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St Michael School EkoSkola Newsletter April – June 2022

Aħbarijiet mill-kumitat tal-EkoSkola tal-Iskola St Michael, Santa Venera… A T T I V I T A J I E T M I L L – K U M I T A T Air quality Webinar Presentation Green Flag evaluation Xogħol fuq Serra Ħidma fIl-Ballut ta’ Marsaxlokk Mobility Presentation Eko-Parlament Rovigo Erasmus Training F ’ D I N I L – Ħ A R Ġ A Editorjal Clouds Marine Litter (Esperjenza) Alien Species in Malta Globe Project (Air quality) Readings Electricty / Solar Panel Ritratti

We care about our present and our future

We care about our present and our future: A report. Eco- Schools 11th Young People’s Summit… © 2022 Nature Trust – FEE Malta Any part of the publication can be reproduced as long as the source is properly cited and credited. Citation: Nature Trust – FEE Malta (2022). We care about our present and our future: A report. Eco-Schools 11th Young People’s Summit. Listening to children’s voices for sustainability There was a time, in the not-so-distant past, that the notion of listening to and acting on children’s voices was unheard of and even frowned upon. Children were considered as incapable of making value judgements, of evaluating issues and propose solutions to problems unless they were told how to do it by adults. Most of the opportunities offering children a platform were mostly (at best) different forms of tokenism. Children were expected to listen to and uncritically absorb what adults had to say on issues and themes that had a direct relevance to the children’s present and future. Education for Sustainable Development seeks to empower individuals irrespective of age to become active citizens seeking to promote sustainable lifestyles and choices. Nature Trust – FEE Malta sought to actively facilitate this by implementing the international Eco-Schools Programme (locally called EkoSkola). The EkoSkola programme is mainly driven by student initiated and managed actions that start off at school, but then spill over into their households and their community. Since its inception in 2002, the EkoSkola program has worked hard to bring the voice of children to policy makers, both local and overseas. So, over the years EkoSkola has created different fora to achieve this, like: EkoSkola Parliament sessions, consultation meetings with various Maltese presidents and ministers; meetings with the main political party leaders during which they presented a memorandum prior to the General Elections; and countless meetings with mayors and councillors of different localities. Another forum that promotes children’s voices is the annual Young People’s Summit, during which primary and secondary school students discuss various sustainability issues and propose ways how these issues can be addressed. These issues are collated into a declaration that is then presented to members of parliament. There were even cases where these recommendations were also presented to international fora such as during the Informal Meeting of the EU Environment Council; during international conferences about sustainability, and to delegates attending the CHOGM 2015. As part of the COP 26 follow up, the British High Commission sponsored five mini sessions that explored Climate Change from various dimensions that were attended by students from 103 schools (63 primary and 40 secondary). During the online summits, students discussed with local experts the various perspectives of the issues explored and proposed practical actions that could be implemented to address the issues. These proposals were collated in this special publication together with several other inputs from younger children in the form of drawings and craft projects. An interesting spin off from this series of mini summits, was an interest in learning what children from …

A Consumer’s Guide to Reducing Pollution

A surprising amount of pollution starts at home. The car you drive, the household and personal care products you buy, the chemicals and equipment you use to keep your lawn and garden in shape all contribute to water and air pollution. But there are consumer choices you can make that will reduce your environmental footprint. Click on the link and refer to subtitles below… How to Prevent Air Pollution: The Car You Drive Household Products Energy Use Preventing Water Pollution: Pesticide and Fertilizer Alternatives to Prevent Water Pollution Reducing Landfill Waste 25 Things You Can Do to Reduce Pollution (with infographic)

DING DONG – Ready for the Green challenge

As a teacher, you are always looking for new, engaging content to teach. Here is the Ding Dong challenge toolkit, including sustainability tips. Download yours in your language and start the Ding Dong challenge with your pupils: English (EN) български (BG) čeština (CS) dansk (DA) Deutsch (DE) español (ES) eesti (ET) suomi (FI) français (FR) Gaeilge (GA) ελληνικά (EL) hrvatski (HR) magyar (HU) italiano (IT) latviešu (LV) lietuvių (LT) Malti (MT) Nederlands (NL) polski (PL) português (PT) română (RO) svenska (SV) slovenčina(SK) slovenščina (SL) Resources and materials

Earth School

In response to the COVID-19 crisis, an unprecedented coalition has come together to launch “Earth School,” which provides free, high-quality educational content to help students, parents and teachers around the world who are currently at home. Initiated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and TED-Ed, Earth School takes students on a 30-day “Adventure” through the natural world. The curated Earth School content features videos, reading materials and activities — which will be translated into 10 languages — to help students gain an understanding of the environment while considering their role within it. This is the biggest online learning initiative in UNEP’s history and is available for free on TED-Ed’s website.

