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Colorado Water Education Task Force Januarv 11, 2008 Uadate <br />Background: <br />This initiative is conducted by the Colorado Water Education Task Force (WETF), which is funded by the Colorado <br />Water Conservation Board (CWCB) in partnership with the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education <br />(CAEE) and Colorado Watershed Network (CWN). In order to better understand the current status of water <br />education in Colorado, we are conducting a survey to gather information from as many water education providers as <br />possible. <br />Responses will be used to compile a catalog of water education programs and materials currently available in <br />Colorado. Survey results will be discussed in Focus Group meetings during February and a final report will be <br />compiled by March 2008. The final report will be freely available in electronic form to serve as a springboard for <br />improving the availability and effectiveness of water education in Colorado. <br />Overview: <br />Goal I. The planning committee met October 29th to confer on the scope of work and initiate the first components <br />of the project. This committee is comprised of a small group of water education professionals including Veva <br />McCaig, Reagan Waskom, Wendy Hanophy, Jacob Bornstein, Jo Scarbeary, Doug Kemper, Rob Buirgy, Ali <br />Sweeney, Dan McAuliffe, and Diane Hoppe. <br />The goal of the October 29th meeting was to plan for a successful survey and a productive series of task force and <br />focus group meetings. During this meeting we accomplished the following: <br />1. Finalized survey format and questions. <br />2. Developed the basic structure of the focus groups (e.g. Youth, adult, and state government.). <br />3. Generated a list of groups and individuals to participate in the survey, task force, and focus groups. <br />4. Assigned responsihilities for contacting participants. <br />During the month of November, members of the planning committee finalized the lists of participants, finalized the <br />survey, and planned the November 29th task force meeting. <br />The task force met for the first time on November 29h, with 23 people attending. The goals of this meeting were to <br />orient task force members to the objectives of this initiative, fine-tune the schedule, review plans for the survey, plan <br />focus goup meetings and discuss production of the final report. During this meeting we accomplished the <br />following: <br />1. Finalized membership in the task force and agreed on roles of task force members. <br />2. Finalized the scope of work, milestones and schedule. Established March 1, 2008 completion date. <br />3. Reviewed and edited the survey format and questions. <br />4. Agreed on preliminary concepts for focus group participation and critical outcomes. <br />Goal IL The task force will generate a report detailing the current status of water education available in Colorado. <br />Members of the planning committee will manage the production of this report by compiling survey results and <br />drafting the report for review and comment by the task force. <br />Goal III. Three focus groups (State Agency, Adult, and Youth) will meet February 4`h - 6`h to accomplish the <br />following tasks: <br />1. Review the `State of Water Education' report for accuracy and completeness. <br />2. Evaluate the effectiveness of current water education relative to their specific audience. <br />3. Produce meeting summaries describing the most effective aspects of current programs, outlining beneficial <br />changes or extensions, and identifying the resowces necessary to optimize water education for their <br />audience.