World EE Day, Report 2019

The second edition of the World Environmental Education Day took place from 14 to 26 October 2019,
The Weec Network invited all the stakeholders of the environmental education to join the World Environmental Education Day organising special events to highlight the importance of environmental educational actions all over the world.

The aim of EE Day is to focus on the complexity of the challenges in a world where everything is ever more interconnected. Several associations, environmental education centres, schools and institutions sent us information about their events in 2019. Here we present a selection of interesting case histories.

Haiti
Les Cayes, Botanical Garden
The event is organized from 27th October to 2nd November 2019 by Les Cayes Botanical Garden. The goal is to promote environmental education across different sector in the country. The theme chosen is “facing to climate change, environmental education is necessary. Which strategies to adopt”. Different activities are preview:
a. October 27: Talk-show on the history of Environmental Education around the world and in Haiti. Opening of the activities of the week.
b. October 28th: presentation of two training sessions on Environmental Education in 2 schools in the area.
c. October 29th, 2.00-5.00pm and October 30th to 31st: Training on Botanic systematic, identification native and endemic plants that could be used in reforestation, agroforestry, revegetation and restoration of ecosystems. After this training participants will have the ability to identify native and endemic plants to be conserved, exotic plants to avoid and invasive plants to eliminate. A certificate will be issued after this training.
d. November 1st: EDU-Tours to allow participants to discover the strategies developed by a community in environmental education.
e. November 2nd: Exposition and others activities based on Environmental Education.

Italy
Metropolitan City of Florence, environmental educational laboratory
Trainging meetings for professors and educators. The 2019 training proposal was divided into three meetings scheduled for 27 May, 12 September and 26 October 2019. The meetings are organized by the Environmental Educational Laboratory of the Medici Park of Pratolino with the collaboration of the ‘Italian Sustainable Development Association, the University of Florence and the Unesco Club of Florence. The May meeting was included in the 2019 Sustainable Development Festival and the October meeting is included in the World Environmental Education Week (October 14-26)

Saturday 26 October, program:
– Irene L’Abate and Michela Mayer (LDA and IASS) summary of activities May / September and aims of EAS
– Prof. Giovanna del Gobbo (UNIFI) Educational methods consistent with EAS
– M. Pettenati and I. De Maurissens (researchers) The job for EAS of INDIRE how, why, for whom to document?
– Rossano Ercolini (elementary school teacher, president of the Zero Waste Research Center and the Zero Waste Europe Association) Presentation of the book Zero waste the ten steps to the ecological revolution of the Nobel Award for environment.
– Shared lunch (everyone brings something to share and plate, glass and cutlery strictly Plastic free)
– Michela Mayer and Francesca Farioli (IASS) group work on action research and educational skills
– Irene L’Abate, teachers and operators, document the activities: Sustainable school communities
– Good educational practices illustrated by managers, teachers, educators
– confrontation on the topic Let’s get on the net? hypothesis for the creation of the ECOS network

Italy
ITET Fontana, school
On the occasion of the Fair Do the right thing in Trento (Italy), as an EMAS certified school we participate by presenting the path of environmental sustainability that we have been pursuing for more than ten years and which plans to create a network of students and environmental teachers who promote good daily practices. We also investigate all school consumptions, calculate their environmental impact, design solutions to reduce them effectively. We have also developed an environmental calculator for educational visits and the related compensation with the adoption of a forest in Ecuador. We are also EMAS certified and our environmental declaration has won the first national award organized by ISPRA in 2017.
Too bad that, of all this, nobody notices!

Mali
AGIR, Ngo
The environment house of Bamako
Projection of small scenarios by the NGO AGIR from a notebook with messages. The themes treated for raising the awareness of school children and the public are:  the water,  water-related diseases,  waste, animals, hygiene, trees, pollution, big family, role of the town hall, road traffic, the sport, each sequence will be debated.

Nigeria
Smile-Face Global Peace Initiative
To organize Environmental week program in schools with expert/ environmentalist to talk on protection of our land and the need to engage in activities that promote healthy life and sustainable development.
As parts of the program line up, tree planting in schools to replace the ones uprooted for use as a source of fire for cooking. This will also involve sensitization/ awareness campaign on the need to avoid unhealthy behaviour that is contributing negatively to our environment.
We plan to recruit volunteers to help government, Ethiopian embassy, UN agencies in the implementation of tree planting program in schools, public buildings, Roads, parks etc.

Portugal
MARE Centre and INIAV, IP
In Portugal the MARE Centre and Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária, I.P. (INIAV), in cooperation with Centro de Educação Ambiental – Torres Vedras organized outdoor visits to the sand dune habitats, located at Torres Vedras coastal zone (Portugal).
These visits are part of the EMC2 Project, focused on white crowberry plant – Corema album (L.) D. Don.
In October 2019, 20 pupils of the 3rd grade, and 18 pupils of 5th grade, 5 teachers and 1 researcher participated in outdoor environmental activities that highlighted some aspects of this plant bio-geography and its value as an Iberian endemic plant with white edible small fruits.
(in the picture: activities with children)