The Global Impact of Transportation

We all take transportation for granted whether it’s driving our car to work; flying to a favourite holiday destination; or waiting for that new television to be delivered from the other side of the world by cargo ship. While transportation offers us many benefits, these come at a price. Truck Locator has compiled just a few of the statistics which show the substantial impact transportation has on a global scale. The link below shows infographics on transport as related to the world footprint… GLOBAL WARMING Climate change is high on the agenda of many governments and scientists as it is becoming ever clearer that our planet is warming. This has led to more extremes of weather including fiercer storms and larger areas of drought. A clear sign of global warming is the gradual disappearance of the polar ice caps, which according to NASA are melting at a rate of 9% per year. In 2002 a huge part of the Larsen B ice shelf, which forms part of Antarctica, collapsed. This means that since the mid-1990s the area has lost over 40% of its mass. Transportation, undoubtedly, is making a contribution to the greenhouse gases which are causing global warming. Gases such as methane, carbon and nitrous oxide build up and prevent heat from escaping the atmosphere and thus we see an increase in the temperature of the planet. 13% of global carbon dioxide comes from cars, trucks, aeroplanes and shipping and in the last two decades emissions from transportation has increased by 45%. AIR POLLUTION Transportation contributes to air pollution and with millions of deaths and hundreds of healthy years lost to its devastating effects, air quality is something which needs to be addressed. Governments around the world have made in-roads by introducing legislation to reduce vehicle emissions. However, the recent emissions scandal demonstrates that we may not have made as much progress forward as we had hoped. FATALITIES Transportation also has a cost in terms of human life. There are over 1.2 million road deaths globally every year and it’s not just drivers who are involved. 27% of fatalities are pedestrians and 5% are cyclists. While safety improvements are constantly being implemented, for both vehicle and other road users, it is not possible to protect people entirely, especially when human error is incorporated. A new evolution of car, driven by computer, is on its way and maybe these will go some way towards improving safety. It will certainly eradicate those mistakes made by drivers such as speeding; driving too close to the vehicle in front; or being distracted by a call or texting. IS THERE A SOLUTION? None of us wants to revert to a world where travel is limited or only available to the select few. Therefore we all need to play our own part in making transport more eco-friendly. The first step is to minimise unnecessary travel and to make as many journeys as possible by foot, bicycle or public transport. Oil reserves are diminishing and thus many of us …

Consumer Classroom – also in Maltese…

Consumer Classroom is a new collaborative website for teachers about consumer education. It provides free, high quality resources for teachers along with interactive and collaborative tools to help teachers prepare lesson plans to share with students and other teachers from across the EU. Sign Up now on www.ConsumerClassroom.eu

The Earth Dog Story – Earth Dog returns to Save the Environment

The Earth Dog Story, first published in 1992, returns as an app in iTunes and an eBook as part of the U.S. Department of Energy environmental outreach program with Weekly Reader. Earth Dog is a superhero who teaches kids about taking care of the environment.

Show you care, do your share!

The St Monica Gzira Primary EkoSkola Committee prepared a video as part of a campaign with the title: “Show you care, do your share.” The campaign was planned as part of the U4energy competition category C.

Earth Preservers Website

Earth Preservers is an environmental news and information website for kids that relates the environment to a wide-range of current events and topics. Resources include short films and documentaries, interactive quizzes, classroom resources, poll questions, and a monthly newsletter.

EkoSkola f’Tagħna t-Tfal – Frar 2012

Can we walk to school? Can we use cars less? This issue is about the walking school bus. Students meet at a point. One parent collects school bags in a car whilst other parents walk altogether with the students to school.

EkoSkola f’Tagħna t-Tfal – Novembru 2011

The November issue is aimed to attract attention towards the consumption of local food as compared to imported food and the food miles involved. It-tieni episodju jattira l-attenzjoni dwar il-konsum ta’ ikel lokali u kemm ikel impurtat jinvolvi konsum ta’ riżorsi biex jasal Malta.

HSBC Climate Initiative Newsletter 5

Are we conscious of the impact transport has on climate and the carbon emissions resulting from the use of aeroplanes, cars and other transport means? Let’s put in some extra effort and try to walk or use the bike wherever possible…

Climate change and lifestyles guidebook for youths

Loads of information, activity ideas, tips, online resources and case studies about climate change – considering the food we eat, things we buy, transport, energy, third world countries, water, jobs, lifestyle, good life, leisure and entertainment and above all ways to take action. All this is available in the UNESCO produced downloadable pdf Guidebook.

Use of bicycles instead of cars

Two short videos showing how bicycle friendly is Copenhagen. Practically everybody rides a bike. These videos are a good introduction and should encoyurage discussions about transport – cars versus bicycles – pros and cons.

One Sun One World

One Sun One World is a WWF school musical by Peter Rose and Anne Conlon.

How Green is My Town?

How Green is My Town?” is a grassroots effort to empower citizens and local decision makers to address the issues of climate change, sustainability, and environmental health at the local level.

NASA Gives Kids Their Own Guide to Climate Change

NASAs new Climate Kids Web site, targeting grades 4-6, de-mystifies global climate change science using simple illustrations, humor, interactivity, and age-appropriate language. The interactive Climate Time Machine shows how global changes affect our planet over time.