FEE at COP23 in Bonn, Germany

The Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) is pleased to announce its partnership agreement with the UN Climate Change for the participation of YRE students at this year’s UN Climate Change Conference (COP23), taking place in Boon, Germany from 6-17 November.

The partnership aims at promoting the implementation of climate action, as well as the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

During COP23, the Foundation for Environmental Education will host a mini event at the UNESCO Pavilion at 10:00 on Thursday 16 November.

Title: Climate Education – how far are we?

The importance of Climate Education is undeniable. Changing people’s perception and behaviour through education is the way to create long-lasting positive impact. Guest speakers showcase their achievements and allow the audience to learn how Climate Education influences people and think about how we can improve.

Guest speakers

1. Kenza Khallafi – The Mohammed VI Foundation for Environmental Protection
2. Allison Gacad – Student, Young Reporters for the Environment, FEE
3. Charles Hopkins – UNESCO Chair in Reorienting Teacher Education to Address Sustainability, York University
4. Libby Giles – Global Citizenship Education Director

One of the five FEE programmes, Young Reporters for the Environment, has selected four young reporters to represent the programme at COP23. They will be reporting about the conference from the perspective of youth. More information can be found here: http://www.yre.global/stories-news/2017/11/7/young-reporters-at-the-cop-23

Young Reporters at the COP 23

This year's UN Climate Change Conference (COP23) is taking place from 6 - 17 November in Bonn, Germany. 

Four Young Reporters were selected to represent the YRE programme at the COP23. They will be working as reporters to cover and report about events and sessions in Bonn Zone at the COP23 venue where side events and high level events are taking place. They will also share their experience through the YRE programme at a mini event on Climate Education at the UNESCO Pavilion on Thursday 16 November at 10:00.  

FEE has signed a partnership agreement with UN Climate Change on this initiative to support the work of Young Reporters at the COP23.

Their work will be presented on the YRE Exposure page from 14 November. The snapshots from the conference will be shared from Monday 13 November on YRE social media platforms: Facebook page, Twitter, Youtube channel and Instagram (@yre_int).

Here are the selected Young Reporters:

Adriána Henčeková, Slovakia

My name is Adriána Henčeková and I am 18 years old. I live in the Eastern part of Slovakia in a small city Spišská Nová Ves. I am a high school student. I am interested in biology and geography at school. I have been in the programme Young reporters for the Environment for 6 years now. I am focusing mostly on taking photos and writing articles. Thanks to this programme I started to be interested in the environment and writing became my passion.

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Allison Gacad, Canada

I am an undergraduate student at the University of British Columbia studying nutrition within the context of food security and environmental sustainability. Beyond the classroom, I have a passion for writing that I hope to combine with my analytical skills in the Sciences to support a future career in journalism. My love for our environment stems from exploring Canada’s forests, mountains, and oceans - be it in my hometown, Toronto, or my current city, Vancouver. As a Young Reporter, I am incredibly excited and grateful to bring COP23 to the communities I’ve worked with throughout the years!

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Mafalda Gomes, Portugal

My name is Mafalda Gomes and I was recently chosen to be a representative of YRE for the COP23. Just this past month my country was devastated by late season wildfires, one of the many indisputable effects of global warming, making 2017 the deadliest year on record for forest blazes. The future of planet Earth depends entirely on the commitments and sacrifices that we, as humans, are willing to make for the sake of a brighter future for generations to come.  Quoting UN Women Goodwill ambassador Emma Watson:” If not me, who? If not now, when?”

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Max Lönn, Sweden

I am very excited to be a part of YRE team at the COP 23. It is amazing that the youth get to participate in such a huge event. I believe that the media has a huge part to play in changing the way the world deals with climate issues, just as politicians and scientists. I am really looking forward to traveling to Bonn and hoping not only to make a difference but also having a great experience to look back upon in the future.

The initiative is partnered with UN Climate Change.

