Students Workshop 2018

The main objectives of the Students’ Workshop are: • To offer students the opportunity to broaden their knowledge base and sharpen their environmental skills; • To develop the skills needed to evaluate and to suggest alternative actions to resolve environmental problems and be better citizens of tomorrow; • To afford the participating institutions the opportunity to build up channels of communication and networking; • To support the concerned authorities and provide them with a blueprint for the successful implementation of “Environment across the Curriculum” programs; • To empower and enable the students to incorporate sustainable living habits in their academic and personal lives to make their city a sustainable one EEG has always focused on education as an important means to promote the protection and preservation of the environment. Through the Students’ Workshop, we ensure that students are equipped with the knowledge by offering interesting and interactive sessions. The Workshop also aims to encourage involvement among students in the green movement in their institutions and communities as EEG believes this will be fundamental in shifting current lifestyles and behaviour towards a responsible production practices. The Workshop, which was conducted in November 2018, catered to three different age groups: Junior (10–12 years), Sub Senior (13–15 years), Senior (16– 18 years) .The topics covered were of high relevance to current global and national environmental scenarios. Interactive sessions, debates, and discussions were a major theme in this platform, influencing students to cooperate and learn from each other. Held under the theme of “Elements Define Us #EDU”, the workshops marked the meaningful “Year of Zayed” declared by the UAE’s President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan for 2018. The theme aligned itself with 4 of the major elements present on our planet, – Water, Fire, Land and Air. These inturn, highlighted the realities of dealing with ocean health, renewable energy, sustainable food systems and climate change. EEG developed interesting presentations, videos, activities for the benefit of the students and invited expert guest speakers to facilitate hour-long sessions. EEG’s Students’ Workshop in 2018 was attended by 287 students and teachers from 71 educational institutions across the UAE. EEG conducts these workshops keeping its commitment towards the concept of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in mind for the last 18 years. The workshops witnessed the presence of expert speakers from the corporate sector, who presented the students and the teachers with key knowledge on various concepts on the national, regional and global level and stimulated them to the idea of working together for a sustainable living. They also shared some innovative solutions adopted by the organisations to achieve environmental preservation. The Students’ Workshop has grown from strength to strength since its inception in 2001. We would like to provide a breakdown to represent this: • 2001: 72 students participated • 2004: 250 students participated • 2006: 350 students participated • 2008: 471 students participated • 2013: 445 students participated • 2018: 287 students participated Another important impact of the Student’s Workshops is that it offers students with an exciting opportunity to learn and share ideas with each other in their age group from different backgrounds religion & ethnicity. It also facilitates networking between teachers, which leads to knowledge-sharing and exchange of ideas in inclusive teaching and learning environment. EEG also develops an in-house manual that is gifted to the participating teachers to help them facilitate the discussions later on in their respective schools. To increase the impact of this programme, EEG has put several plans in place • To get several corporate organisations involved in the process from the concept development phase • Utilise the feedback received for the teachers and students to enable for a more interactive and hands on activities. Thus, stakeholders looking to get involved can contact us to be a partner, sponsor or participant of the programme.