Green School Project
CAFEN was founded in 2019 by a group of forest engineers and works on environmental education and sustainable forest management mechanisms.
Overview of the project
The École Verte project is a forward-looking, proactive response to the climate emergency. It aims to involve pupils in the creation and maintenance of green spaces in their school environments, to use these spaces as an edutainment tool to stimulate the early development of eco-citizenship and cognitive skills in pupils, and to strengthen the capacity of the educational community to play an effective part in preserving the environment. The project has a number of activities, including missions to awaken children to nature, ecological weekends, the Semaine de l’enfant Écologique du Cameroun (SEMEC), public awareness campaigns, and the Foire Écologique Scolaire, which takes the form of an inter-school competition, with the main prize being the Golden School Tree (AOS). The project uses innovative tools such as the Children’s Ecological Diary (Les FiangaNo) and ecological films shot with children. It is national in scope.
Making basic education a more effective and visible tool in the fight against climate change
Ongoing research
20/01/2022 - "project still in progress "
During the finals of the National Federation of School Sports (FENASSCO 2023) League B games, held in Douala, we raised awareness among 1,500 young athletes over 5 days of activities, the media and other spectators through the broadcasting of films and mini debates, eco quizzes, distribution of the ecological newspaper and leaflets. This figure is in addition to the pupils from the other pilot schools where the initiative began. In addition, since this public awareness campaign, many schools have voluntarily asked to join the process, with the ultimate aim of forming the Green Schools Network of Cameroon (REVECAM).
In terms of qualitative results, the heads of the pilot schools give us regular reports on the children’s behaviour after the project team has visited. For the most part, the children’s behaviour has become more sensitive to the environment, with a knock-on effect (boomerang effect) on their parents, who are also gradually adopting ecological practices. This is what has been achieved at the Mfida school in central Cameroon, for example. The pilot schools are also gradually changing their appearance, becoming greener, calmer, more welcoming and, above all, a pleasant place to study.
For the moment, the project is financed by the association's own funds, donations from honorary members and financial support from the AlpiCAM/GrumCAM group.
organisation
CAFEN was created in 2019 by a group of forest engineers and works on environmental education and sustainable forest management mechanisms. The activities carried out include promoting the creation and maintenance of green spaces in schools, and building the capacity of populations, particularly the most vulnerable. Research-action activities are also carried out to turn the results of even the smallest research project into a tool for sustainable development.
in collaboration