ECO-SCHOOLS KENYA
Eco-Schools is an international programme of the Foundation for Environmental Education in over 50 countries in the world. In Kenya the programme has been coordinated by Kenya Organization for Environmental Education (KOEE) since 2002. The programme was piloted in 2002 in partnership with Danish Outdoor Council (DOC) and sponsored by Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA). After piloting, the programme was up-scaled to other parts of Kenya bringing on board more schools and partners. As UNESCO’s Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD 2005-2014); KOEE aligned the Eco-schools programme to the DESD objectives in an attempt to promote the global ESD agenda in the Kenyan context.
The programme aims at enhancing and promoting pupil’s participation in decision making, planning and activities to implement local agenda 21 in schools and their communities. The eco school strategy is a whole-school approach that uses schools as entry points to reach communities through pupils, teachers, parents, non-teaching staff, departments and other stakeholders of the school to address local challenges of sustainable development. This way, every member is equipped with the necessary knowledge, skills and values for achieving sustainable development. The approach thus assists in solving real/ existing environmental problems while planning in advance to prevent future advent of adverse environmental impacts. The programme focuses on sustainable development themes including; agriculture/agroforestry, water, health (sanitation/hygiene), waste, energy, biodiversity, climate change while incorporating cross-cutting issues including HIV/AIDS, gender and entrepreneurship in order to escape poverty. Eco school model has emerged as one of the most effective tools for promoting education for sustainable development (ESD) and particularly in alleviating poverty not only in Kenya, but globally
Specific Objectives of the Eco-Schools Programme
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Empower young people with skills and values to promote healthy living within their environments
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Promote action/action-based learning competences
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Capacity building teachers
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Creating opportunities to implement development goals.
What is the Eco-Schools Wrigley Company Foundation ‘Litter Less’ Campaign?
The aim of the ‘Litter Less’ Campaign is to reduce litter and effect long-term behaviour change amongst the youth around the globe. During 2013/2014 the campaign will be delivered through Eco-Schools in 15 different countries including Kenya
The main objectives of the Wrigley ‘Litter Less’ Campaign are:
To raise awareness of the effect of litter on the local environment and wider community
To increase student knowledge and practical skills in preventing and managing litter
To collaborate with other schools to promote ESD (education for sustainable development)
To report the progress of the campaign within the seven steps change framework
To produce a culminating outcome and report it through multimedia channels