Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi And Abu Dhabi Education Council Sign Agreement To Encourage Environmental Education

EAD and ADEC sign a five-year agreement to promote environmental education and education for sustainable development in all Abu Dhabi Emirate schools. EAD celebrates 10 year anniversary of two of its Education programmes; revives curricula, opens registration to all UAE students and launches a website respectively.

The Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi (EAD) and the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will see both parties promote environmental education and Education for sustainable development in all schools throughout Abu Dhabi Emirate.

The MoU was signed by H.E Majid Al Mansouri, EAD’s Secretary General, and H.E Dr. Mugheer Khamis Al Khaili, ADEC’s Director General.

The five-year agreement will see EAD and ADEC collaborate on environmental education projects and activities developed and implemented by EAD, such as the Sustainable Schools Initiative; the Annual Environment Competition; the Enviro-Spellathon; the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) flagship programme on water education in the Arab World and campaigns such as clean-ups. A joint committee will be formed to develop projects and activities.

“At EAD, we focus on various sectors to help influence the behavior of future generations and promote environmental sustainability. With ADEC’s support, together we can raise environmental awareness among the Emirate’s youth by effectively executing environmental education strategies. Our aim is to have a more ecologically literate and conscious society,” said H.E Majid Al Mansouri, EAD’s Secretary General.

EAD presently enjoys solid relationships with international bodies, such as UNESCO, with whom they collaborate on initiatives and share best practices with. Its partnership with ADEC is now focusing on the education sector, targeting teachers, parents, students and neighborhood communities.

H.E Dr. Mugheer Al Khaili confirmed by saying: “The government of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi is keen to develop such policies to support the advancement of the environmental approach in various sectors. This confirms its dedication to raise the message of protecting our environment, and the challenges we might face from an economical, cultural and educational perspective. This is why ADEC is working on applying these principles by collaborating with our strategic partners, such as EAD, and executing programmes and initiatives which contribute to us achieving a quantum leap in the level of awareness among students on various environmental issues, and which expose students to experiential education.”

H.E Al Khaili added, "Our cooperation with EAD has resulted in the launch of a number of programmes such as the Sustainable Schools Initiative, which encourages students to get actively involved in reducing their environmental footprint, particularly in the areas of water, energy, air and waste. These initiatives have achieved remarkable success across the Emirate, and have received positive response from the students and their parents.”

The EAD-ADEC agreement will develop sensitivity, awareness, understanding, critical thinking and problem solving skills among students on issues related to the environment. Teachers and parents will together play a vital role in EAD’s mission to help support the management, protection and conservation of the Emirate’s natural resources and biodiversity.

The signing ceremony, which was staged at Intercontinental Hotel- Abu Dhabi, was also attended by school directors and coordinators from public and private schools in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The event also marked the 10th anniversary of two of EAD’s most popular programmes: Enviro-Spellathon, the Annual Environment Competition, as well as the official website launch of EAD’s flagship Sustainable Schools Initiative.

To commemorate its 10th anniversary and following recommendations from school coordinators, EAD revised and updated the Enviro-Spellathon programme. This programme has been promoting eco-literacy among students throughout the Emirate and is going from strength to strength. During its first year, the programme witnessed the participation of 45,000 students, and in 2009, participation increased to nearly 150,000 students.

A big surprise was revealed for the Annual Environment Competition, also in its 10th year. This Competition has been a great forum for voicing student’s environmental concerns, and EAD has launched a dedicated website to allow for online entries. The website will be uploaded on to EAD’s corporate web site on October 14th when the competition will be declared open to all students, not only in Abu Dhabi Emirate but to all UAE students, coinciding with the Arab Environment Day. For the first time in its history, the Competition will be open to college students.

Sustainable Schools Initiative, a programme that took Abu Dhabi by storm this May with its successful completion of its pilot phase, was thrown open for all schools in Abu Dhabi Emirate to participate. This is an initiative that moves beyond the rhetoric of awareness, rising to one of action. It celebrates ‘handprint’, a concept which symbolizes all actions towards sustainability.

Schools can now register for this programme through EAD’s web site www.ead.ae. Under this initiative, teachers and students assess their school’s environmental impact and set targets to address. It aims to empower students through eco clubs, develop teachers’ capacity building through training, and exposes students to experiential learning through hands-on educating field trips.
 

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