About the Program

For over three years Miami/Miami-Dade Weed & Seed , Inc. has focused on environmental education and restoring the Everglades in the Liberty City Community. Neighborhood cleanups, community gardens, and environmental fairs are just a few of the programs and activities that have been put into place to show the community how important the affects the urban core has on the environment.

Program Overview
The Community Environmental Education Program (CEEP) is funded through a grant by the Environmental Protection Agency. Students learn about the Everglades , the Everglades Restoration Project, ecosystems, native plants of South Florida, water conservation and treatment, building and maintaining community gardens, and more.

Additionally, participating in the Science Fair, conducting experiments, competing in an essay writing contest, are some more of the things that encourage students to learn about environmental issues and gain a better understanding of the Everglades.

Why Everglades Education is Important to our Community

The South Florida Ecosystem extends 11,000 square miles from Kissimmee River, near Orlando, to the Florida Keys, which is the source of drinking water for five million people.  The everglades provides and protects the fresh water for all these people.  By restoring the Everglades, the larger regional ecosystems are also restored and hope is given to the region for people to live and do business.

Urban Environmental Ambassadors Club

Students and teachers from Miami-Dade Public Schools in the Liberty City / Little Haiti neighborhood participate in the CEEC program and work primarily with the environmental educators employed by Miami/Miami-Dade Weed & Seed, Inc.

The National Audubon Society, Fairchild Tropical Gardens, and The South Florida Water Management District have joined forces to provide environmental education experts to host various workshops. Ambassadors learn about environmental issues. They learn how internalize and communicate their knowledge to their neighborhood for revitalization and change.

The youth participate in workshops, which will focus on the following:

• The Everglades South Florida Ecosystems

• Local Water Supply & Distribution

Students/members of the environmental clubs are educated on the following topics:

• The Importance of Everglades Restoration

• Water Conservation

• Urbanization and its Impact on the Environment

• Community Gardening

• Pesticides/Insecticides and Alternatives

• How the Environment affects Human Health

• Recycling ~ Acid Rain ~ Native Plants of South Florida
  Neighborhood Clean-ups

Environmental Club Field trips include the following:

• The Everglades ~ Resources Recovery Plant

• Biscayne National Park ~ Fairchild Tropical Gardens ~ Butterfly World

• Snorkeling at John Pennekamp Park in Key Largo)

• Drinking Water Treatment Plant/Sewage Treatment Plant