Emirati NGO Named One of Top 5 Environmental Education Programmes in the Region

BY UNESCO AND ONE OF TOP 25 GLOBALLY

EWS-WWF highlights how the UAE is committed to Education for Sustainable
Development at UNESCO conference in Japan

Dubai, UAE - November 16, 2014:EWS-WWF(Emirates Wildlife Society in association with WWF) was named as one of the top five programmes in the region and in the top 25 globally in the category of Education for Sustainable Development and was invited to present its programmeat the UNESCO 2014 World Conference onEducation for Sustainable Development in Japan last week.

This comes at the end of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development and also includes examples of good practice, viable approaches to this type of education as well as showcase initiatives from around the world.
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WS-WWF believes that creating environmentally responsible citizens is the key to the future prosperity and security of our planet and has been sharing its keys of success with other countries at the conference.

The NGO’s environmental education programmes endow students with a range of educational experiences that enable them to develop skills andattitudes to ultimately lead a sustainable future. To maximize the impact of its environmental efforts, EWS-WWF follows a number of different approaches, including:

1. Empower students: Developing the students’ sense of responsibility and ownership to the environmental cause is done via the encouraging them to define, plan and deliver changes as part of Eco-Schools UAE. They are also offered the opportunity to work on a further project to upgrade their school’s environmental efficiency with seed funding by EWS-WWF.
2. Empower teachers:Ensuring teachers are empowered to provide support and guidance to students is imperative since they are at the forefront of integrating Education for Sustainable Development into the learning process. EWS-WWF offers continual support to teachers whose schools are connected with its programmes and offers teachers proactive in their approach to environmental education the chance to earn a Green Teacher Diploma.
3. Provide locally-relevant information:Often environmental information developed for use in other countries has little significance in the Arab region due to its arid climate. To overcome this, EWS-WWF has integrated locally relevant environmental knowledge into its education programmes, such as its online learning portal www.beatiwatani.com. EWS-WWF also encourages students to conduct their own research on environmental topics that affect the region.
4. Encourage community involvement: To ensure students make connections with their local environment and extended community, they are encouraged to share and motivate their neighbourhoods on sustainable lifestyles.

Significant progress has been made in the UAE thanks to EWS-WWF’s combined efforts with its partners, the Ministry of Education, as well as other education authorities. However it is vital to provide more opportunities for students to experience and connect withthe environment in order to ensure that their enthusiasm and commitment to the environmental cause continues into adulthood.