Pitch
Our goal is to promote environmental and climate literacy and motivate youths in schools and colleges to protect their local environment.
Description
Summary
Fostering climate collaboration in communities will achieve a maximum result if the youths and schools are involved. Scientific reports has shown that all part of the world will be affected by the consequences of climate change. Climate change is already here with us. The change in rainfall patterns, drought, flooding, failure of crops and low yield, the outbreak of diseases etc are all signs of the effect of climate change. it is therefore important that we collaborate with the community through the youths using schools as contact point. I strongly believe that when a student joins an environmental club in school, learns about climate change He or she will surely share the information with his or her family and thus spreading the information through the community. Again, the environmental clubs is structured in a way that the youths carry out community projects visible to all. Above all, it is important for the youths to understand climate change because their future is at stake if mitigation and adaptive strategies are not taken. The best medium to found eco clubs for maximum impact is through schools and colleges.
What actions do you propose?
Through the Department of Education it is to organize a one day sensitization and public lecture with the theme: This sensitization workshop is to be attended by all students, teachers and parents/guardians. This workshop will be held in all the schools and colleges in Boulder during which the Environmental Clubs initiative will be lunched after the founding/establishment of the clubs will proceed in individual schools.
STEPS TO ESTABLISHING THE ECO-CLUB
1. Seek for permission to establish the club from the ministry of Education and upon approval Arrange with the principal/head of school for permission to start the club.
2. Arrange a venue, a suitable day of the week and time for meetings.
3. Advertise the meeting time, place, etc. (Organize beforehand with some students who might be interested in forming the management committee).
4. Get a teacher to be the patron/staff advisor.
5. At the meeting, the names of all who attended will be taken down. The students will decide on the structure of the club, and on its objectives themselves.
6. Have elections for the posts on the management committee, and post the names will be pasted on the notice board
7. For the first meeting after the elections, we will have a presentation, or show a video or slide show, about climate change to hold everyone’s interest.
8. Decide on the types of activities, offer members some suggestions, according to their interests and capabilities.
9. Decide on the amount of dues and on a meeting schedule.
10. Ensure that notices are given out for the next meeting in good time!
11. Select students to be coordinators / chairpersons
SELECTED POST FOR CLUBS:
THE PRESIDENT/COORDINATOR
• Guides the meeting according to the agreed agenda
• Enforces rules of procedure, e.g., only one person speaks at a time
• Rules on disputed matters
• Maintains the policy of the club and the college
• Prevents irrelevant discussions
• Encourages participation of all members
• Deals firmly and tactfully and with humor when faced with disruption or aggression
• Summarizes the discussions before a decision is to be taken.
THE SECRETARY
• Drafts notices to convene meetings, and posts them
• Takes notes on what the meeting decides
• Takes care of certain logistical tasks, e.g., books the meeting room
• Follows up with members, others to ensure actions that were agreed on have been done.
• Takes care of any correspondence
• Draws up first draft of agenda for the President’s approval
• Keeps the chair informed
THE TREASURER
• Collects dues
• Keeps financial records accurately
• Prepares budgets
• Provides meetings with financial information in a timely manner
ORDER OF MEETINGS
Here is a suggested order for regular meetings:
1. Welcome everyone, ask new members to introduce themselves.
2. Pass around the register for those present to sign it; collect dues. Decide when to pay these? Monthly? Weekly?)
3. Ask the coordinator / president to recap the last meeting for those who missed it (doesn’t need to be minutes of meeting, just brief recap).
4. Ask for questions, comments and make clarifications.
5. Ask for updates on what has taken place since the last meeting.
6. Review progress; ask members for their comments on progress or lack of progress; get suggestions for continuance, for improvements.
7. Re-organize actions by doing the following:
a) List all actions with time deadlines
b) Add names of those responsible for each action
c) Ensure that everybody in the club is doing something.
8. After the days business session is completed, Share some environmental information with the whole club. Discuss it by asking questions: who, what, when, where, why, how? Or do some work on the project at this time.
