Sandwatch Presented at UNESCO Conference,
Bonn, Germany March 31-April 2nd, 2009
Ms. Jane Taurarii
Ministry of Education
Curriculum Development Unit &
Sandwatch Coordinator
The Cook Islands
Sandwatch Presented at UNESCO Conference, Bonn, Germany
The UNESCO World Conference on “Education for Sustainable Development" (ESD) March 31st -April 2nd, 2009 was attended by 900 participants from 147 countries, and Sandwatch was fortunate enough to be one of only twenty five (25) projects from around the world selected to give a presentation.
The conference aim was to:
- highlight the essential contribution of Education for Sustainable Development to all of education and to achieve quality education (Why is ESD relevant)
- promote international exchange on ESD (What can we learn from each other)
- carry out a stock taking on DESD implementation (what have we learnt so far and what have we achieved)
- develop strategies for the way ahead (where do we want to go from here)
(Director – General report, 181 EX/INF.15, Paris 17 April 2009)
There were plenary sessions to introduce and discuss various issues based around ESD with the final plenary was the adoption of The Bonn Declaration.
In the first plenary session forty seven (47) Ministers for Education from various countries discussed their achievements in their own countries around the ESD goals. They also agreed that ESD can shape a better future with its implementation to be included in the school programmes and curriculm.
There were workshops allocated at various venues around Bonn and I participated in the Biodiversity session.
These stressed the idea of sustaining the extinct plants or plants that are now at risks especially the plants used in medicine.
This motivated me with the idea of introducing this to schools in the outer islands of The Cooks, as this is where it is most appropriate. The Sandwatch Project was successfully exhibited at the World ESD conference in Bonn along with other good practices around the world. The Cook Islands not only represented their country but also all Sandwatch participant countries.
There were a lot of interests in the project and participants at the conference demanded to have a copy of the Introduction to Sandwatch Manual and as well as the ESD Teachers Guide that features a chapter on how to establish Sandwatch in your community.
Luckily there was an electronic copy of these two resources as the Sandwatch booth ran out of the 100 copies sent down for the exhibition.
There were also requests for the project to be demonstrated to teachers in some of these countries. For these requests participants were asked to contact the following people - Gillian Cambers and Paul Diamond, the Sandwatch Foundation Directors who will be able to answer any questions about Sandwatch and how to get it started in your community.
The Sandwatch Project has attracted a lot of participants as the approaches can also be adapted to suit other related environmental and ESD themes and goals.
I would like to extend sincere words of Meitaki Ranuinui (thanks) to the Government of Germany for their generosity in hosting the World ESD conference in Bonn.
Ms. Jane Taurarii
Ministry of Education
Curriculum Development Unit &
Sandwatch Coordinator
The Cook Islands
The UNESCO World Conference on “Education for Sustainable Development" (ESD) March 31st -April 2nd, 2009 was attended by 900 participants from 147 countries, and Sandwatch was fortunate enough to be one of only twenty five (25) projects from around the world selected to give a presentation.
The conference aim was to:
- highlight the essential contribution of Education for Sustainable Development to all of education and to achieve quality education (Why is ESD relevant)
- promote international exchange on ESD (What can we learn from each other)
- carry out a stock taking on DESD implementation (what have we learnt so far and what have we achieved)
- develop strategies for the way ahead (where do we want to go from here)
(Director – General report, 181 EX/INF.15, Paris 17 April 2009)
There were plenary sessions to introduce and discuss various issues based around ESD with the final plenary was the adoption of The Bonn Declaration.
In the first plenary session forty seven (47) Ministers for Education from various countries discussed their achievements in their own countries around the ESD goals. They also agreed that ESD can shape a better future with its implementation to be included in the school programmes and curriculm.
There were workshops allocated at various venues around Bonn and I participated in the Biodiversity session.
These stressed the idea of sustaining the extinct plants or plants that are now at risks especially the plants used in medicine.
This motivated me with the idea of introducing this to schools in the outer islands of The Cooks, as this is where it is most appropriate. The Sandwatch Project was successfully exhibited at the World ESD conference in Bonn along with other good practices around the world. The Cook Islands not only represented their country but also all Sandwatch participant countries.
There were a lot of interests in the project and participants at the conference demanded to have a copy of the Introduction to Sandwatch Manual and as well as the ESD Teachers Guide that features a chapter on how to establish Sandwatch in your community.
Luckily there was an electronic copy of these two resources as the Sandwatch booth ran out of the 100 copies sent down for the exhibition.
There were also requests for the project to be demonstrated to teachers in some of these countries. For these requests participants were asked to contact the following people - Gillian Cambers and Paul Diamond, the Sandwatch Foundation Directors who will be able to answer any questions about Sandwatch and how to get it started in your community.
The Sandwatch Project has attracted a lot of participants as the approaches can also be adapted to suit other related environmental and ESD themes and goals.
I would like to extend sincere words of Meitaki Ranuinui (thanks) to the Government of Germany for their generosity in hosting the World ESD conference in Bonn.
Ms. Jane Taurarii
Ministry of Education
Curriculum Development Unit &
Sandwatch Coordinator
The Cook Islands
