Sep 9, 2011 / ENERGY GLOBE Award
Project presentation - "Eco-Schools Program"
Sustainability and stewardship regarding energy are doubtlessly important future-oriented topics, and so they must be conveyed in the curriculum.
However, preaching to the students yields nothing more than boredom. Exciting learning that is in touch with reality is the secret. This is the only way to ensure that what is learned is applied in everyday life.
This is precisely the magic that 17 elementary schools in Morocco achieve as they apply the motto „Ecology live” to bring life outside school into the curriculum. Over 9000 pupils across the country experience in real life what ecology and sustainability mean – and through them their friends and families.
Fatima Zohra Beyaich, who is responsible for environmental education, explains how the Eco-School program works: After founding an organization committee, a school’s energy consumption is analyzed and a plan of action is developed.
The pupils devise and monitor measures (such as waste separation and water conservation), evaluate the results, and disseminate what they learn. In addition, in the realm of the program, each school developed its own eco-code that defines the school’s values and goals.
Successful schools are distinguished with a green flag. There are already 27,000 eco-schools in more than 46 nations. This year nine Moroccan schools achieved this goal and, thanks to Eco-School, became multipliers for future eco-citizens.