The Depave Education and Outreach Committee works on a variety of efforts aimed to promote the Depave model and engage and educate community members locally and nationwide. The committee includes five subcommittees with specific focus areas, including:
Volunteer Engagement
Depave is a volunteer-driven organization and effective recruitment, training, engagement and retention of volunteers is critical. This subcommittee is currently working to assess and improve the volunteer experience and develop a comprehensive volunteer engagement strategy.
Environmental Curriculum & Event Education
A key part of our mission as an organization is to educate the local community on the effects and benefits of Depaving. The education subcommittee is focusing on two priorities: development of environmental curriculum to be implemented at local schools and development of educational materials and activities for use to educate volunteers at our depaving & planting work parties.
Marketing & Promotion
In addition to general promotion of Depave through a variety of avenues (social & traditional media, photography & videography – please let us know if you can to help with this!), this subcommittee is working to develop a Site Recruitment plan to: identify areas where Depaving is most needed in and around Portland, and develop strategies for reaching out to potential site hosts and funders.
Conferences and Presentations
Professional conferences, organization or society meetings and neighborhood events provide opportunities to promote Depave to a captive audience. This subcommittee is working to identify presentation opportunities and develop standard presentation materials and guides for presenters. We would like to empower and encourage volunteers to attend these events and present on behalf of Depave.
The Education & Outreach Committee generally meets once a month with subcommittees meeting periodically. There are plenty of opportunities to help out and get involved with this important work. Email Lisa Huntington to inquire about getting involved.