PRESS RELEASE: YRE International Competition 2018

Contact: Gosia Luszczek, International YRE Director | E: gosia@fee.global
Yukiko Tsuburaya, International YRE Assistant | E: yukiko@fee.global

Copenhagen, 2 October 2017 - The Young Reporters for the Environment International Competition is open to all students aged 11-21 from the 35 countries participating in the YRE programme. Do you feel passionate about the environment?  Do you want to express your opinion?  Then, do not hesitate, participate in the International YRE Competition by writing an article, submitting a photo, or making a video.  The winning entries will be published internationally on the Huffington Post Kids and on the YRE International websites!

The YRE International Competition is for winners of the YRE National Competition in countries running the YRE programme. Students who are participating in the YRE programme in each country have a right to participate in the competition. Students have to compete and be selected as a national winner before being sent onwards to the International Competition.

The YRE International Competition consists of three different categories. 

• International Competition – open to all countries and all themes, except for the litter theme for countries participating in the Litter Less Campaign. Countries that are not participating in the Campaign, can still submit entries related to the litter problem.

• Litter Less Campaign – theme litter, open to countries that are involved in the Litter Less Campaign: Australia, New Zealand, China, India, Israel, Wales, Spain, Northern Ireland, Malta and Ireland.

* Please note that the submissions under the theme of Litter from Litter Less Campaign countries will be evaluated separately, and the winners will receive recognition with a certificate.

• International Collaboration – open to all countries with three recommended themes from the 17 Sustainable Development Goals: 11-Sustainable Cities, 12-Responsible Consumption & Production, 13-Climate Action. The submission must be in the form of a written Article and be a collaborative work between two countries. It is open to the age category 15-18 years.

17 Sustainable Development Goals through the YRE Competition

YRE is aiming to integrate the SDGs into the YRE International Competition in the near future. Therefore, in every country SDGs will be introduced though the National Competition.

More information: http://www.yre.global/yre-competition  

YRE students attending WEEC in Vancouver

YRE students attending WEEC in Vancouver

For the second time, YRE has been given the exciting opportunity of sending students to participate in the World Environmental Education Congress (WEEC).

This year, the congress will take place in Vancouver in Canada from the 9th to the 13th of September. YRE will be represented by 13 aspiring students from Turkey and Canada, including three from Seaquam Secondary, two from University of British Columbia, and eight from Izmir Saint Joseph High School.

The students will attend the different sessions, conduct interviews with participants, and write articles about their experiences. Make sure to have a look on Exposure, as we will be uploading the students’ articles here.

For the final plenary session, on the 13th of September, a highly dedicated student from Canada has been selected to be part of the panel discussion. Abnash Bassi is a grade 11 student from Seaquam Secondary in Delta. Through her participation in the YRE programme, she was inspired to become involved in a variety of activities related to education and environment. On the panel, she will be representing YRE internationally and she will also be talking about her personal experiences from the programme. 

With Abnash’s permission, we are sharing the following extract from her application:

“For me, YRE means focusing on spreading environmental awareness, but more so empowering myself and others to explore the capabilities we have in being messengers of change. You see, the power of being a Young Reporter for the Environment lies not in the title, nor the recognition, but in the raw epiphany that it serves as. As a teenager, I consume an endless amount of media. We use the media to learn, understand, and evolve alongside the world around us. However, a great deal of environmental issues are not explored by the media, and when they are, the coverage is often confusing and incomplete. This lack of coverage creates a gaping chasm in society’s understanding and fosters cognitive dissonance or even blind ignorance. It is within this chasm that the seemingly short term challenge of creating a video, composing a photo, or crafting an essay transforms into a long term bridge, a continuum of awareness. We ourselves can cover essential environmental issues - not just as reporters for a media company, or a school newspaper, but as reporters for the environment.”

PRESS RELEASE: Litter Less Campaign Phase III

The Litter Less Campaign: Six years and still going strong

Contact: Gosia Luszczek, International YRE Director
Foundation for Environmental Education
E: gosia@fee.global

September 2017 marks the beginning of Phase III (year 7) of the Litter Less Campaign, a joint initiative of the Wrigley Company Foundation and the Foundation for Environmental Education. The Campaign aims to engage and educate children and young people on the issue of litter and encourage them to make positive choices.

