Environmental Education Centre

Canada’s Most Sustainable Building

Located at 2505 Pioneer Road, on Trent University Nature Area lands, the Camp Kawartha Environment Centre is a unique partnership between the Gainey Foundation, Trent University and Fleming College’s sustainable building program. Over 30 foundations, organizations, businesses and individuals have supported this award winning initiative.

Using innovative green architecture; the Camp Kawartha Environment Centre showcases alternative energy in action. Designed and built by students in Fleming College’s Sustainable Building Design and Construction program, the centre is, in the words of program coordinator and award winning sustainable builder Chris Magwood "Canada’s most sustainable building." Located on more than 200 acres of Trent University’s stunning wildlife sanctuary lands, this unique 2,000 square foot structure is open for programming year round and will accommodate up to 80 people at any one time.

Be A Water Steward Program

Special price and bussing subsidy

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Environmental Arts Programming

Special price and bussing subsidy

Environmental Education Centre Programs

The Centre not only showcases sustainable building practices and energy conservation, but it serves as a training ground for future teachers in strategies for effective environmental education and alternative, sustainable living. We deliver over 40 environmental education programs linked to the Ontario curriculum. We also offer workshops on environmental education to student teachers from Trent’s School of Professional Learning, and we provide hands-on workshops, lectures and seminars on sustainability to the general public.

Building Hope

In a world of ever increasing environmental problems from climate change to habitat destruction, the solutions we provide for our children seem somehow less than satisfying. We all recognize that recycling, turning off lights and driving less will not be enough to make our world more livable for future generations.

In fact, by focusing so much on global environmental degradation we can potentially scare our children into apathy. Why bother making any changes when the problems we face seem so daunting? Failure to bring environmental education to our children could well be a failure to bring them a sense of hope.

The Camp Kawartha Environment Centre provides hope for a greener future by showing our community and future generations how we can all live differently and sustainably. Many of the sustainable features showcased at the centre could easily be integrated into existing and new buildings. The average Canadian House produces 5 tonnes of carbon emissions per year. The Camp Kawartha Environment Centre produces zero carbon. Imagine if we all lived like this! If we can encourage our children to value and adopt sustainable living practices, we'll have gone a long way towards reclaiming a sense of hope for the future.

What David Suzuki says about the Camp Kawartha Environment Centre:

The great challenge of our time is to reconnect ourselves with the world around. It is the biosphere that is our home and our most fundamental need is clean air, water, soil and energy and the diversity of life to deliver these basic needs. Most children today grow up in cities where we focus on the economy. We have to change this focus. David Suzuki