Start up - Saving The Lagoone at Old Ningo

On October 12th our Eco-School team will be joining the Old Ningo SHS´s start up workshop on how the Eco-School methodology can be used to to restore the Dzange  Lagoon.

 

Alongside 37% of the global population the people of Old Ningo live in a coastal community where the oceans as well as the marine and coastal resources play a crusial role in both human well-being and social and economical development. However, those resources are extremely vulnerable to environmental degradation, overfishing, climate change and pollution.

Happy Anniversary!!

Today,  July 18th, marks the two year anniversary of Eco-Schools not only in Ghana, but the whole of sub Saharan West-Africa. In 2014 Akosombo International School became the first school in West Africa to hoist the green flag. Two years later 4 schools in Akosombo has met the criterias to get the Green flag award, 13 schools have signed up for the program and many mors has indicated that they want to join. We have taken taken a short look back at the road that has taken us here:

Eco-Schools Ghana is the direct results of the collaboration between Akosombo International School and Byåsen school in Trondheim, one of the first Eco-Schools in Norway. They inspired us to bring the Eco-School program to West Africa. 

Green Flag Ceremony at Rev. Monningar Presbytarian School

Monningar Presby school in Akosombo signed up for Eco-Schools at the very first Green Flag ceremony in West Africa in July 2014. Two years later with hard work they had met the criterions for reciving the Green Flag award. The school has introduced a waste separation system for the school and established early an Eco-School Club that has worked on a number of activities. The paper waste is used for art work, and the food waste goes to composting that has become manour for their newly established School Garden. Plastic waste is beeing sold to a waste collector. We salute them on their excelent work!

Happy World Oceans Day!

Today, on the 8th. Of June we celebrate The  World Oceans Day. A few weeks back the delegation from Akosombo that visited Trondheim attended a Bach-Cleaning event. Not only did they collect The waste, they also learned about the huge threat it causes for the marine life across our common seas. For a period now Eco-Schools Ghana has tried to focus on, and educate about the impact plastic waste in the Oceans has on marine life.
 A lot of people do not realize how much waste, plastic in particular, that is in and around our seas. Plastic Pollution is one of the biggest threats to our oceans today. One of the reasons it posts such a huge threat is that it is extremely difficult to get rid of. Did you for instance know that it takes 450 years for a plastic bottle to decompose? When plastic degrades it is just torn into smaller pieces until you no longer can see it. This is what we call Microplastic and that is what the main focus was directed to on The Beach-Cleaning Day. Marine life often confuse microplastic with food and it is not uncommon for fish and birds to die from hunger caused by their stomach being filled with so much plastic that they no longer can fit food in there. Turtles often confuse plastic bags with jellyfish which in many cases can choke them to death. Not only is the plastic it self harmful but the animals also eat all The chemicals the plastic has soaked up in the ocean. Larger plastic objects can cause animals to get trapped and many drown as a result of not being able to reach the surface for air.

(Photo: Aftenposten.no)

Not only does this affect marine life but it also affects us. It affects you. If The fish we eat has consumed waste and chemicals so will we. It affects the whole food chain.
Although this years theme for the World Ocean Day is "Healthy Ocean, Healthy Planet" and the main focus is Plastic Pollution this is not the only thing threatening the biological diversity in and around our oceans. Climate change and Global Warming also affects life in the ocean.
We at Eco-School Ghana will continue to take action and do what we can to keep our Oceans clean and healthy, and also help sustain the amazing biological diversity in them- and we hope you will do the same!
Happy World Oceans Day!!

Eco-Schools Ghana & Sustainable Development

The opening line in the last one of UNs 2016, 17 sustainable development goals goes as followed: “A successful sustainable development agenda requires partnerships between governments, the private sector and civil society. “

Eco-Schools Ghana is one civic organization working towards reaching the SDGs. Although the main focus of the program is Environmental protection it goes hand in hand with poverty reduction and a number of the other goals as the 17 SDGs concerns everything from Energy and Economic Growth to climate change and oceans. Success in one of these areas implements improvements for the others. The eco-School program is under the umbrella organization of Foundation of Environmental Education (FEE) who already operates within a context defined by the SDGs. Education is one of the strategies to achieve the goals and FEE has multiple programs based on Education for Sustainable Development who all show a strong link with the educational Goal (SDG 4) and the goal on global partnership (SDG 17) among others.

Sustainable Development is often defined as "Development that meets the need of The present without compromising The ability of future generations to meet their own needs" 
According to the Brundtland Report Sustainable Development cannot be achieved without poverty reduction and Environmental Protection. Goal number 1 is to end poverty in all its forms everywhere. Poverty eradication is recognized as the greatest global challenge facing the world today. Sustainable development requires meeting the basic needs of all and that a world in which poverty is endemic always will be prone to ecological and other catastrophes. Climate change has long been known to affect the poorest and most vulnerable people the most. It states that Environment and Development are not separate challenges, that they are inexorably linked and that Development cannot subsist upon a deteriorating environmental resource base. According to The UN and SDG number 13 concerning Climate Change, Climate Change is now affecting every Country on every continent. It is a global challenge that does not respect national borders. People are experiencing the significant impacts of Climate change every day, which includes changing weather patterns, rising sea levels and more extreme weather events. Fortunately there are now affordable, scalable solutions available to countries to leapfrog towards cleaner, more resilient economies, but also there are super easy things every person can adopt into their daily routines that if we get enough people onboard will make a difference. This is what Eco-School Ghana is working towards. Trough education and information, we wish to help people realize that they all can contribute by making small adjustments in their daily routines. 

