Education and Outreach

Listen to the Healthy Ulster Radio show which discussed climate change and the importance of local community resiliency with Julie Noble, Environmental Education and Sustainability Coordinator for the City of Kingston, and Betta Broad, Outreach Director for New Yorkers for Clean Power.

Healthy Ulster Radio Show December 2018

Environmental Education Programs 

The City of Kingston’s Parks and Recreation Department offers residents and visitors a variety of Environmental Education opportunities, including experiences and programming through the Forsyth Nature Center, one of the only municipal nature centers in New York State.  Kingston’s Environmental Education program offers both indoor and outdoor experiences for school and youth groups, as well as adults, plus summer camps and a summer Junior Naturalist Program. To learn more visit the EnvironmentalEducation/Nature Center page. In 2017, 4713 community members participated in Environmental Education Programming with the City, including the Junior Naturalist Summer Program, which the staff direct annually.

Public Events 

In 2017, sustainability staff, in collaboration with community partners, developed, planned, organized, and executed several major public outreach events. Each of these events drew community members and regional visitors to the Kingston Parks System. Events include the Kingston Kayak Festival, Fall Festival and Earth Fair.

2017 Conference on the Environment 

The City of Kingston was proud to host the 2017 Conference on the Environment, a gathering of citizens, business owners, economic and environmental organization members and staff, local officials and staff, and members of municipal Conservation Councils and Boards and County Environmental Management Councils. With 38 presenters, November 17th was a busy day, with presentations on the Food Economy, Energy, Transportation, Flooding and Sea Level Rise, Land Trust/Municipal Collaborations, the Clean Energy Communities Program, Resiliency, Natural Resources Inventories and Sustainable Urbanism. For full access to the conference presentations, click here. Seventeen counties across the state were represented at this year’s event with 140 attendees. Attendees heard from key environmental leaders including EPA Region 2 Regional Administrator Pete Lopez, NYS Assemblymember Steve Otis, Ulster County Executive Michael Hein, Mayor Steve Noble, and philanthropist/Emmy award-winning musician/NY Times best-selling author Peter Buffett.

Hosted at The Chateau, a magnificent event venue in historic Kingston, NY, the NYS Conference on the Environment has been held annually in NYS since at least 1972. Sponsored by the NYS Association of Conservation Commissions and the NYS Association of Environmental Management Councils and hosted by a local organization, 2017 marked the 45th year since this conference’s inception.