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Lima’s Schools Unite to Go Green

By Caroline George
31-Mar-13
Lima’s Schools Unite to Go Green


Students from 12 Lima schools work together on an environmental mural, to grace the walls of Colegio EuroAmericano (photo: C. George).
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Last October, hundreds of primary and secondary students from 12 schools in Lima, Peru joined together to discuss green initiatives in the first annual Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Day, held at Colegio EuroAmericano in Pachacamac, Peru.
The event brought together students and teachers from member schools of the Latin American Heads Conference (LAHC), local Peruvian NGOs, and experts on environmental issues including renowned environmentalist and ESD expert Tom Jolly. Mr. Jolly emphasized the need for parents and school communities to understand the importance of environmental sustainability, and noted that the impact on future generations can only be correlated with our current understanding and problem solving. “The problem is [we] have to work out for ourselves what the problems are,” he said.
Highlighting the event, students presented displays on environmental projects initiated within their individual schools. For example, Colegio Abraham Lincoln created a Green CAS project that paired Grade 4 students of the school with local children, aged five to eight. Students worked with the younger children to make reusable goods out of recycled materials, to raise awareness of our generation´s global impact on the environment.
Geraint Langford, Head of Humanities at Cambridge College in Lima, worked with students on a community tree marathon, which helped raise money to plant over 300 trees around Via, a residential area of Lima. “We have been able to have great success because of the considerable effort of our parents and students,” Mr. Langford explained.
The event ended with students painting a panel of eight murals on the walls of Colegio EuroAmericano, reflecting the local, regional, and international impacts of improvements in environmental sustainability.
David Bruggers, Executive Secretary of the LAHC, had a closing message for the students to take with them. “Leave behind a sustainable memory of this conference. When education succeeds, you no longer offer it as a course in school,” he said.




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