One of the themes of the Eco-School program is Global Citizenship and for over a decade a collaboration between Byåsen School in Norway, and Akosombo International School in Ghana has been ongoing. This small scale project has consisted of letter exchanges between students; sharing and learning about each others culture and improving communication skills. It was an interesting process for many of the student realizing that although the schools are far apart and the people may look different and sound different than themselves that they are much more alike than they first may have assumed. 
Also, they quickly found themselves talking about environmental similarities and differences, and realized that both places struggled with the same issues concerning climate change, pollution, waste management, and that what they do when it comes to both environmental protection and Environmental pollution has consequences for the other party as well as themselves. 
Today the collaboration has developed from a School to School collaboration into a city to city collaboration which concerns not only strengthening cultural ties, but also on a civic level working towards reaching the SDGs. Seeing as the collaboration has been between Ghana and Norway we were exited to learn that The Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama and Norwegian Prime minister Erna Solberg will Co-chair The group of SDGs Advocates. The UN emphasized the importance of engaging all relevant stakeholders in putting the new agenda into practice. And we hope that the Eco-School collaboration shows that there are already people on the right path, willing and wanting the do the work required in different parts of the world, and that with us all working together, reaching the goals should be feasible.

A Visit to the Rcycling Plant at Hegstadmoen

12/05/2016
Today the Ghanaian delegation from Akosombo to Trondheim paid a visit to the Hegstadmoen Waste Recycling Plant. They were given a tour of the facility by the Operations Manager as well as the Managing Director. The Ghanaian delegation was the various fractions of the plant and taken through the whole process of waste management with respect to the city of Trondheim. The company in charge of the recycling plant also offered to provide assistance to the city of Akososmbo in order to umprove the waste management system there. The Mayor of Akosombo was very grateful for this. It was a very educational tour and there were a lot of lessons learnt which the Ghanaian delegation intends to take back home.

The tour begins.

MoU on Sustainable Cities between Akosombo and Trondheim.

The Mayor of Akosombo and the Deputy Mayor of Trondheim have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the aim of implementing the Eco-school program in all schools also in Akosombo, and to further develop the collaboration between the two communities towards meeting the global sustainable goals locally and beyond. Other parties in this relationship are the Akosombo International School and the Byaasen Skole as well as the Eco-school coordinator in Trondheim, Mr Gronn Barneby.
The Ghanaian delegation also honoured Mr Gerard Dahlen, the Director for International Relations, Trondheim and Mrs Hilde Opoku, the Deputy Mayor of Trondheim for their immense contributions and commitment towards building the relationship between the two cities and helping to develop the  program in Akosombo.

The signatories after signing the MoU.

Without the Bees We Have No Food - the Beehive Project in Eco-Schools

The Ghanaian delegation from Akosombo Int. School today visited the beehive on the rooftop of the Byaasen Skole. Thye beehive is managed by a beekeeper called Sigrid . She not only gave the teachers and students of Akosombo Int. School a tour of the beehive but she also gave them a really insightful presentation on bees, their importance to our daily lives and the beehive project which she is currently undertaking. She is not only managing the beehive project at the Byaasen Skole but also at a number of schools all over Trondheim.

New Garden at Byaasen Skole

13/05/2016
The Byaasen Skole began to recreate its school garden today together with the students and teachers of the Akosombo International School. The school used to have a garden which had to be destroyed because of a building project. Today however, the school planted some potatoes to start their new garden with help from their Ghanaian friends. Two trees were also planted symbolising the relationship between the cities of Trondheim and Akosombo, as well as the Byaasen Sole and the Akosombo International School respectively. The Mayor of Akosombo, Mr Edward Ofori and the Deputy Mayor of Trondheim Mrs Hilde Opoku were also present to mark the symbolic occasion.

Teachers and students of Akosombo International School and Byaasen Skole ready to start planting in the new school garden at Byaasen Skole.

Presentation on Fairtrade Farms in Ghana to Inspire Byaasen Fairtrade School.

There was a really insightful presentation by Master Emmanuel Blay on the Fairtrade Organic Banana farms in Ghana. He explained the systems that the organic farm uses to produce bananas for exportation to other parts of the world like South AFrica and Europe.More so, he also explained how the usage of the premium money from the traide is democratically decided by the workers on the farm. Representatives from Trondheim has several times visited their farm in Ghana, and in 2013 the school delegation with principal Wenche Kjellby nesset was there. Imidiately they came home they started the work of becoming a Fairtrade school. The same year they met the criterias and became the 2nd Fairtrade basic-school in Trondheim and Norway. This time Emmanuel Blay is updating the staff at Byaasen school on the developments at the farm.

Master Emmanuel Blay with his presentation.

Beach-cleaning in Trondheim.

Marine life across our common seas are treathened by the increasing amount of waste, plastic waste in particular, filling the oceans. It is crucial that we prevent the waste from entering the water. Today we therefore participated in a beach cleaning exercise at the Korsvika beach in Lade, Trondheim. With the purpose of increasing the awareness of the problem. It was an interesting experience and we got to learn a lot from some divers about what they do and what they find. There was also some really delicious sea food made from some blue shells and vegetables. That was a lovely meal prepared by some really great chefs at the beach. The most fulfilling part was being able to get rid of some of the micro plastics at the beach which usually cause a lot of damage to the aquatic life and the birds around the beach.

Students from Akosombo participating in the beach-cleaning exercise.

THE OPENING CEREMONY - A COLOURFUL DAY.

Today the formal visit of our Eco-School visit to Trondheim Norway started. It has been a memorabel day with big smiles and cultural exchange. Here you can read more about what met us: