The specific objectives of the My Community, Our Earth Program are to: (a) support individual projects at the middle school, high school and university levels to advance geographic learning and to help demonstrate various approaches to sustainable development; (b) provide students with resources to learn about sustainable development issues and present them to international leaders; (c) raise awareness of the importance of geography as an effective approach for sustainable development; (d) consolidate the results of the various projects for presentation national and international conferences, website postings, and other public venues; and (e) honor and highlight the efforts of students, student groups, mentors, and other participants through award and recognition programs.

MyCOE provides ongoing online resources globally to youth to conduct their own local projects. The program also enrolls volunteer mentors to work with students via email, post, or telephone. A web-based library of materials comprise a major resource for participants as well as for general public access. Online communications serve to build and facilitate the community of participants, including community project organizers, mentors, student participants, and other interested youth.

MyCOE raises international awareness about the importance of geography and geographic information system (GIS) technology, including satellite images and local data referenced by GPS, in addressing issues relating to sustainable development. Submitted projects have also received prizes, recognition and/or display at major national and international venues.

In addition to its continual global programs, MyCOE launched a series of regional initiatives, designed to offer more focused resources to targeted youth around select themes of sustainable development to provide more dedicated support to selected youth during the course of their project work, to elicit greater impact on participants and communities with limited resources available, and to build linkages with other Type II Partnerships. Regional initiatives and targeted activities are designed among partners and other supporters, including development of funding proposals and procurement of additional partnership resources. Each initiative includes an evaluation and assessment component to continually improve the program and ensure focus on the MyCOE mission.

In Round One 2,000+ resource kits were shipped to 100+ countries. 200+ Projects were submitted by May 31, 2002. A high-level panel of public and private sector experts selected 10 projects for display at WSSD in Johannesburg. Over 500 sustainable development, GIS, and geography professionals from 63 countries registered as mentors to help students complete projects. Round Two Projects were submitted during 2004 and 2005. Additional resources, including an Online Student Project Resource Kit was developed and disseminated. Youth globally may now submit their projects easily and at any time via an internet form and interface for inclusion in the Online Project Gallery. Dissemination and display include numerous national and international conferences.

Targeted regional initiatives include an effort in the US Gulf States and the Greater Caribbean providing the opportunity for university students to work with the local community using geographic tools and concepts for sustainable development projects developed locally. Students gain critical workforce experiences through 4 to 6 month terms at sites in Puerto Rico, Honduras, Jamaica, Panama, and the US Gulf States. Linkages among the project universities, community organizations, and governmental agencies include online e-communities to support peer-to-peer networking, mentoring relationships, university-to-university connections, and inter-institutional/multisectoral linkages.

In the US, MyCOE brought together constellations of 26 undergraduate students, faculty, and extension personnel in land grant and sea grant universities to jointly conduct community-based projects using geographic technologies for sustainable development. The objective of creating and supporting these nodes of collaboration was to improve linkages among research, education, and extension outreach related to critical sustainability topics and USDA-CSREES National Emphasis Areas, in particular natural resources, forestry, environment, watershed management, conservation, agricultural systems, rural development, technology and land use issues.

In the Middle East, MyCOE is promoting the use of Geography and GIS to support basic math and science education in the Muslim World. Partners are conducting a set of activities that will improve the availability of innovative educational resources and free software in Arabic for K-12 teachers in the region and will also provide capacity training in the use of technologies and innovative hands-on active pedagogy that engages young women in math and science for 25 educators from Tunisia, Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Yemen.

In South Asia, MyCOE is promoting the use of Geography, GIS and GPS to improve environmental education in the Muslim World. Partners are developing new materials and lesson plans for teachers at middle school levels to incorporate field experiences in their classrooms. The program will provide free software, equipment and training of 25 teachers in Muslim Mindanao, Philippines and create support mechanisms for teacher-led follow-on activities to apply new techniques in their home schools and disseminate skills and knowledge to other teachers in a snowball model.

In Central America, MyCOE partners are focusing attention on local capacity to use geographic technologies for biodiversity initiatives, by supporting interdisciplinary and multi-sectoral teams of university students and their mentors to learn geographic techniques for research applications around protected areas and threatened species. A workshop in Panama was held in early 2008 to train 25 participants from Colombia, Panama, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Mexico, and Guatemala.

Other regional initiatives are currently in development for the Pacific Rim and for Africa.

In late September 2002, the MyCOE partnership formed an Executive and Steering Committee that meets periodically to plan for ongoing activities, including strategic level planning. A MyCOE Partner Update is distributed broadly to partners and other interested organizations. Most coordination is via email and teleconference calls, with some face-to-face meetings. The Association of American Geographers, a founding organizer and sponsor of the partnership, is serving as Secretariat. Dr. Patricia Solis, a geographer with expertise in sustainable development, coordinates the overall program (psolis@aag.org).

The primary implementation mechanism is via the online website: http://www.geography.org/sustainable
A significant and ever-expanding library of resources available to students and schools developing a MyCOE project are listed on the website. An Online MyCOE Resource Kit is available for download and includes a link to request for free GIS software, the Student Guide (in English and Spanish, Arabic coming soon) and Instructors Guide, among other materials.
Organizers and sponsors continually distribute MyCOE posters, flyers, and other outreach and informational materials via email, post, and at domestic and international conferences and other venues.
Students submit projects on the web for featured display on the MyCOE website or at major international meetings. When additional prizes are available from partners, selection committees are arranged to award outstanding projects.

The regional initiatives are intensively managed by the MyCOE Secretariat (AAG) and draw heavily upon the e-community resources and discussion forums for implementation. Local projects or participants in the target areas are selected by circulating a call for proposals/participation and identifying those with the greatest capacity to support MyCOE goals. Priority is given to projects with ongoing activities that could benefit from the collaboration in a way that otherwise would not be accomplished. Ad hoc selection committees choose participants/proposal, comprised of representatives from partnering institutions, according to established and published criteria.

Amount in US$: 0

Source(s): Government - Private sector - Foundations / charities - IGO - NGO
Support for MyCOE activities has come from grants and in-kind contributions (publications, software, staff, and services) from partnering organizations valued at more than $2 million since its inception.

Source(s): Government - Private sector - NGO
In-kind contributions (publications, teaching materials, software, data, equipment, staff, and services) from partnering organizations

Required Amount in US$: not specified

Source(s) already approached: The partners are continually engaged in securing funding support, additional resources, grants, or contributions for ongoing activities or targeted focused initiatives that link MyCOE goals with the missions of partner and sponsor organizations.

Requirement(s): Volunteers are continously recruited to serve as mentors to student projects or as translators of materials for the online digital library.