Tag Archive for: World Environment Day

Speaking 4 the Planet, join the competition

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Speaking for the Planet is an international Arts-based competition for high school students. These events have World Environment Day themes and the Sustainability Development Goals as their focus. The competition categories are speaking, drama,art, video-making and writing.

Kids 4 the Planet is the primary school equivalent.

This competition is by invitation and it is unfunded. Until now it involved schools from England, Slovenia, Hungary, Brazil, Canada, Thailand, Vietnam, US, Czech Republic, New Zealand, Kenya, Laos, Palau, Netherlands, Sweden.

Speaking 4 the Planet encourages participants to think differently. If we are to achieve sustainable communities, we will need people to be able to think creatively – often away from the mainstream – and express and support novel ideas in public arenas. We will need people who can persuade decision-makers and community members to choose sustainability options and directions. Speaking 4 the Planet provides opportunities for students to offer quirky solutions and build skills in communication, advocacy and change.

Let’s participate in the competition 2020 by Friday 25 September! The focus is the World Environment Day theme and the Sustainability Development Goals. Events are registered on the UN’s website. Events take much of a school day. They are normally held in schools or council chambers. The program includes welcome addresses from the hosts and sponsors, a video with information on the specific topic of the event.

A student and teacher Resource Pack is provided to help students prepare for the competition. The package includes the judging criteria, which are linked to curriculum requirements for speaking and drama.

Categories

Speech 3-4 minute speech. Participants send a video of themselves delivering the speech. A written copy of the speech will also need to be sent (in Word). In English.
Art Participants send 3 photos of the artwork they produce.
Meme In English.
Writing Participants are asked to write a (only!) 30 word piece on the topic. In English.

Topic

Bridging the needs of People and Planet: If we don’t get the human stuff right, we can’t get the environmental stuff right. This topic is deliberately linked to the theme of the 2021 World Environmental Education Congress, Building Bridges.

If you are interested in these initiatives, please write to the director, Phil Smith, to have more information (phil@speaking4theplanet.org.au).

 

See the 2019 edition

Beat Air Pollution. Unep campaign for the World Environment Day 2019

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World Environment Day cannot succeed without everybody’s participation. Each year, thousands of cities, schools, non-governmental organizations, businesses and groups organize creative and fun events to inspire further action.
For this year’s World Environment Day, UN Environment will be calling on everyone, everywhere to come together to Beat Air Pollution, which is now the biggest public health crisis on the planet.
«We want to work with our partners in education and youth to take this message into the classroom, campus and community to raise awareness and take action around air pollution, which causes asthma and other respiratory illnesses in young people.
We would like to beat last year’s record and get thousands of events organized with our education partners and we hope that the materials and activations will inspire you to get your sleeves up and ready to join in!» This is the message of the Unep.

What you can do
1. Make June 5 a Beat Air Pollution Day:
a. Bring in an “Air-expert”: Bring in a local air pollution expert to talk about air quality and its impact in the community during either a school assembly or lecture to raise awareness around this issue.
b. Teach it: Ask teachers and professors to teach a whole day on air quality for World Environment Day. Check out this list of Air Quality-related lecture notes and teaching resources. Explore the materials to discuss questions with students such as:
• What are the biggest sources of air pollution?
• How many different sources of air pollution are they exposed to on their way to school/university?
• How can they reduce or avoid these sources of pollution?
• How do they personally contribute to air pollution?
• What can they do to reduce their own “dirty air-print”?
c. Walk / Bike to School Day: Consider implementing a “Walk / Bike to School Day” to encourage leaving the car at home.
d. Tree planting for air and wildlife: Investing in biodiversity can help clean the air and provide habitats for wildlife. Host a tree-planting event on World Environment Day and ask students to bring in seedlings for their own plants in an effort to replenish this valuable resource.
2. Then, register your event online: Go to the World Environment Day site to get all the help you need and register your event so we can see what you are doing online and put you on our real-time map. All those that register will be awarded a World Environment Day participation certificate by UN Environment.
3. Finally, show your support on social: This year, we want to inspire millions of people to share their concern about air quality by getting involved in the #BeatAirPollution social media campaign. We will be going all out with the campaign on May 22. It’s quick to do and will take just 3 minutes to show your support, all you need to do is:
• First, put a mask (or scarf, wrap) around your face / mouth
• Take a selfie
• Then share your commitment as to what you will do to take action on air quality in your own life
• Then share it using the hashtag #beatairpollution on your social media channels tagging three others to do the same
If you would like further feedback or guidance around any of these suggested ideas, or if you’d like to explore alternative options: unenvironment-yea@un.org

VIDEO Take a mask and act!