Consultation

Environmental Education Resource Pack for Child-friendly Schools

1 August, 2007Yaounde, Cameroon

Donna L. GoodmanProject ManagerEnvironment and Young People

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Outline

• Environment and the MDGs?• Children and environment – what is the relationship?• What are child-friendly school and community

environments?• Physical/facilities based challenges and solutions• Participatory methodologies and curriculum• Children’s degree of control over decisions: dimensions,

standards, indicators (plotting examples)• Impact, sustainability and institutionalisation of children’s

participation

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Millennium Development Goals

MDG 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability

Target 9: To integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs and reverse the loss of environmental resources.

Target 10: To halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation

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MDG 7Targets 9 & 10

8. Global Partnerships

1. Poverty and Hunger

Linkages with other MDGs

3. Gender equality

4. Reduced child

mortality

6.Combating disease:

(HIV, malaria...)

2. Universal primary

education

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Unsafe water

Poor hygiene and sanitation

Air pollution – indoor and outdoor

Disease vectors

Chemical hazards

Injuries and accidents

EMERGING ISSUES – such as :

Climate/global change and its various consequences

Environmental challenges

to children

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Unsafe water

Poor hygiene and sanitation

Chemical hazards

Ambient Air pollution

Indoor Air pollution

Disease vectors

Injuries and accidents

CLIMATE – GLOBAL CHANGE

WHERE ARE THE MAIN GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL WHERE ARE THE MAIN GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH RISKS?HEALTH RISKS?

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COMPLEX, INTERRELATED PROBLEMS,

REQUIRING INNOVATIVE APPROACHES

AND

JOINTLY COORDINATED INTERVENTIONS

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Environmental Education Resource Pack for Child-friendly Schools

Child-centred solutions

• School environment: gender, current situation (ie: drought, flood, access to water? toilets?)

• Technical solutions: rainwater harvesting; solar or wind generated electricity and water pumps; toilets; school gardens; trees; waste disposal; watershed cleanups

• Lesson plans: what do these solutions have to do with my life? (lifeskills based, cooperative learning)

• Methodologies, guidelines: participatory tools, training for teachers, youth leaders, peer-to-peer

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Voices of Youth…

“We, as children and young people pledge to be involved in designing, implementing and evaluating child managed water and sanitation projects and other initiatives.”

(Children’s Water Manifesto, Kyoto Japan March 2003)

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Why should children participate in WES?

Convention on theRights of the Child

“To ensure that all segments of society, in particular parents and children, are informed, have access to education and are supported in the use of basic knowledge of child health and nutrition, the advantages of breastfeeding, hygiene, environmental sanitation and the prevention of accidents.”

Article 24, 2 (e)

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Participatory exercise

• What can individual children do to help create better environments at home, school or in the community?

• What can two or three children do?

• What can a group of children do?

• What can adults do to support you?

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How can children contribute?Many ways are possible; very few involve the stereotype of Children Delivering Messages. In the simplest analysis we can think of …

One child Pass(es) knowledge to younger child/children at home or in school

Two or three

Children

Teach skills to same age child/children at home or in school

A group of children Demonstrates by example to

their family/families

Works

together with

the community

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• Children in families

• Children as information gatherers

• Children in groups as a force with school and community.

• Children as spreaders of mass information

What are some of the most common ways in which ‘Children for Environment’ approaches play out: ?

The latest methodology often combines these.

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Family

School

National

Intergovernmental/Global

Ministry ofEnvironment

Community

Gender-sensitive lifeskillseducation

Tree planting

Communityclean-ups

Activities

Renewable energysolutions

Green schoolsconstruction

Participatory tools

HIV/AIDS,Malaria,Cholera

Mes

sen

ger

of b

ehav

ior

chan

ge

Gender&

ExclusionSchool gardens

ClimateChange

Deforestation

Rainwater harvesting

Professionaldevelopment

EcologicalSanitation

BiodiversityEcosystems

IndoorOutdoor

Air Pollution

Ministry of

Education

Government

Policies

United Nations

NG

Os,

CB

Os

Kyoto Protocol

Dec

ade

of W

ater

for

Life

Montreal Protocol

Decade of Education for

Sustainable Development

International Yearof Sanitation

Convention on theRights of the Child

Private Sector

PoorHygiene

&Sanitation

EndangeredWatersheds

Lack ofAccess

to Water

Other r

elevant

Ministri

es

Lack ofenergy

Clean-up ofstagnant water

Provision ofbednets

Sexual reproductivehealth educ.

OUTCOMES• Environmentally-aware and empowered children

• Children, families and communities prepared for environmental emergencies

• Healthy/sanitary environments support improved learning capabilities

• Gender equality

• ‘Green’ schools

• Reduced vulnerability to climate change related risks

• Restored watershed areas

• Reforested, stabilized environments

Legend: •Triangle: Threats•Software/participatory solutions: Green•Hardware/environmental solutions: Blue

MDG

s

Educa

tion

for A

ll

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Young people’scontrol over

decisions

Better services by consulting young people

Buildingcapacities ofyoung people

Young people’scontributions

Young peoplehave information

for survival

Young people’s participation in

WES

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Children’s access to environment-related information

• Children who have access to information about water, environment and sanitation are better able to survive and to protect themselves.

• Information is essential for children to realise their right to survival. Where children are denied access to information about health matters, their survival is put at risk.

• It is the responsibility of governments, teachers and the education system, parents, community and religious leaders, the media and the private sector to ensure that children and young people have access to this vital information.

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Develop children’s capacities

• Children who are able to express themselves and are being listened to at home and in school learn and develop better. They develop an interest in their own health and will take better care of themselves and others

• If adults listen to children, give them time to articulate their concerns, provide them with appropriate information, children will acquire the confidence and ability to contribute to their own environment. It encourages children to take more responsibility.

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Consulting children

• Research and assessment results are better if they are based on information from children and adolescents

• Consulting children leads to better understanding of children’s own environmental and health-related needs and concerns

• Water, environment and sanitation services are better if children and young people have control over their design, operation and maintenance

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Dimensions, standards and indicators

Impact of child and youth participation and degree of children’s control over decisions

Sustainability and institutionalization of children’s participation

Quality of children’s participation

Costs of children’s participation

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Children’s citizenship

Children’s participation rights

Child and adolescent development

Governance

Informationfor and bychildren

Expression,opinions

Children’s skills& capacities

Decisionmaking

ServiceContributionsResponsibility

Child-ledorganizations

Child and adolescent participation

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Thank you