Encouraging Eco-Educators

This year the WESSA Eco-Schools programme is in full swing with CTEET supporting over 35 schools in the Southern Suburbs and Helderberg Region. The aim of the programme is to encourage young people to engage in their environment by allowing them the opportunity to actively protect it. It starts in the classroom where it expands to the school and eventually fosters change in the community at large.

A Teacher Training Workshop was hosted by CTEET on 12 May, with over 30 teachers attending the day. The morning started off with an inspirational presentation by Jocelyn Anderson, the Eco-Schools Coordinator, on a local plastic-free Eco-School. This was a wonderful example of how to implement sustainable change within the school grounds. After the presentation the teachers broke into groups to brainstorm the new project themes and how to launch successful eco-projects.

The workshop was held at the Westlake Conservation Centre, and after the presentations the group was shown around the indigenous plant rearing nursery and alien invasive species unit. The day was ended off with a demonstration on how to make kokedama’s (hanging plant balls) followed by the chance for everyone to get their hands good and dirty while making their own version of the decorative plants. It is hoped that all the teachers went home excited about taking the eco-schools programme to the next level, with new ideas on how to introduce nature and environmental topics into their classrooms.