The Green Schools Project, Swaziland

Project description:

The Green Schools Initiative will ensure that schools in Swaziland adopt elements and practices that inculcate environmental sensitivity and promote environmental sustainability through various environment-friendly means that encourage judicious use of resources. The Initiative will also cater to the physical, mental and emotional needs of a child by ensuring that the school environment is physically safe, emotionally secure and psychologically enabling. The Green Schools will be guided by the principles of environmental sustainability. The latter seek to create conducive school environments to fully utilise all resources and opportunities inside and outside the school to sensitise teachers and students for environmental sustainability through active involvement of the community.

The Green Schools Initiative will include key sustainable development issues into teaching and learning; such as, climate change, disaster risk reduction, biodiversity, poverty reduction, and sustainable consumption. The Initiative will achieve sustainable environmental management by integrating environmental education into the school curriculum and empowering teachers and learners to implement environmental activities at school level. Children’s capacity to learn can be undermined and sometimes destroyed in an unfavourable environment. They spend about six to seven hours a day in school for about twelve early years of their childhood. The environment of the school plays a significant role in the lives of the students. Schools can play a pivotal role in the development of not only knowledge and understanding but also in creating the foundation of environmental ethics among the students.
The Umsimisi Green Schools Initiative falls within the UNESCO Education for Sustainable Development goal whose main objective is to ensure that every human being acquires the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values necessary to shape a sustainable future. The Initiative also falls within the Swaziland national policy to promote the enhancement, protection and conservation of the environment and the attainment of sustainable development. This Environmental Education Initiative was developed as an adaptation of the Eco-Schools Programme practised globally. The Initiative is linked directly with the Plan of Action outlined in the Millennium Declaration, signed at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, which aims to deliver Agenda 21 Commitments by involving people of all ages and nationalities through formal school education, training of staff and general awareness raising. The Green Schools Initiative is also in line with the proposed targets on the Post 2015 Swaziland Education Agenda; Target 5 which seeks to ensure that all learners acquire knowledge, skills, values and attitudes for global citizenship and sustainable development by 2030.

Goal and purpose of the project:

1.2. Initiative Goal
The Green Schools Initiative’s main goal is;
- To help students to consolidate and apply knowledge, gain understanding of environmental processes, inter-relationships and issues, acquire a number of life skills and help foster attitudes, values and sensitivity towards environmental concerns.
1.3. Objectives and Principles
The Umsimisi Community Projects’ Green Schools Initiative objectives and principles are;
i) Awareness: to help children acquire an awareness of and sensitivity to the total environment and its allied problems.
ii) Knowledge: to help children to gain a variety of experiences in, and acquire a basic understanding of, the environment and its associated problems.
iii) Attitudes: to help children acquire both a set of values and feelings of concern for the environment and to motivate them to participate actively in solving of environmental problems.
iv) Skills: to help children acquire the skills necessary for identifying and solving environmental problems.
v) Participation: to provide children with an opportunity to be actively involved at all levels in working towards the resolution of environmental problems.

Motivation of the applicant / applicant team:

Several efforts and programs are currently in place to promote and affirm the role of education in the global quest for sustainable development; most of these efforts remain largely unknown and invisible in most communities around the world. The UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD, 2005-2014), was arguably, neither seen nor heard of in most of Africa. Most institutions, including schools, governments, businesses, civil society and individuals are yet to know and understand the role of education in the pursuit for sustainable development.
Sub-Saharan Africa suffers from some serious environmental problems that include; deforestation, soil erosion, land pollution, desertification and wetland degradation. Efforts to deal with these problems, however, have been handicapped by a real failure to understand the key role that education for sustainable development can play in cultivating positive attitudes towards the environment. Environmental education based on life experiences should begin during the very earliest years of life. Beginning this process in the early years, when children’s attitudes toward the world around them are forming, is essential. Such experiences play a critical role in shaping lifelong attitudes, values, and patterns of behaviour toward natural environments.
Swaziland is a leading pioneer in making schools centres of Care and Support for Teaching and Learning (CSTL), locally known as Inqaba (a child‐friendly fortress), through the 2011 Education Sector Policy which embraces an inclusive education system. The specific objective of the Inqaba initiative is to create school environments that are friendly, safe, healthy and conducive for learning. Although the initiative leads to cognitive life skills there have not been significant advancements in the mainstreaming of Environmental Education into the school curriculum that will encourage participatory teaching and learning methods that motivate and empower learners to change their behaviour and take action for sustainable development.