Two phases have been completed over the past six years, and the continued collaboration confirms the importance of the work and the on-going necessity of dealing with issues of litter and encouraging thoughtful behaviour from early on.

The main objectives of the Campaign are to:

• raise awareness of the effect of litter and waste on the local environment
• increase knowledge and practical skills in preventing and managing litter and waste
• improve students’ behaviour and the schools’ waste management treatment
• report on litter issues
• encourage collaboration between schools for spreading good practices
• tackle the issue of litter with active involvement from the local community

The partnership between the Wrigley Company Foundation and FEE already has a history of over six years of very effective collaboration. Phase II of the Litter Less Campaign began in 2014 and since then has been running in 35 countries in schools which engage in two of the FEE programmes - Eco-Schools (ES) and Young Reporters for the Environment (YRE). Over the full period of implementation of the Campaign, since 2011, 1,962,285 students in 3,184 schools from all over the world have been engaged. Such reach suggests that there is undoubtedly an impact on participants’ perceptions, behaviour and opinion leadership. In 2015-2016, a total of 1,356 Community Action Days were held and 240 schools introduced recycling systems.

For a short video about the achievements of the Litter Less Campaign Phase I and II, click here.

The Litter Less Campaign is our organisation’s largest project that embeds a positive and fruitful partnership between the Wrigley Company Foundation as the enabler, and FEE, its members, National Operators and participating schools as the implementers. This strong relationship allows for transparency and flexibility, which is ultimately what ensures the delivery of a fantastic Campaign.

Anne Vela-Wagner, Wrigley Company Foundation Executive Director, notes:
“The Wrigley Company Foundation is proud of the positive transformation that has occurred in schools and communities around the world through the Litter Less campaign. Teaching students to be leaders and work to change littering behaviour and improve their communities is the strength of the program”.

The new Phase III will engage schools from 15 countries from both the YRE and Eco-Schools programmes. At the end of the project, we plan to have over half a million of students involved in practical activities related to litter prevention. Our target is to change students’ behaviour and increase understanding and action around litter prevention by an additional 10% of the students we serve.

Daniel Schaffer, CEO of the Foundation for Environmental Education, adds:
“The Litter Less Campaign is a textbook example of how positive collaboration between the corporate world and a respected NGO can realise a shared vision. We highly appreciate the long-term partnership with the Wrigley Company Foundation and we are extremely grateful for the possibility of moving the Litter Less Campaign into Phase III. Their strong commitment and support cannot be taken for granted.”

Participating through the Young Reporters for the Environment Programme:

• Australia
• China 
• India
• Ireland
• Israel
• Malta 
• New Zealand
• Northern Ireland
• Spain
• Wales

Participating through the Eco-Schools Programme:

• Australia
• China
• England
• India 
• Ireland 
• Kenya
• Mexico 
• Northern Ireland
• Russia
• Scotland
• Spain 
• Wales

About the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE)

With members in 76 countries around the world, FEE’s programmes represent the cutting edge in Education for Sustainable Development and Environmental Education. It is the vision of the Foundation for Environmental Education that its programmes empower people everywhere to live sustainably and in an environmentally conscious manner.

About the Wrigley Company Foundation

The Wrigley Company Foundation has awarded more than $70 million USD since its establishment in 1987. With a focus on oral health, the environment, particularly education for litter prevention, and improving Wrigley’s site and sourcing communities, it works to build brighter futures around the world.

About Wrigley

Wrigley is a recognized leader in confections with a wide range of product offerings including gum, mints, hard and chewy candies, and lollipops. Wrigley's world-famous brands – including Extra®, Orbit®, Doublemint®, and 5™ chewing gums, as well as confectionery brands Skittles®, Starburst®, Altoids® and Life Savers® – create simple pleasures for consumers every day. With operations across 50 countries and distribution in more than 180 countries, Wrigley's brands bring smiles to faces around the globe. The company is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, employs approximately 15,000 associates globally, and operates as a subsidiary of Mars, Incorporated.
 
