Pilot project for Ionian Schools

The five-day programme entitled Waste Awareness Action Week (WAAW) is a community-based approach designed to promote cross-generational awareness, understanding and action towards the critical issues associated with excessive waste disposal in the Ionian islands. It is an innovative programme that aims to educate children and bring systemic change with regard to how waste management is carried out in the region.

Overview

• Over the course of 5 sessions (2 hrs each), school pupils will examine the causes and consequences of unsustainable waste management on their island and, critically, they will explore the most appropriate solutions to these issues.
• The programme will aim to culminate in action for change with waste efficient schools, waste efficient homes and a more effective use of existing waste management facilities. Support will come from teaching staff within the school following a one-week run of the programme by IEF programme leader.
• The programme is a pilot to be first implemented in Paxos and then reviewed and improved. If all goes well, there will come a plan to spread it across the Ionian Islands, by training teachers and others to hold it in schools.

We are lucky to be able to hold the first pilot in the primary school of Paxos, a school that has not only been active, but also won awards for the efforts to promote and act on proper waste management and care for the environment. The instructor and designer of the course is Victoria Turner, an experienced geography teacher in the UK, who -having a family on the island- has also become a Paxiot.