International Linking Event: Ireland & Kenya

Green-Schools celebrated the first International Linking Event with our colleagues and friends in Eco-Schools Kenya and Kenya Organisation for Environmental Education (KOEE) today, June 17, 2021.

Project

The project began in late 2020 with the aim of the co-creation of five workshops on five Global Goals: Goal 5: Gender Equality, Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production, Goal 13: Climate Action, Goal 14: Life Below Water, and Goal 15: Life on Land. Each school in Ireland and Kenya participating in the project was required to take action on their assigned global goal, creating an environment of interconnected learning and a greater understanding of the things the students have in common and things that may be different.

In October 2020, Green-Schools Ireland created five workshops focusing on five different global goals with pre-recorded videos, presentations, demonstrations and activities. Following meetings with KOEE, five Kenyan schools joined the project with 12 Irish schools.  It was envisioned that, in both countries, participation in the workshops would culminate in the schools creating an exhibition of their work to be showcased at a virtual event of shared learning. In order to create opportunities for easier sharing of information from Kenyan schools, Green-Schools investigated the possibility of funding IT equipment for the schools from Kenya participating in the project and secured funding for laptops and projectors for five schools in March 2021. 

Virtual Event

Today’s event follows 12 workshops delivered by Green-Schools to the participating Irish schools and five workshops delivered by KOEE staff to the schools in Kenya. As school closures over the year meant that schools weren’t able to work on their project for as long as hoped, both organizations decided that the exhibition element had to be changed to a video submitted by all schools that would culminate in today’s event. Schools shared videos, poetry, inventions and projects all focused on the five SDGs chosen at the start of the project. 

The event included welcome messages and activities from: Daniel Schaffer, CEO, FEE – Foundation for Environmental Education; Féilim McLaughlin, Irish Aid, Director of Global Programmes and Development Education Unit; Jill Clements -Deputy Head of Mission and Head of Cooperation at the Irish Embassy  in Kenya; Dr. Dorcus Otieno from Eco-Schools Kenya; and Danson Matekwa from KOEE.

Watch each school’s video:

Schools involved in the project: