United for the Earth:

BGSU students and faculty engage in an innovative, community-centered
service-learning initiative for Earth Week
with Women of Toledo, Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, and Project H.O.P.E.

 

United for the Earth, a community event organized by Women of Toledo, the BGSU Environmental Communication Initiative, the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo (ICGT), and Project H.O.P.E. Equine Assisted Therapy, aims to enhance and extend environmental education and practice in Northwest Ohio, and promote cultural inclusivity and diversity as it intersects with environmental sustainability.

 

The 11 am to 3 pm event, free and open to the public at the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, 25877 Scheider Road, Perrysburg, features a panel discussion by regional environmental advocates and practitioners focusing on building sustainable, inclusive communities. The panel is followed by a conplementary healthy, Mediterranean lunch, a commemorative tree planting, a resource fair, and fun activities for children and all ages, including pony and carriage rides provided by Project H.O.P.E.

 

The event features a panel forum: Transformational, Sustainable Change for the Earth and for our Community from 11:30 am – 12:30 pm. Panelists will offer community-based knowledge, emphasize local and global leadership efforts to overcome barriers and challenges to sustainable living, and highlight Muslim women’s leaderhip efforts toward environmentnal sustainability.

 

“Collaborating with our partners, Women of Toledo, the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, and Project H.O.P.E., has been an extraordinary opportunity for students to take a leadership role in our community,” said Lara Martin Lengel, Ph.D., Professor in the BGSU School of Media and Communication and founder of the BGSU Environmental Communication Initiative. “I’m proud of my Environmental Communication students’ efforts to help our community understand and appreciate environmental sustainability, while enhancing their civic responsibility.”

 

“The principles of environmental preservation are not only core to Islam and Muslims, but for all humanity as well,” says Adam Smidi, BGSU Graduate Student Board of Trustees member and leader in the Muslim community. “All of us face enormous environrmental threats together, and I hope this event reminds us that we all must play a small role to help alleviate it.”

 

United for the Earth Itinerary:

 

Welcome          11:00 am

 

Panel Forum   11:30 am – 12:30 pm

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Commemorative Tree Planting           1:00 pm

 

United for the Earth Resource Fair    1:30 – 3:00

Resources and “green” family-friendly activities include,
but are certainly not limited to:

#BeThe1 Pledge to change one behavior for the earth
Sustainable gardening
Easy composting

Greening Ramadhan
Sustainable entrepreneurial initiatives
Project H.O.P.E. pony and carriage rides for children
Undergraduate research related to environmental sustainability
Earth Week arts and crafts
Face painting for children

 

Background on the BGSU Environmental Communication Initiative:

From local community volunteering to a major international partnerships,  environmental education efforts at home and abroad have put Bowling Green State University (BGSU) on the world map. BGSU has gained national and international recognition as a leader in service-learning and practical, hands-on environmental education.

 

BGSU students in the university’s first Environmental Communication course (COMM 4022, Spring 2019) are partnering with the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo (ICGT) and Women of Toledo (WoT) to enhance and extend environmental education and practices in Northwest Ohio, and promote the cultural inclusivity, diversity as it intersects with environmental sustainability

 

Dr. Lara Martin Lengel, Professor in the BGSU School of Media and Communication, who originally developed Environmental Communication in 2012 and is currently teaching the fourth offering of the course, said “I’m delighted to see how much the students have taken on a leadership role in helping our community to understand and appreciate environmental sustainability.” 

 

“The Environmental Communication course is the first course of its kind at BGSU,” she said.  Dr. Lengel incorporated a service-learning component to the course to go beyond traditional classroom learning to fostering a sense of personal and social responsibility and civic learning in her students.