ESO LAUNCH GREEN SCHOOL INITIATIVE TO INSPIRE STUDENTS
TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY
Masirah Beach Clean Up - © ESO
Muscat, September 8 th 2019 – The Environment Society of Oman (ESO) has opened the door for student subscriptions for its Green School initiative on the website https://eso-edu.com until 10 October 2019. The initiative encourages eco-friendly awareness and promotes a conservation culture within schools across the Sultanate. Supporting ESO’s initiative are Veolia Oman, a leading global and regional resource management company, and Emily’s Garden, a memorial fund that has been set up by the Jewitt family in memory of their late
daughter Emily Jewitt, an environmental activist in Oman and the Netherlands.
The Green School initiative encourages government schools across Oman to form an environmental team consisting of students, school staff and a member of the parents’ council. The group is then tasked to conduct activities and events to promote sustainable behavior and environmental awareness. Participating schools are required to identify an existing environmental challenge within their school or community and begin working on activities to alleviate these environmental concerns. The environmental categories fall under three pre-determined themes including ‘Best School in Waste Management’, ‘Best School in Water Management’, and ‘Best School in Energy Management’.
Jawaher Al Ghafri, Education Coordinator at ESO said, “We believe that all students deserve the opportunity to be educated on environmental sustainability practices and lead rewarding lives that support their dreams for a brighter future. That’s why we are launching this initiative to raise environmental awareness within schools and the broader community, as well as encourage students, school staff and parents to actively participate
in minimizing their ecological footprint. It’s also important to promote a healthy school environment and encourage the generation of tomorrow to develop problem-solving skills by engaging in environmental problems and seeing tangible results.”
The initiative’s long-term goal is for the Ministry of Education’s representatives from each region to recommend and incorporate environmental sustainability concepts and practices in schools’ curriculum. The work prepared by students can also be used to showcase and encourage other students and the community to act as responsible citizens.
Erwan Rouxel, Veolia Oman CEO said, “We are partnering with the Environment Society of Oman in a monumental step forward to creating a green schools’ culture. Our aim is to develop environmental awareness within schools in Oman and to empower students, families and communities to build a sustainable and healthy environment for all.
Veolia Oman and Emily’s Garden are providing the much-needed funds to implement this new educational project and will also be supporting the capacity building of young Omanis in the field of environmental conservation. Both parties are strongly committed to protecting the environment and biodiversity and aim to build a long-term partnership with ESO.
In order to participate in the initiative, students are required to fill in an online application form with their chosen theme along with their action plan, which can be found on the initiative’s website https://eso-edu.com/. From October 2019 to April 2010, students will work on implementing their action plans and submitting the results showing improvements in their chosen themes. The final report and completed action plan will then determine the qualified teams.
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About Environment Society of Oman (ESO):
The Environment Society of Oman was founded in March 2004 by Omanis representing different regions and many different professional backgrounds. The Society is the first of its kind in Oman and works by promoting conservation and environmental awareness in all sectors of society. In February 2009 ESO was accepted as a member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and was chosen to represent environmental organizations from West Asia at UNEP. In June 2012, ESO attended the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (called the Rio+20) in Rio de Janeiro as an officially accredited NGO as per the UN General Assembly's decision (A/66/L/44).
For more information please contact:
Sudipta Dasgupta
TRACCS
Telephone: +968 24 649-099
Mobile: +968 94558787
Email: [email protected]