Environmental Education Programmes

We would like to help you, students and/or community groups learn about Canterbury’s natural resources. We have a number of programmes and resource materials on offer FREE OF CHARGE!

• Air
  Air is all around us, we need it to live, and when it becomes polluted it affects everyone.  Wintertime air quality in Canterbury’s towns and cities is amongst the worst in the world.  Most of the pollution (80 - 90%) comes from home heating. The problem is made worse by Canterbury’s geography and frosty, calm winter climate, which create temperature inversions – a layer of warm air traps the smog underneath. The way to improve air quality in Canterbury towns is to move towards clean methods of keeping our homes warm.

• Coasts
  Canterbury has a spectacular and diverse coastline stretching from Kaikoura to the Waitaki River. In between are the sandy beaches and dunes of Pegasus Bay, the rocky platforms of Kaikoura and Banks Peninsula, coastal lagoons, estuaries and shingle beaches. Each one is unique with its own set of ecological processes, biodiversity, values and issues.

• Energy
  Put the bright light on energy issues: what types of energy do we currently use, where does it come from, and what are some of the alternatives? How can we make the best use of the energy we produce? Renewable, non-renewable, energy consumption and energy efficiency… we all need to start thinking sustainably so we will be able to power the future.

• Living Canterbury
  An interactive display suitable for families, schools and community groups, on display at Canterbury museums.

• Natural Hazards
  What hazards do we face in Canterbury from our natural environment? In the past we have experienced extreme weather events like floods, storms and drought, and seismic events such as earthquakes and tsunami. These will occur again - it’s a question of when, not if. Because we know we will have to deal with these hazards some time in the future we can prepare ourselves now, and lessen the chances of being hurt or devastated when the next “big one” comes along…

• Passenger Transport
  In 2006 there were 338, 517 cars in Canterbury. That’s nearly 2 for every 3 people! And a lot of Cantabrians, such as children, don’t drive. That’s a lot of cars! Motor vehicles can have a great effect on the environment, such as encroachment of roads/motorways on land, carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, and contamination of waterways through oil and fuel leaks. But, hey, we do need to get from a to b. So how can we ‘transport ourselves’ in a more sustainable way? Catching a bus, walking and biking are all excellent alternative transport options that have less negative affects on the environment.

• Waste
  Did you know...you could fill the WestpacTrust Centre about three and a half times over with the amount of waste (263,000 tonnes) the Canterbury region generates each year.

• Water
  Water is perhaps the number one natural resource issue in Canterbury. Whether we’re talking quality or quantity, the demand for Canterbury’s water is extremely high. Canterbury has some of the cleanest water in the world, which is drawn from underground aquifers and which we can drink untreated. Although a floodplain, the Canterbury plains has a dry climate, and the thirsty land requires a lot of water to grow good grass and crops. Irrigation is the greatest use of water in the region. Human activities like agriculture, recreation, industry and power generation can affect water quality and quantity.