Mars is a family-owned business with more than a century of history making diverse products and offering services for people and the pets people love. With almost $35 billion in sales, the company is a global business that produces some of the world’s best-loved brands: M&M’s®, SNICKERS®, TWIX®, MILKY WAY®, DOVE®, PEDIGREE®, ROYAL CANIN®, WHISKAS®, EXTRA®, ORBIT®, 5™, SKITTLES®, UNCLE BEN’S®, MARS DRINKS and COCOAVIA®. Mars also provides veterinary health services that include BANFIELD® Pet Hospitals. Headquartered in McLean, VA, Mars operates in more than 80 countries. The Mars Five Principles – Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency and Freedom – inspire its more than 85,000 Associates to create value for all its partners and deliver growth they are proud of every day.

YRE International Jury and Competition Winners 2017

The Young Reporters for the Environment (YRE) International Jury meeting for the 2017 Competition successfully took place on 24 May at the Foundation for Environmental Education Head Office in Copenhagen, Denmark.

YRE International Jury 2017

The Jury this year was composed of stakeholders in the fields of environmental journalism and Education for Sustainable Development. The members are Christopher Slaney, Freelance Journalist, Mari Nishimura, Associate Programme Officer, UNEP, Julie Saito, Programme Specialist of Communication, UNESCO, Clemens Bomsdorf, Journalist and Correspondent for the Nordic countries, Anne Vela-Wagner, Executive Director of the Wrigley Company Foundation, Pedro Marcelino, Documentary Film Producer and Director, Mayra Navarrete, Photographer, Boris Šušmak, FEE Board Member, and Antti Kaartinen, Communications Expert currently working as a Press Officer at the European Environment Agency (EEA) in Copenhagen. You can find more information on their profiles here. 

The Jury went through and discussed the top national entries in the media categories of articles, photographs and videos, across the age categories 11-14, 15-18, 19-21, as well as the International Collaboration category. The Jury reviewed also entries from the Litter Less Campaign. The Jury then decided on this year's YRE International Competition winners, who will be published on Huffington Post kids as a prize. All entries can be found on the competition's Exposure page.

Here is a general comment from the Jury members:

The Jury appreciated this year’s submissions for the YRE International Competition. The Jury recognised the improved quality of the entries submitted for the competition this year. The Jury also recognised two types of entries, first - based on general YRE rules, recognised as a journalistic entry (in the photo and video category) and the second type, campaign photo or video. The Jury decided to award some of the entries with the above comments and suggested to continue the competition in the future with recognition of those two categories. 

The winners for 2017 are:

Article

11-14 years old

1st Place
Title: The food waste crisis
Author: Amanda Amaeshi (Scotland) 

2nd Place
Title: Illegal landfills in Bar municipality
Author: Lucija Milović (Montenegro)

3rd Place
Title: Water… life on Earth
Author: Ameen Rabea (Israel)

Honourable mention
Title: Reducing plastic pollution requires habit change
Author: Sophia Schultz (Canada)

15-18 years old

1st Place
Title: Bay in the Balance: Ocean Acidification Threatens the Chesapeake Ecosystem
Author: Clara Benadon (United States)

2nd Place
Title: Water in the maltese areas… Every drop counts
Author:  Samira Axiak and Jessica Schembri (Malta)

19-21 years old

Honourable mention
Title: Forest can help to feed the world's population
Author: Olivia Forssén and Felicia Persson (Sweden)

Honourable mention
Title: Flowers: The candle that burns to illumnate the population of "Dades"
Author: Badia El Faskaoui, Fatima Zahra Achich, Fatima Zahra Saidi, Moussa Fadili, Malika El Oualy and Rachid Aarime suêrvised bu Teacher M. Sabir Masstour (Morocco)

