Wednesday February 15, 2012 in Tetouan: Organization of a training workshop for new Eco-Schools program members

On Wednesday, February 15, 2012 in the province of Tetouan the Mohammed VI Foundation for Environmental Protection, chaired by Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Hasnaa, has organized an Eco-Schools training program as part of its partnership with the Ministry of Education, with support from the Agency for Promotion and Economic and Social Development of Northern Prefectures and Provinces of the Kingdom. This workshop covers 25 new schools in the program, for the 2011-2012 school year.

This workshop is part of the will of Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Hasnaa, President of the Mohammed VI Foundation for Environmental Protection, to gradually expand the Eco-Schools program. Increased activities with primary schools aim at raising environmental awareness. By adopting a participatory method that balances education and practice, the program aims to effectively improve the environmental situation both inside and outside of the primary school. Eco-Schools are capable of enabling awareness, behavioral change, and an awakening among small children, who are the citizens of tomorrow, as well as among all components of the school, families and the local community.

This workshop is part of the Intercontinental Biosphere Reserve of the Mediterranean project, which aims to promote and highlight sustainable development aspect of projects conducted in the area containing ecosystems of high ecological value, both nationally and internationally.

This action aims to promote environmental education and sustainable development through the active participation of students in order to expand green behavior and promote the sustainable management of natural resources.

Additionally, the focus will be on theory-based presentations such as the Eco-Schools methodology, the role of educational stakeholders, the presentation of study results on medical and aromatic plants in the Intercontinental Biosphere Reserve of the Mediterranean. Also the schools' experience, Oued El Makhazen in Nador and Hajar Nahl in Tangier, will be emphasized. Indeed the Hajar Nahl school has held successful workshops on the five program themes: reducing consumption water and energy consumption, good waste management, conservation of biodiversity, and the benefit of good nutrition.

Eco-Schools is an international program launched by the Mohammed VI Foundation for Environmental Protection, after joining the Foundation for Environmental Education in 2002, and as part of a partnership agreement with the Ministry of National Education, which was signed on April 24, 2010, on the occasion of the celebration of Earth Day.

The methodology of this international program is based on seven steps that are easy for all schools to follow, and helps them reach their goal of being an exemplary Eco-School, with the involvement of many stakeholders from the local society, where students are given the essential role.