by Hollie Nielsen, AWC Central Scotland
The Education Team focuses on SDG4, “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.” This month, we are highlighting Target 4.7, which includes ensuring that “all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles…”
Our Target Project, Awesome Blossoms (AB), incorporates education goals, especially ones geared toward sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles. As Target Chair Amanda Drollinger says, “The education of the entrepreneurs and students at Our Lady of Mercy and the other Safe Spaces partner schools is at the heart of the Target Project Awesome Blossoms.”
Recently, the AB peer educators and teachers at Our Lady of Mercy school have focused on teaching the students at the host school and the micro-entrepreneurs several subjects related to sustainable development. These subjects include:
- Agricultural Science: Basics of farming, plant biology and sustainable practices.
- Nutrition Education: Importance of balanced diets, growing nutritious foods and healthy eating habits.
- Environmental Studies: Impact of farming on the environment, conservation techniques and sustainable resource use.
- Technology in Agriculture: Use of farming technology, crop mapping, early warning systems for pests and diseases, and optimal resource utilization.
Through a combination of classroom instruction, hands-on farming activities and interactive technology sessions using the FarmIT app, the micro-entrepreneurs as well as the school students are learning valuable skills that will help them gain employment as well as live sustainable lives. The peer educators and classroom teachers are supported by trained agricultural educators and local agricultural experts. Head Teacher Ester says that her students have learned a lot about how to grow crops and that they can have bright futures growing hydroponic gardens at their homes. In the meantime, they are enjoying the nutritious spinach grown on the school’s farms.
Student participation has been high - 400 students from two schools have been involved in the program so far. This is in addition to the 75 micro-entrepreneurs who are also being taught. The school students are a balanced mix of boys and girls, aged between 3 and 7. Through their lessons the children have gained a practical understanding of sustainable farming practices and the importance of good nutrition. Most importantly for their future successful employment, the students have shown increased interest in agriculture as a career. In addition, community engagement has increased, with parents and community members becoming more involved in school farming activities. This supportive learning environment will benefit the school children, micro-entrepreneurs and AB as a whole. Finally, and importantly since Target 5 is focused on the environment, students have become more aware of the environmental impacts of farming and the importance of conservation.
Enjoy this video of some of the hands-on activities of harvesting and cooking vegetables at the AB Safe Spaces Our Lady of Mercy school.
Photo credit: Peninah Nthenya Musyimi
