They’ve changed the way they run events so they become greener
PARTNER CONTENT: The Year 12 students at The British International School Abu Dhabi (BIS Abu Dhabi) are a lively bunch. They have been busy utilising their tangible energy to instigate changes on a sustainability level at the school through a series of activities.
“It all came into being when we were looking at how as a school we celebrate International Day each year,” says Alicia Goldsborough, Teacher of English and Secondary Service Co-Ordinator.
Alicia adds how ordinarily the students’ individual nationality and culture are the focus on this special day. “Moving forward, however, we wanted to bring people together, to celebrate togetherness rather than the things that separate us. The school Executive Principal, Liam Cullinan, and I decided that the best people to orchestrate change on all levels would be the amazing Year 12 students.
”The decision proved to be a catalyst for change, with the Year 12 students spearheading many different events on campus which had sustainability at the heart and that involved the entire student body in all years.
“We had been discussing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that were presented by the UN in 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” says Year 12 student, Iris. “We wanted to start a conversation among all the school years that emphasised the importance of 2023 being the halfway mark to the 2030 agenda.”
“Our main goal was to unite the school rather than make individual tasks for each year group,” says Angeliki, adding how the group had discussed the fun aspects of International Day that they wanted to keep.
“We then went through the process of recommending ideas that would incorporate all year groups in terms of availability and skillsets,” she says. “We wanted to include parents, too, since they are such a big community, with the Community Group playing such an important and valuable role,” she adds.
From brainstorming, the idea for zoning under the main sections of health and wellness, and sustainability was born, with the former including mental and physical health. “We included activities such as yoga, volleyball and even a community garden,” says Jasmine. A sustainable children’s play area was added, along with a cooking area for the youngest students and a sensory room.”
In a move that previously saw a parent-led celebration of the International Day, the event had transformed into one that was now student-led. Parents were, however, still part of the celebrations and were asked to present a talk on sustainability on the school’s main stage.
“Through our effortless research, it came to light that many of the parents had related skills through the type of work they did, which would be useful for our cause,” says Regina. “Some parents were working for the UN, or in the science sector, for example. We also used the skills of Dr Lesley Williams, the lead for social impact for BIS Abu Dhabi’s parent organisation Nord Anglia Education.
“Unsurprisingly, both 2023 being the Year of Sustainability and the world’s most important climate change conference heading to the UAE were the driving force behind the goals of the BIS Abu Dhabi changemakers. “We’ve been largely inspired by COP28,” says Katalin.
“The conference advocates a need for action against climate change. It’s also about recognising that Abu Dhabi does a lot of work on sustainability. We realised that in our school, there could be so much more done in terms of sustainable development.”
Arya adds how it is the entire school’s responsibility, from students to parents, and even the staff, to lead the change in helping to create a bigger impact. “It can start off with very small habits,” she says, “such as eating more healthily, being aware of food sources and sustainable produce.”
The introduction of a community garden at the school invited younger children to be involved in gardening and growing edible plants. Thus, the garden now acts as a learning tool, helping to create awareness on how difficult it is to grow food in this region, where food comes from, and the ramifications it all has on the environment.
“We also teach how garden waste can be turned into compost,” says Arya. “We even invited experts from a hydroponic farm to share how such a method is an extremely efficient way to grow food and fundamentally to incorporate the concept into the lives of students at home.”
The lessons extended through a market stall that was set up, which only sold organic fruits and vegetables. “It created a situation whereby students thought about where our fruit and vegetables come from and the negative effects of buying them packed from a supermarket,” she adds.
Aside from sustainability and as previously mentioned, the Year 12 students also focused on health and wellbeing, including physical and mental health, which Angeliki says was borne from COVID-19 when people were isolated for long periods of time.
“We wanted to bring people back together and promote healthy habits and healthy thinking patterns,” she says. There was no better way to do this than through Team Falcon, our school’s sports teams, and utilising the Falcon sporting venues as way to promote physical and mental wellbeing throughout the school.”
“It wasn’t about competing,” Angeliki adds, but rather, a way to unite students and create teamwork, which fundamentally is the ethos of our school.”
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