Young ?green? stars take part in Eco Club Summit

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Organised for the first time by the environment agency - abu dhabi (ead) the summit has attracted the participation of 330 students and 110 teachers from 120 schools across abu dhabi emirate.

fifteen-year-old kelvin doe from sierra leone who built his own radio station at the age of 13 17-year-old emirati environmental activist mohammed nabeel al blooshi who turned the liwa international school into one of the uae’s first green schools and 13-year-old kehkashan basu the youngest person to be elected global coordinator for children and youth in the history of united nations environment programme are some of the inspirational young speakers taking part in the eco club summit that started here on tuesday.

student delegates take a look at posters of activities to protect the environment displayed at the venue of the eco club summit in abu dhabi on tuesday— supplied photo

organised for the first time by the environment agency - abu dhabi (ead) the summit has attracted the participation of 330 students and 110 teachers from 120 schools across abu dhabi emirate.

its purpose is to engage students in assessing and addressing their schools’ environmental impact and allow leading sustainable schools to share their experience.

“youth both in the uae and around the world have proven to us that they are agents for change perhaps because it is they who have the most at stake. we are very excited and inspired to see this large number of students and teachers participating in the summit” said ead secretary-general razan khalifa al mubarak.

the eco club summit is part of the ead’s sustainable schools initiative (ssi) which is supported by the abu dhabi education council (adec) and sponsored by bp.

while the ssi aims to empower schools teachers and their students to make positive environmental changes within their school the summit is a platform where schools’ environmental projects are shared and discussed.

mostly there are initiatives such as recycling where schools have their own recycling bins encouraging not only their students to bring along paper tin glass and plastic from home and of course from the school itself but also reaches out to the community to recycle its waste.

energy saving by switching off unnecessary lights and plugs not in use and fitting taps with water-saving devices are common practices among most abu dhabi schools.

planting heat-tolerant trees and shrubs to reduce the air pollution is another favourite with schoolchildren as is taking part in outside activities such as earth hour or clean-up campaigns.

so far this year 259 projects and awareness campaigns were submitted and carried out by schools’ eco-clubs in abu dhabi.

“the abu dhabi educational council focuses on and supports sustainability initiatives by using advanced environmental education programmes in new schools in abu dhabi. these schools were built according to the highest international environmental sustainability standards as we aim to reduce our footprint raise awareness about consumption apply best practice in health and safety procedures as well as establish environmental education through the curriculum” said dr amal abdulla al qubaisi director-general of the council.

the summit which ends today has also brought together global environmental youth leaders with members from abu dhabi’s leading school eco-clubs fostering an open discussion interactive brainstorming and the opportunity to share experiences.

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