Outdoor Leadership Trainings for South Bay Educators and Families

The Authority contributed funds to Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful's Coyote Meadows Park Community Planning and Concept project. In the heart of the City of San Jose, Coyote Meadows (formerly known as a homeless encampment named "The Jungle") is a nearly 50-acre parcel of land designated as open space owned by the City of San Jose along Coyote Creek. This land is a linchpin for connecting the community in an east-west and north-south route as a trail corridor. Together with the City of San Jose, community members seek to activate this area as a natural park adjacent to a neglected waterway. This project will provide community planning and conceptual designs, with the end result of a urban open space park with native plants, passive recreational uses, and a strong stewardship infrastructure.

Acterra developed a science-based climate science education and training program for Middle School students (grades 6-8) that explains climate change and outlines positive steps individuals and communities can take to mitigate negative effects. Acterra aims to partner with the California Native Garden Foundation (CNGF) to co-create an outdoor/urban garden experience that links nature, food, and planetary health to enrich the You(th) Be the Change (YBtC) curriculum that both organizations can incorporate into their educational programming. In addition to direct teaching of the enriched YBtC program in classrooms, this project includes a teacher training program to support and inspire teachers to provide students from under-resourced communities with high quality climate science education and outdoor/urban garden experiences while increasing awareness and usage of CNGF’s urban garden.

The urban bird banding station Coyote Creek Field Station performs research, skills training, and innovative science-focused educational outreach. The grant will fund field station improvements to accommodate the expansion of education and community outreach activities. Facility improvement planning will be extensively informed by consultation with educators, with a priority focus on engaging with underserved communities, to ensure that the expansion serves local needs.