Photograph

11-14 years old

1st Place
Title: The goat liked it (as a YRE journalistic photo)
Author: Andrija Babović (Montenegro)

1st Place
Title: Heritage? (as a YRE journalistic photo)
Author: Eva Mančíková (Slovakia)

2nd Place
Title: Lake Balkhash: exciting and frightening (as a YRE journalistic photo)
Author: Tatyana Ekkart (Kazkhstan)

15-18 years old

1st Place
Title: For a brighter future  (as a YRE campaign photo)
Author: Astrid Aronsson and Linnéa Gren (Sweden)

1st Place
Title: Doksasmeni Lake (as a YRE journalistic photo)
Author: Nicholas Mouros (Cyprus)

Honourable mention
Title: Like a fish out of water (as a YRE journalistic photo)
Author: Nikolina Golubović (Montenegro)

19-21 years old

1st Place
Title: Wounds in the landscape (as YRE journalistic photo)
Author: Frederico Santos (Portugal)

Honourable mention
Title: Is there a difference between life and life? (as a YRE campaign photo)
Author: Joakim Lindqvist, Elin Eriksson, Michelle Sjögren and  Julia Berg (Sweden)

Honourable mention
Title: Livelihoods and nature (as a YRE journalistic photo)
Author: Faissal Ammi (Morocco)

Video

11-14 years old

1st Place
Title: Rethinking Nature, thinking with Nature
Author: Merlin Goleret, Anthony Heuvin, Lennon Jeaugey, Paula Kimpfler, Jeanne Lepelletier, Illiana Levillair, Romain Lopez, Diégo Luca, Ronan Mahaud, Diana Mai, Téoman Ozturk, Alexander Rosengart, Maéla Sala-Alvarez, Benjamin Souci, Marine Soussan-Jeannot, Emilie Thiebot, Luna Torres-Navarro, Andres Vacca, Claire Vafadar, Maïka Vilanova Almagia (France)

2nd Place
Title: The Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) is back
Author: Andreia Ferreira, Beatriz Tavares, Inês Tavaresa and Leonor Carvalho (Portugal)

Honorable mention in campaign
Title: “Littering? You can do better!” Don’t let Pokemon Go distract you from looking after our environment (as a YRE campaign video)
Author: Ana Hoonhout (New Zealand)

Honorable mention in campaign
Title: Water Shortage (Save the Water, Save the World) (as a YRE campaign video)
Author: Dongsan Elementry School (South Korea)

15-18 years old

1st Place
Title: Where Bees Do Not Fly
Author: Tamara Eliašová, Mária Jánošiková and Michal Mazánik (Slovakia)

2nd Place
Title: Food Waste: The Search for a Simple Solution
Author: Megan He (United States)

2nd Place
Title: A greener lawn to play football
Author: Laura Bissakou, Rosine Imossio, Amanda Goubakouly-Mouendengo and Houlda Okyemou (France - French High School in Congo)

19-21 years old

Honorable mention for technique
Title: Global warming, killing us
Author: Kim eun sol and Jung you jin (South Korea)

International Collaboration

1st Place
Title: Coffee Production and Consumption – The Issues and Solutions.
Author: Ulidia Integrated College, Carrickfergus (Northern Ireland) and Lycee Pole, Fort Dauphin (Madagascar).

2nd Place
Title: Bringing back the past to assure the future
Author: Sofia Castanho (Portugal) and Adriána Henčeková (Slovakia)

Winners in Litter Less Campaign category 

The Jury also discussed the top national entries from schools participating in the Litter Less Campaign. Below are the results of the evaluation:

Article

Age 11 - 14

1st Place
Title: Change is Coming: Reusable Food Boxes
Country: Slovakia

2nd Place
Title: The Litter Less and Dunk The Junk Campaign
Country: Ireland

2nd Place
Title: Everybody is Responsible for Garbage Reduction
Country: China

Age 15 - 18

1st Place
Title: The advertising brochure – a monster swallowing yearly a whole forest
Country: Romania

