The National Civic Education Project (NCEP)

Instilling Tomorrow's Leaders with Environmental and Civic Responsibility

Earth Day Network strongly believes in creating personal responsibility for the environment among students around the world. The intimate connection between civic and environmental education allows students to understand how their actions can influence the environmental health of their own communities.

"Your students have learned a valuable lesson about what it means to become an active American citizen. Ultimately, that benefits our state and our nation." ~ George V. Voinovich, U.S. Senator “Because of your dedication, the young people you teach are becoming civically engaged and are more likely to participate in decisions affecting our community when they become adults.” ~ Antonio Villaraigosa, Mayor, Los Angeles "You have gone beyond the classroom to enlighten your students about civic participation, inspiring them to stand up for their values and principles." ~ Mark Mallory, Mayor, Cincinnati

In order to promote a more democratically active citizenry, Earth Day Network has launched the National Civic Education Project (NCEP) to foster solutions to the growing absence of civic and environmental education in today's society. In Cincinnati, our NCEP teachers scored an impressive victory, being credited with convincing the Cincinnati School Board to adopt green building standards for a $1 billion state refurbishment bond for schools. In Los Angeles, our NCEP group received commendation for its ongoing work with the Los Angeles School Board to improve the indoor air quality of their school and spread community awareness of this significant health issue. For the 2007-2008 school year, EDN has already expanded to New Orleans, where we are working with two schools utilizing green strategies to recover from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. EDN looks forward to continuing its work in these communities, as well as expanding into more cities over the coming school year!

If you are interested in having the NCEP come to your school or would like to learn more about the Project, please let us know or click here for an application.

Read about our 2007-2008 NCEP teachers

Earth Day Network recruits teachers and their students from diverse urban neighborhoods with the goal of combining classroom civic and environmental education with outside, hands-on learning experiences that allow students and teachers from different schools to collaborate and act on an environmental project specific to their community.

The program typically occurs throughout the school year, culminating in a final project created and achieved by the students and teachers with approval from Earth Day Network. The project is an opportunity for participants to demonstrate their accomplishments, inform local groups, leaders, and officials about the issue they tackled and its broader importance, and publicize their work to millions of organizations and individuals around the world through Earth Day Network's web site.

Educators’ Network members can access Earth Day Network's civic and environmental education lessons online. For further civic education resources, check out these websites.