|
||||||||||||
EAD Puts On Oscar-Style Ceremony To Celebrate Abu Dhabi’s Sustainable Schools |
||||||||||||
|
In true Oscar style, the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) rolled out a ‘green carpet’ yesterday (Monday May 3, 2010) at Fairmont Hotel- Bab Al Bahr to recognize 26 schools for their outstanding efforts in making their school more sustainable. A further goal of the ceremony was to encourage more schools to join EAD’s Sustainable School Initiative. The Winners were honored by H.E. Mohammed Al Bowardi, Secretary General of the Abu Dhabi Executive and EAD’s Managing Director in the presence of H.E Majid Al Mansouri, Secretary General of EAD, Dr. Mugheer Khamis Al Khaili, Director General of Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC), Jay Pearson, General Manager of BP Abu Dhabi and other official from the three Educational Zones in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Western region. “This awards ceremony is a fitting finale to what teachers and students say has been a very successful first year for EAD’s Sustainable School Initiative. This is a unique partnership between EAD, BP and schools across the Emirate to achieve significant reductions in water and energy use in our schools, and transform Abu Dhabi’s schools into a beacon of sustainability for our society. It is also empowering children to become leaders in building a sustainable future for our Emirate,” said H.E Majid Al Mansouri, Secretary General of EAD. "Eight months into the initiative and EAD has already transformed an idea into reality, while at the same time instilling enthusiasm in thousands of students. Abu Dhabi’s teachers and educators are at last equipped to make a real difference to the environmental impact that their schools have by doing what they do best, teaching our children and influencing change. The enthusiasm is infectious and we hope that soon our children will be teaching us what we can all do to limit the impact we have on the environment. It makes us feel very proud to be sponsoring this worthwhile initiative,” said Jay Pearson, General Manager of BP Abu Dhabi. Dr. Mugheer Khamis Al Khaili, Director General of Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) Sustainable Schools Initiative represents the intentions of the Government of Abu Dhabi to create a community environmentally aware to achieve the Abu Dhabi 2030, which aims to reduce the environmental footprint of the United Arab Emirates. Dr. Khaili thanked all the participating schools for their efforts and their commitment to reduce their environmental footprint, which come within the priorities of the ADEC and EAD, calling other schools to participate in the next phases of this initiative. Since it was launched in September 2009 to help schools reduce their ecological footprint, EAD’s Sustainable School Initiative has reached out to around 28,000 students, administrators and teachers from 26 schools across Abu Dhabi Emirate. 274 teachers were trained while over 1,040 students were given the opportunity to experience effective outdoor environmental education. Moreover, EAD developed two manuals especially for the participating schools: How to Run Effective Eco Club targeting school coordinators on why and how to run these environmental clubs in schools. The other manual is on How to Conduct a Green Audit which is a do-it-yourself manual that contains guidelines for students and teachers on how to audit water, air, energy, waste, and land, within the school premises has been developed. In time for the next academic session, EAD will have developed three more manuals, one for each school level and will develop an online course for teachers on how to introduce effective environmental education into their classrooms. Sponsored by BP, this initiative is supported by the Abu Dhabi Education Council and all the educational zones of Abu Dhabi Emirate. And the winners are… Most Effective Environmental Educators – Al Nahda National School for girls - This school’s educators succeeded in incorporating new teaching and learning strategies. Most Proactive School To Reach Out to the Community - Al Qattara School Alain - This school succeeded in implementing effective environmental awareness projects through their eco club and thus effectively reached out to parents and key influencers in the community. Most Proactive School in Outdoor Field Education – Al Khamael School This school whisked their students away on the most effective outdoor environmental field trips. Best Green Audit – Abu Dhabi Indian School – This school carried out the most effective environmental audit of their school. They adopted the most innovative practices and thus managed their water, energy and waste most effectively within their own premises. Best Managers Awards – Abu Dhabi Indian School, Qatr al Nada, Al Talea school in Alain, Ebtekar School in the Western Region and St. Joseph School - These schools were the most effective at managing their air, land, energy, water and waste. Certificates – the 26 schools that attempted this Initiative were awarded certificates in recognition of their commitment to the Sustainable School Initiative and for performing well in all or some of the Initiative’s components. The schools were judged on the effectiveness of their eco club, their use of natural resources, how far they’ve implemented innovative teaching methods, how best they’ve implemented training methods delivered to them by EAD and how much they’ve exposed their students to outdoor environmental field trip experiences. A panel of experts from EAD, Abu Dhabi Education Council and BP visited the schools to shortlist the finalists. “We call on more schools to join the Sustainable School Initiative. We will guide you on how you can reduce the ecological footprint of your school,” said Fozeya Al Mahmoud, Manager of Environmental Education, EAD. “The students are the real heroes of this initiative. They’ve done it all. They’ve planted native plants in their school’s gardens, reported water leaks, reduced the number of vehicles in their schools and even examined birds droppings!” said Gayatri Raghwa, Specialist, Environmental Education, EAD. EAD delivers several award-winning environmental education programmes to schools including the Enviro-spellathon, the Annual Environment Competition and the Regional Flagship Project on Water Education in the Arab World. |
||||||||||||
