Earth science education 4. Geoliteracy Canada, a national geoscience education initiative

Earth scientists are collectively responsible for ensuring that geoscience knowledge is incorporated into decisions about land use in Canada. The futu re of our discipline depends to a considerable extent on an educated public that realizes the value of earth science information. The vitality of eart h sciences also depends on our ability to convince bright students to enter our profession. In this paper, we propose an initiative in geoscience educ ation, Geoliteracy Canada, based on expanded delivery of, and better linkag es among, four national programs and an upcoming international conference. The programs that underpin this initiative are EdGEO, EarthNet, WAT ON EART H, and Geoscape Canada. These national programs are linked, in turn, to the many local and regional geoscience education enterprises across the countr y. The Canadian Geoscience Education Network, the education committee of th e Canadian Geoscience Council (CGC), will provide national coordination of the initiative.