9. Close meeting with environmental pledge, or prayer.
CLUB ACTIVITIES
Activities can be categorized into two namely; on school/campus and off school or community activities. Choosing appropriate activities for the club depends on the local environment and the school itself. Making the decision for the club’s project or activity is the first step in planning the activity. The challenge lies in finding the right activity for the club. Here are some areas which will advise the different chapters to consider when making your choice:
1. what you want to achieve
2. The number of people in your club
3. The time of year most appropriate for the activity
4. The rules and regulations at your college
5. The time needed to complete it
6. The amount of money needed.
If the activity being considered will not fit well with these considerations it is advisable to choose another activity or project.
ACTIVITIES: EDUCATING OTHERS
· Prepare an environmental literacy campaign: get posters put up on bulletin boards, send home a newsletter to parents, have photos on exhibition: this is to be done at different times and month of the year.
· Prepare and carry out assemblies for the school community on the different environmental days in the school year: World Food Day, National Peace Day, Labour Day, Earth Day, World Water Day, World Environment Day etc.
· Prepare dramatic presentations on issues, e.g., have a play about the importance of environmental protection and Agriculture etc.
· Prepare and run a school or college environmental quiz, with prizes for winners.
· Have a poster, essay, poetry competition “Celebrate the Earth”, “Use Water Wisely”, “Let there be Peace on Earth” etc.
· Prepare some environmental games for students to play and learn with.
· Maintain an Environmental Notice Board with interesting news on the environment and set up Environmental Corners in the library.
· Organize a mini-conference or rally on an environmental issue in your community.
· Arrange for interesting people to speak on a topic or issue.
· Prepare and show an environmental video of your campus focusing on any aspect of the environment, e.g., the natural, the buildings, etc.
· Do research on interesting local issues and topics, and make presentations, or have debates.
ACTIVITIES: WORKING OUTDOORS
· Students are advised to identify a local environmental problem, propose solutions and act where possible to solve the problem.
· Go on field trips to interesting areas, e.g., heritage sites, national parks.
· Prepare an “eco walk” on the school or college compound, with notes on any old school buildings or ruins, notes on the pond, on the butterfly garden, on the vegetable garden, on the compost heap, on the school’s kitchen, pointing out the energy saving aspects of the college’s operation. Then make copies of the “walk” available to all teachers for their classes.
· Have a “clean-up” day of an area in your community.
· Do an environmental audit of the school with respect to use of water, electricity, and paper; give your recommendations to the principal; assist with fund-raising to remedy the situation.
· Establish and maintain a school vegetable garden; beautify the school grounds with ornamental plants that do not require much watering.
· Prepare a compost heap, bag compost, and use it in the school garden, or at home.
· Sort garbage (remove paper, plastic, glass and composting materials) and recycle (i) recycle paper to make new paper for cards or notes (ii) sell bottles and cans to recyclers.
· Set up a Litter Control campaign on campus (put up signs, beg for garbage containers, speak with staff who empty containers).
· Organize a walkathon to raise money, for example, for planting trees around the fence line of the school, or for repairing leaking water pipes, toilets, faucets.
· Plant a butterfly garden for the little ones to enjoy, for the older ones to learn from (research which plants; beg and/or fund-raise the seeds and some hand tools, arrange with administration for the small piece of land required; then do it).
· Set up a small pond with fish and pond weeds and water lilies
· enhance the habitat: “adopt” an animal, e.g., set up bird feeders, or “adopt” a tree, e.g., beautify the area around it, take care of the tree.
· Visit a home for the elderly and entertain them or assist in personal grooming or simple tasks.
· Visit a children’s home or children’s ward at a hospital to read books for them and help with homework.
EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF CLUB’S PROJECTS/ACTIVITY ON INDIVIDUAL STUDENTS
Individual students will reflect and respond to the following questions: Their responses will show if the projects/activity made impact.
1. What did you learn during the activity/project?
2. How can you apply it to other projects/situations?
3.How do you feel about your involvement in the project?
4. As a group, discuss the following aspects of the project/activity:
5.Did the activity/project accomplish its objectives?
6. What were the most successful aspects of your project?
7. What was the least successful aspect?
8. Who was influenced by the activity?
9. What problems did you face in doing this activity/project?
10. What would you do differently next time, and why?
11.How would you build on the successes?
Who will take these actions?
The key actors for the successful implementation of this project include the following.
