Vermont Alliance of Conservation Voters: Programs

PROGRAMS

October 2005 Participate in Democracy Trainings a success!

VCEF partnered with Rural Vermont this past October to host a series of 8 Lobby trainings all over Vermont.

Participants learned about Vermont's legislative process and how to be involved and make a difference.

VCEF and Rural Vermont will expand upon this success and offer more trainings in the future. Check back for other opportunities to learn how to get involved and be effective at protecting Vermont's environment!

If you would like to have a training in your community, contact VCEF. We will gladly come and do the training in your community.

oNGOING PROGRAMS

Environmental Platform and Legislative Breakfast	VCEF facilitates the process of drafting the environmental community’s priorities into a platform for the legislature. We then host a legislative breakfast for the environment where the platform is presented to the legislature.
Vermont Environmental Action Network (VEAN)	VCEF is currently hosting the Vermont Environmental Action Network. This internet advocacy tool is raising awareness and motivating visitors to get involved in the political process. This legislative session VEAN has made it easy for Vermonters to e-mail and fax concerns regarding legislation affecting Vermont’s environment directly to their elected officials. More than 1500 Vermonters took action and sent to emails directly to Vermont House and Senate members on environmental legislation during the 2005 legislative session.
Citizen Action Day	VCEF sponsors a citizens' lobby day, “Citizen Action Day”, at the Vermont Statehouse where we work with other groups to train and empower citizens and activists from across the state to encourage their Legislators to support the environmental platform. The goals for are to raise public support for the environmental issues being addressed in the legislature, to connect Vermonters with their legislators, and to mobilize new people to get involved in the democratic process.
VCEF Educational Forums	VCEF, partnering with VACV and other environmental groups, hosts forums, social events and/or quarterly meetings with legislators focusing on specific environmental issues. Please contact us if you are concerned about an issue and would like us to host a forum in your community.
Building Power through List Enhancement	VCEF uses technology to add valuable information to membership lists of environmental organizations across the state. This information includes voting frequency, district information and demographic data. Environmental groups that participate in the list enhancement project can jointly use the list to mobilize their memberships in support of conservation efforts. VCEF will use list enhancement to implement our Building Power model across the state as we gear up for 2006.
Environmental Leadership Initiative	VCEF hosts an candidate training program in election years to train and educate candidates on green issues, campaigning and campaign skills and what it means to be an environmental leader in Vermont. Check back for our leadership trainings in Spring of 2006.
People Can Plan	VCEF hosts a resource for environmental activists who are seeking to learn more about how their local government oversees zoning and land use planning. The "PeopleCanPlan" internet-based tutorial is a user-friendly, interactive resource that provides background on local land use planning processes, describes the areas of responsibility for the various board and commissions that oversee planning, offers suggestions on how to effectively lobby these groups, and contains a listing of positions on these boards that citizens could fill. It can be accessed at www.peoplecanplan.org. Check back for our People Can Plan training in a community near you this winter.