past four years to have “hands-on” nature experiences which develop an awareness of the importance of protecting our natural environment. We have initiated Step 5 (Government Adoption). We take yearly youth visits and have “face-to-face” discussions with our regional Legislators. Our new Clubhouse is to be a Washington-state “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)” environmentally and energy-efficient facility, resulting in youth being exposed to sustainable-construction practices. The Clubhouse will be a regional showcase for others, which is Step 6 (Replicate Blueprint). We plan to have our ONP partnership and youth experiences, as part of our best practices, shared with other Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the Washington Foundation organization through conferences.
As needed, please explain the type of intervention in more detail
Not applicable
Describe your implementation
Our youth are eager to participate in outdoor activities. They are natural-born scientists who see the world with inquisitive eyes, experiment and push boundaries, and learn as they go. Summer Camp’s weekly field trip reinforces the weekly educational theme that is discussed and supplemented with themed crafts and activities in our Club. In addition to the Puget Sound/Salish Sea field trips, the outdoor experiences gained at the Olympic National Park are very diverse. Ancient forests, alpine terrain, coastal marine habitats, and the largest river restoration in U.S. history make Olympic National Park a unique living laboratory. Youth hike the 2,280-foot Storm King Mountain to obtain an elevated perspective of the Lake Crescent glacier watershed. The Marymere Falls Trail along Barnes Creek provides an understanding of “nurse logs”; fallen trees that provide “ecological facilitation” as they decay to offer seedlings shade, nutrients, water and protection from disease and pathogens, thus nurturing and making way for a new generation of trees. Youth navigate the crystal-clear waters of Lake Crescent in a 15-person Salish native-style canoe by paddling as a team to the cadence of a Native American drum beat. The pristine waters of this glacially carved lake created by a massive landslide, isolated Lake Crescent from Lake Sutherland approximately 7,000 years ago. Youth learn about two uniquely adapted populations, the Crescenti and Beardslee trout, that resulted from genetic isolation following this event. Pacific Ocean tide pool exploration is always fun. These examples show how complicated environmental information can become easily-understandable through first-hand experiences.
Our main obstacle is providing the funding for program fees, staff, transportation, meals, and supplies. The Puget Sound/Salish Sea and ONP field trips staffing is identified in our yearly budget. We seek grants to increase the number of field trips and expand the outdoor programs.
External connections
For four years, the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula and the Olympic National Park have partnered to develop funding to generate an appreciation of environmental stewardship within our youth. Each year, we have added new activities to increase the number of participating youth and to provide a greater variety of nature activities.
Our three Government legislators from our region look forward to our yearly youth visits and discussions at the Washington-state capitol.
Our Clubs’ Board of Directors has worked collaboratively to inform and solicit project endorsement from nearly twenty local organizations for our new “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)” Clubhouse to showcase environmentally-responsible building practices and energy-efficient operation. Community partners are made up of the City of Port Angeles, the Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce, the Port Angeles School District, Olympic Medical Center, Clallam County Commissioners, Clallam County Sheriff’s Office, Peninsula Housing Authority, Peninsula Behavioral Health, United Way, the YMCA, and several businesses. All of us are on the same mission to build a thriving community with minimal environmental impact.
Who adopted the desired behaviors and to what degree?
As a ten-year-old, Olivia’s Non-Flammable Safety Flare” Project began with a simple statement: “I want to save the forests from hikers who use flares to be rescued if lost or injured. The flares can cause forest fires.” Olivia and a volunteer engineer completed a “Non-Flammable Safety Flare” which she soldered, wired, and assembled. Olivia took First Place at the Washington-state Science Fair. Other kids are involved with beach and trail cleanups.
A proposed Virtual Reality program allows our field-trip and computer-science youth to create Virtual Reality scenarios so those who were unable to participate in field trips can experience the outdoors through the Virtual Reality headgear. The benefit is that non-participating youth can canoe with the other paddlers, climb Storm King Mountain, and hike to Marymere Falls; as examples of their Virtual Reality field trips. This allows more youth to be engaged with nature to develop a sense of the importance of stewardship.
How did you impact natural resource use and greenhouse gas emissions?
We teach our youth to “leave no trace”, such as the beach and trail cleanups. During coastal field trips, youth collect driftwood on the beach to make temporary huts and forts. They must disassemble their constructions and distribute the driftwood to where they obtained it when it is time to leave the beach.
What were some of the resulting co-benefits?
WHY WE ARE HERE (Co-Benefits): Malichi has five brothers and sisters. He lives with his single-parent mom in the low-income housing near our Sequim Clubhouse. His mother does not own a car. His community and outdoor experiences are through our Club’s activities, most specifically our ONP field trips. Malichi was featured in a 2018 Washington Parks Foundation video where he stated: “I can actually touch the water while canoeing. I can’t touch the water on TV.” Engaging with Malichi and providing supportive adult guidance and mentoring will keep him from following a path of drugs and alcohol like his three oldest siblings. Malichi will not be a burden to society, but rather positively impact it.
A new Clubhouse designed and built to LEED requirements as a showcase of environmentally-responsible construction may increase interest in others to follow our leadership.
Sustainability
Our summer programs are a yearly budgeted program. We supplement the expenses primarily through individual contributions and fund-raisers, and state and private Foundation grants.
Our new $6.9 million LEED Clubhouse facility is being financed through funding from state and private Foundation grants, contributions, and our Clubs’ budget reserve. We have raised 49% of our campaign goal. Our intent is that the new facility becomes fully self-sustaining in two years after the summer-2020 opening. Our Board of Directors has the responsibility for a planned capitalization schedule for 25 years after the construction is completed. Our LEED building success encourages the WA-state legislature to continue their support of LEED activities.
Return on investment
Researchers at the Institute for Social Research and School of Public Health at the University of Michigan found that every $1 Invested in Boys & Girls Clubs returns $9.60 in benefits to the individual and society. Our various Camps and field trip activities are self-sustaining through our annual budget. The 2017 total cost was $76,284. The return on investment in terms of the environmental stewardship appreciation cannot be quantitatively measured. There is an abundance of anecdotal support for the positive impact that outdoor programs have on youth’s social and emotional wellbeing, and a large volume of program evaluations and field trials suggesting similar benefits.
How could we successfully replicate this solution elsewhere?
Our strategy of partnering with the Olympic National Park could be promoted and expanded to other world-wide national park systems of other countries through your organization. Solutions Search could also contact the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the U.S. National Parks, along with the United Nations which is tackling youth-focused climate change through its “Joint Framework Initiative on Children, Youth and Climate Change”.