Victor Valley students head to Costa Rica to learn about sustainability practices

Unique program developed at Victor Valley College to be presented at an international conference in Brisbane, Australia
By: Desert Regional Consortium
 
June 17, 2011 - PRLog -- Neville Slade’s now annual trips with students to Costa Rica always foster a deeper understanding of what it means to be sustainable, and now it is going to be recognized on a global scale.

As an instructor in the Agriculture and Natural Resources Department at Victor Valley College, Slade has helped build a program that mixes political science and sustainability while immersing students in the local community and travel abroad. When he and his 14 students leave for Costa Rica June 22, he knows he is giving them the chance to see what is possible if an entire country focuses on that goal.

“A lot of people do not have a full comprehension of what green really means,” Slade said.

This July at the World Environmental Educators Congress in Brisbane, Australia, Slade will give a presentation about the unique program along with Dino Bozonelos, assistant social sciences professor and director of Victor Valley College’s study abroad program.

To earn a sustainable leadership certificate through the program, students work in the community with natural resource management agencies on such projects as reforestation at old mines and water reclamation. Incorporating the political sciences program and groups such as Model United Nations gives students a different perspective on what sustainability means. The work in Costa Rica only furthers those lessons and provides the students an opportunity to share what they have learned from working in the Mojave Desert with their counterparts in the South America.

While abroad, the students will meet with the environmental ministry and learn how policies were implemented that made Costa Rica top in the world for sustainability.  Students will witness a full range of sustainability practices, from economic to social and environmental, including biodigesters that turn hog waste into methane and a project protecting monkeys that live close to electric transmission lines.

The highlight of the trip, Slade said, is the two days spent at a project where turtles lay eggs and locals can harvest the delicacy during a two-day window when the practice isn’t banned. The remaining time of the massive egg laying, locals work to protect the eggs from ravens and dogs. The efforts have increased the turtle population and helped the local economy by providing income from the eggs and tourism surrounding the egg-laying extravaganza.

“It’s an amazing example of how you can find a balance if you really look for it,” Slade said.

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About the Desert Regional Consortium of Community Colleges: The Desert Regional Consortium consists of 13 community colleges and two community college districts in Riverside, San Bernardino and Kern counties. The consortium assists colleges in providing professional development opportunities and designing programs to improve workforce training and technical education. The consortium was formed to address the economic development needs of industry, government and the community.

More info: www.desertcolleges.org

Consortium members: Barstow College, Cerro Coso Community College, Chaffey College, College of the Desert, Copper Mountain College, Crafton Hills College, Mt. San Jacinto College, Moreno Valley College, Norco College, Palo Verde College, Riverside City College, Riverside Community College District, San Bernardino Community College District, San Bernardino Valley College, Victor Valley College
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Source:Desert Regional Consortium
Email:***@vvc.edu
Tags:Victory Valley College, Sustainability, Study Abroad, Desert Regional Consortium
Industry:Education, Science, Environment
Location:Victorville - California - United States
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