OLLIE SAVES THE PLANET - BACKGROUND
Ollie
Saves the Planet is the second in a series of interactive environmental
education programs produced by Sustain Ability International. The first
program, Ollie Recycles, came out in 1997 and was distributed free to
all primary schools in Victoria and hundreds of other primary schools
around Australia.
Realising that the concept could be expanded and taken to the world,
Sustain Ability International directors, Jane Stewart and Peter Broadbent,
took Ollie Recycles to the United Kingdom, where they were overwhelmed
by the positive response. Says Jane: "They had never seen anything
like it. We had discovered a truly needed product in a lucrative overseas
niche market for our interactive environmental education program."
In
November 1999, Ollie Recycles was released in the United Kingdom. By July
2001 every primary school in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland had
received a free copy.
Today, the more sophisticated Ollie Saves the Planet program has been
supported and embraced by organisations connected to the waste, water
and energy industries, government departments, manufacturers of materials,
recyclers, educators and environmental groups. In short, it is the only
program in the world that involves all these disparate groups.
Over the past three years, Peter and Jane have travelled the world showing
Ollie Saves the Planet to industry, government and education leaders in
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, the United States and Malaysia.
By
attracting funding for the program from local organisations, Sustain Ability
International is able to target the program to the specific circumstances,
specific curricula and the cultural and religious sensitivities of each
and every market in which it is launched. Feedback from children, teachers
and parents is used to continually improve the program.
Funds also pay for one free copy of the CD ROM to be distributed into
every primary school in each country it is made for and teacher training
programs are created for local educators.
"Our goal is to create strategic partners in countries all over
the world, funding the creation of new localised programs linking together
communities from all over the world," says Peter.
CURRENT AND FUTURE PROGRAMS
Ollie Recycles
|
Australia
|
June 1997
|
Ollie Recycles
|
United Kingdom
|
Nov 1999
|
Ollie Recycles 2001
|
United Kingdom
|
July 2001
|
Ollie Recycles |
United Arab Emirates |
Nov 2001 |
Ollie Saves the Planet
|
Australia
|
July 2002
|
Ollie Saves the Planet
|
USA
|
Jan 2004
|
Ollie's Island
|
Australia
|
Early 2006
|
Ollie's Island
|
USA
|
Late 2006
|
FEATURES OF THE OLLIE SAVES THE PLANET PROGRAM
- Hours of easy-to-use edu-tainment
- Suitable for kids aged from 5 - 95
- 50 interactive activities - games, puzzles, movies and more
- 20 projects using web page-making software included in the program
- 190 info-screens with further environmental information
- Search facility to enhance navigation
- Practical real-life case studies to enhance understanding
- Extensive teachers'notes
- Direct hyperlink to Ollie's Website
|