1. Government
2. A non Government organization: In this case GIFSEPwww.gifsep.orgbut preferably a local NGO
3. Teachers
4. Students
1. The government: The role of the government through the department or ministry of Education in this project is to issue an approval and directive to head of schools and colleges to allow the founding of the clubs in their various institutions.
2. The role of the NGO will be to train Teachers, volunteers and the students on how to start and run successfully an Eco club in the school and by extension the community. The NGO will train the trainers and do a follow up on the clubs and also carry out evaluation to ascertain the impacts. The NGO will be the managers and coordinators of program.
3.Teachers; The role of the teachers is firstly to accept the founding of the club in the school. Secondly, a teacher will also serve as a patron or an adviser to the students. The teacher who will play this role is preferably a geography teacher, agricultural teacher and or any science teacher.
4. Students; The students are the most important key actors on this project. They are the once who will accept/volunteer to be members of this important club. Through them the information and knowledge gain will be passed to the community.
5. community; The community is equally important on this project. They are the final recipient of the information and they are also the host community project and activities the students will be carrying out.
What are the key challenges?
The only obstacle that would be faced in the implementation of this project is funding. The funds required are to take care of the following:
1. Club hand book
2. Branded T-shirt
3. Banner (flip banner)
4. Writing materials
5. Seed support for a project
6. Audio Visual material about the environment
6. Public Address System
7. Projector and projector screen
8. Vehicle
9. Fueling and maintaining of vehicle
10. Coordinating office accommodation
11. Office Equipment’s
12. Office consumables
13. Stipend/salary for volunteers and staff
All the items listed above can be donated. We will approach the government and companies to seek for support.
Also, this project is very sustainable. After establishing the clubs and mentoring the leaders and teachers about the effect of climate change and the need to take practical local actions to mitigation and embracing agriculture, it is believed that this clubs will be a shining light to other clubs within the school. This is because all the clubs activities are designed to be practical and engaging and students/youths love to channel their energy to practical activities of which the results can be seen. Going forward, the students will be taught to establish school farms and gardens, establish plant nurseries, compost making etc profits from the aforementioned will be used to finance the activities of the organization.
What are the key benefits?
The desirable outcome of this proposal in this regard can simply be put as bringing the Boulder community together through the school Eco clubs with a view to protecting their local environment and the solving of environmental problems. In summary, the students will be taught and will proceed to carry out the following;
1. To keep their surroundings clean and clean and to promote ethics of conservation of water by minimizing the use of water.
2. To imbibe the habits and life style for minimum waste generation, avoid paper waste, save energy, sorting of waste and safe disposal.
3. Encourage composting from organic waste generated within the school to be used for gardening and Tree planting.
4. To minimize the use of plastic bags, not to throw them in public places as they choke drains, cause water logging and provide breeding ground or mosquitoes
5. Organize tree planting campaigns, create awareness programs such as quiz, essay, rally’s and painting competitions.
6. To start and run their farm as a business.
The above mentioned outcomes affect the environment positively.
Economically, the actions mentioned above protects the land, leading to sustainable land for agricultural production. Since the people depend solely on Agriculture increase in yield means better economic prospects for the people. The health of the people also improves as a clean environment prevents the breeding of disease carrying vectors like mosquitoes.
For the society; it is understanding the consequences of human actions for the earth and its resources. Understanding decisions and actions that can be taken locally and globally to encourage environmental protection and sustainable living and to avoid unsustainable practices and taking personal responsibility for living in a sustainable way.
What are the proposal’s costs?
The economic cost of this proposal is as broken down as follows:
1. The cost of founding one Eco club. This will include the cost organizing a one day sensitization and inaugural workshop. Specifically; production of handbills, banners, publicity on a local radio station, press coverage and report and a light meal and more importantly a seed grant support for each school for a project they may wish to carry out in the community.
2. administrative and logistical Budget: This include transportation, communication and correspondence cost.
3. Stipend for the volunteers
Time line
This proposed project will be phased in over the short term (5-15 years). This is because this program has the potential to exist and spread on its as a result of the benefits.
Related proposals
Value not set.References
1. Eco Clubs global Initiative for Food Security and Ecosystem preservation:www.gifsep.org2015
2. Dealing with Climate Change, Setting a Global Agenda for Mitigation and Adaptation: By R K Pachauri , The Energy Resources Institute
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