2nd Place
Title: The Choice is Yours! Bioplastics for Cleaner Environment
Country: Slovakia

3rd Place
Title: Food Waste
Country: Portugal

Age 19 - 21

1st Place
Title: Litter: Old issue, New chapter
Country: Portugal

Photo

Age 11 - 14

1st Place
Title: I don´t belong here
Country: Portugal

2nd Place
Title: Where laugh, and games, and children are?
Country: Kazakhstan

3rd Place
Title: A corner of pollution on lake Bicaz
Country: Romania

Age 15 - 18

1st Place
Title: Imprisoned
Country: Slovakia

Mention
Title: Mirror
Country: Romania

Mention
Title: Cotton swabs on the beaches. How to solve it?
Country: Portugal

Age 19 - 21

No winner

Video

Age 11 - 14

1st Place
Title: Can you Trash?
Country: China

2nd Place
Title: Reducing waste
Country: Israel

Honorable mention
Title: Again pollution, looking for solutions
Country: Romania

Age 15 - 18

Honorable mention
Title: Bubble Tea - The Taste of Waste
Country: Slovakia

Honorable mention
Title: The Green Goblin
Country: Ireland

Age 19 - 21

1st Place
Title: Recycle to save!
Country: Portugal

Congratulation to all winners and thank you for your participation!

Result - YRE Short Video Competition

Result - YRE Short Video Competition

YRE International opened a Short Video Competition during the Global Action Days in November 2016 and in April 2017. 

We received a number of great entries from enthusiastic Young Reporters from around the world. We want to thank all the participants for their great work and the engagement on the YRE programme. We hope that you will be pursuing your ambition and keeping up with your great work. 

After much deliberation, we chose Rúben de Matos from Portugal as the winner of the competition. Congratulation to Rúben! 

We would also like to give special mentions to the following participants for their outstanding work.  

• Adriana Hencekova (Slovakia)
• Carolina Fonseca (Portugal)
• Joana Pedro (Portugal)
• Luis Caixado (Portugal)
• Martina Mifsud (Malta) 
• Michael Jessup (New Zealand)
• Ricardo Rocha (Portugal)

We were very happy to see some entries from old Young Reporters from more than a decade ago. Thank you again for your contribution!

It is NOM time again!

This year’s Young Reporters for the Environment National Operators Meeting (NOM) is taking place in Guimarães, Portugal from 16-18 February.

The meeting will be hosted by Associação Bandeira Azul da Europa (ABAE), FEE member organisation in Portugal. Thanks to their great work and the warm hospitality of the city of Guimarães, everything is in place and we are looking forward to another exciting NOM again this year.

It will be the biggest YRE NOM yet, with over 30 National Operators from 30 countries. We will also have guest speakers who will give us inspirational talks on various topics related to the programme. We will, of course, have our Young Reporters too who will report on the meeting and showcase their activities and skills.

We have received some messages from our participants.

“Keep New Zealand Beautiful joined YRE because we believe that young people can make a huge positive change by inspiring our leaders to provide a clean, green environment for future generations.  I’m looking forward to meeting all the National Operators so that we may share both the successes and challenges faced in each of our respective countries.  As a newoperator I am hoping to learn as much as I can and then bring that knowledge back to New Zealand to build an even bigger and better YRE programme.”
Christine, National Operator in New Zealand

“I’m really looking forward to this year’s NOM.  It’s always great to meet other National Operators, share ideas and be inspired. I’m also looking forward to discussions about how to develop theprogramme and how to relate to the SDGs.”
Pia, National Operator in Sweden

“This will be the biggest YRE NOM ever and I am looking forward to meeting all the National Operators! It is really nice to see how the programme itself is growing and I think we should be more than proud about that. It will also be a very important NOM as per future development discussions of the programme. Last but not least, it will be also very important to exchange ideas and models about how to run the programme nationally. Let’s run YRE even more efficiently! I am already excited, and you?”
Boris, FEE Board member for YRE

We are looking forward to seeing everyone in a few days!