February’s monthly theme was about environmental consciousness at PN Cambodia. An opportunity for the students to take the challenge and lead their school to be greener and more eco-friendly.
What a month! For the first time at Passerelles numériques Cambodia, the students had the opportunity to spend most of their extra-curricular activities based around the environmental theme. They learnt about the impact we have on the environment on our day-to-day life, and how we can change our habits to make a difference. They were invited to join several workshops on different topics (energy, plastic and waste, etc.) and visited an organic farm a few miles away from Phnom Penh.
To end the environmental month, PN Cambodia’s Education team conducted for the first time an Eco-friendly Challenge. Each class had to work as a group and develop a creative project to make their school a more Eco-friendly place, with the most feasible project being implemented in the following months!
The first step was to design a poster to introduce their idea. All posters were then displayed on the ground floor of the center.
The second step was a role play which objective was to get the students to present their project in front of all staff and students in an innovative and fun way. As Lem Soprom, a WEPB 2017 student, said:
The role play was the most challenging as we had to convey a message, get our idea across but also entertain the audience.
Some very creative projects were presented, such as implementing a recycling system in PN Cambodia, reusing plastic bottles, creating a green wall, saving on our energy consumption, and many more.
Staff and students got the chance to vote for their favorite project. ‘PNC Natural vegetables’ by WEPA 2017 got the favor of the public as they proposed to create an organic vegetable garden at the back of the center. But the education team had the final word in selecting “The most feasible project”. ‘Dividing rubbish and biodegrade.’ won and is already on the way to be implemented. Congratulations to WEPA 2016!
Scores were very tight and each student fought for their project with a great mix of conviction and fair play.
Finally, students and staff made a collective and serious commitment to adopt more Eco-friendly actions and behaviors on electricity, plastic, paper and water consumption. As Elise Durand, PNC’s Education Manager, later said:
The environment is a very important topic for everyone, especially the youth in developing countries. It is an ecological, but also social and economical stake. Cambodia which once upon a time was very rich with natural resources (forest, water, etc.) is now facing a real environmental challenge. More and more information is being released on this topic but environment remains a fairly new concern in Cambodia. The ultimate objective of Passerelles numériques Cambodia’s environmental month is to step by step move towards more sustainable behaviors at PNC but also in our everyday life. I can’t wait to see the results when we will put in place the winning project from the Eco-Friendly Challenge!.
Thanks to Plastic free July Cambodia, Cedac organic farm and Kamworks solar panels for making this Eco-friendly month possible and fascinating!