Keep It Clean -- Neighborhood Environmental Trios

About the Program

Category: Civic Education and Public Information (Best in Category)

Year: 2016

KIC-NET (Keep It Clean – Neighborhood Environmental Trios) engages youth in improving urban waterways. Launched in 2012, KIC-NET facilitates student exploration of stormwater in their neighborhoods and development of sustainable solutions to runoff. KIC-NET guides youth from environmental inventory to civic action. KIC-NET impacts: • STEM – KIC-NET students use science, technology, engineering, and math to solve real-world environmental challenges. Students test water quality factors like dissolved oxygen, E. coli, nutrient levels, and macroinvertebrates, working with engineers and STEM professionals to discover what their data indicate and how stormwater management works. Based on this evidence, students engineer civic action projects to positively impact water quality. • Stormwater – Students have work on issues such as impervious playground surfaces, excess dog waste along inner-city trails, and inclusion of green infrastructure features in new parks. After a KIC-NET experience, 74% of students know more about stormwater and 72% know specific actions to reduce water pollution. • MS4 Permits – KIC-NET provides an innovative way to comply with the Clean Water Act, while providing new and needed teaching tools. Though the first requirement of a municipal stormwater permit is “education and outreach,” accepted means of “checking it off” are often static displays, short awareness-level presentations, and informational brochures – none of which are true education. KIC-NET reimagines stormwater education in light of the Common Core State Standards, Next Generation Science Standards, and Guidelines for Excellence in Environmental Education. • Environmental Citizenship – By working on actual policies and practices affecting water quality, students become confident environmental stewards with authentic civic action skills. Development and scale-up of KIC-NET has been funded by three EPA Urban Waters Small Grants matched by funding from the City and Country of Denver, and supplemented by funding from CH2M Foundation, National Audubon Society, City of Lakewood, City of Albuquerque, and Friends of the Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge. Currently, 2,283 students at 30 schools experience KIC-NET. They have completed 47 action projects.