Use of prize money:

3.0. Implementation strategy

3.1. The Green schools Initiative thematic areas:
3.1.1. Waste Management
To promote waste hierarchy (reduce, reuse and recycle) and waste management projects;
The Green School Initiative will ensure that students are taught to practice the “three R’s” in order to care for the environment, first, to reduce the amount of solid waste generated; second, to reuse material for the purpose for which it was originally intended or to recycle material that cannot be reused. This will be done by assisting the schools review their waste management strategies and encouraging ways to reduce waste and incorporate reusable products to achieve the maximum benefit to the school environment. Introduction of colour coded bins where “separation at source” will be carried out for different waste such as paper, glass, cans and organic material. This separation will ensure that the schools can be involved in the “Trash to cash” initiatives. Organic materials make up between 25-30% of the waste stream and these can easily be transformed into a useful soil amendment through composting and will be used as organic manure in the school’s nutrition gardens.

3.1.2. Energy Efficiency & Conservation
• To promote energy awareness, audits and energy saving strategy;
This theme will look at the steps which can be taken to reduce energy consumption and raise awareness of climate change issues. Schools will conduct energy audits followed by a carbon footprint analysis. Once these have been completed all the current energy consumption will be converted to energy efficient technology before installing any renewable energy products, starting with lighting resulting in estimated savings. Renewable energy demonstration gardens will be established where the schools computer laboratories will be powered using solar energy. Solar water pumps for boreholes in rural schools will also be used in the irrigation of the Nutrition Gardens and providing clean water for drinking purposes.

3.1.3. Water Management and Conservation
• To promote planning and optimum utilization of water resources e.g. rain water harvesting, water usage audits, irrigation methods;
The Initiative will also ensure that sustainable water management is carried out in the schools. Sustainable water management will tackle two key aspects: water conservation, and water efficiency. Water conservation activities will minimise water use, whereas water efficiency activities will ensure that no more water is used than is needed through the application of technology. A water efficiency programme will be developed for the schools to optimise the implementation of water efficiency measures. Water saving techniques in agriculture will be demonstrated in the schools nutrition gardens irrigation system.

3.1.4. Conserving Biodiversity
• To contribute to carbon off setting and Indigenous biodiversity conservation;
Schools will identify local impacts of Climate Change and implement Climate Change mitigation projects such as tree planting, school indigenous species woodlot, a school orchard, a plantation and other school greening projects. Bio-monitoring of environmental resources: Environmental monitoring; adopting specific environmental resources such as a wetland or a river near the school and carrying out regular audits. Schools will also be involved in the mapping of natural resources including degraded areas. Soil erosion control – gulley reclamation and rehabilitation where Dongas/gullies in the area are filled in; plants are planted across them as part of this land reclamation

3.1.5. Nutrition and Community issues
• To instil sense of environmental responsibility in communities (knowledge and skills); nutrition and food security
The Green Schools Initiative will demonstrate and integrate tools, ways and techniques to tackle negative impacts of climate change on food security into schools. This will be done through practically demonstrating and teaching garden based interventions, as part of the schools activities and to integrate improved farming practices as part of the school training, benefiting teachers, schools and communities. Each school will create a management and production plan, using a cropping calendar which will be set up and implemented using good quality seeds to ensure maximum production. The schools will be supported through technical extension training. Training and management will include practical sections for pupils and teachers. The training session will be integrated into the school plan.