PROBEA Team Wins Civic Excellence Award

"Every day, ordinary people do extraordinary things for our community." PROBEA (Proyecto Bioregional de Educación Ambiental), one of several programs of the San Diego Natural History Museum that operate in the U.S./Mexico border region, was honored at the San Diego Dialogue's Celebration of Civic Excellence Awards presentation on Monday, October 1, 2001.

The PROBEA team of Dolores Monterrubio, Laura Silvan, Doretta Winkelman, and Judy Ramirez were honored for their work to help educators teach about the area's environment. Specifically, the team focuses on this region's watershed, the Tijuana River, which flows on both sides of the border. Dolores Monterrubio and Laura Silvan accepted the award on behalf of the team.

PROBEA was recognized for its leadership in the category of "enhancing cross-border collaboration." Other recipients were awarded in the categories of "creating livable communities," "reinforcing K-12 education reform," and "displaying outstanding public leadership." Their peers submitted over 100 nominations. Fourteen finalists were chosen and the honorees were then selected by San Diego Dialogue's membership.

PROBEA is a collaboration of ten organizations (five from the U.S. and five from Mexico) that offer teacher-training programs to educators in Mexico. It seeks to develop partnerships for teacher training that inspire teachers, students, and individuals to become environmentally responsible citizens in the Tijuana River watershed in our shared U.S./Mexico border region.

Since 1991, PROBEA has designed, implemented and involved more than 470 Mexican educators in multiple teacher trainings to achieve some of the following objectives: to recognize that we all live in a watershed, and that we are individually responsible for its stewardship; to recognize the importance of water and how we use it in our daily lives; to learn practical ways to translate this awareness into effective actions in our homes and communities; to learn techniques to reduce, reuse, and recycle inorganic trash and to reduce and utilize organic waste; to learn reforestation techniques; and to appreciate the diverse species of life that live in our region and whose quality of life depends on our actions.

The membership of San Diego Dialogue is a governing body of widely respected civic and business leaders with 150 members drawn from industry, government, the media, academic institutions, and nonprofit organizations on both sides of the border. The goal of the Dialogue is to improve this region's quality of life through cross-border development, smart growth, and school reform. Formed in 1991, the Dialogue's evolving agenda reflects the need for constantly updated information and analysis of the opportunities and challenges facing this dynamic region.

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