International youth photo festival "Environment in Transition"

The Youth Art school Marzahn-Hellersdorf and the environmental education center Kienbergpark organize the international youth photo festival "Environment in Transition”.

Students (from several schools and universities) and professional photographers show their view of the world through nature, environmental and social photography.

In exciting online-workshops, school classes get to know the perspectives and working methods of young photographers. After discussing the image content and the presented environmental issues, the participants can get creative themselves in a variety of ways, using cameras and smartphones.

In a “future lab”, students can become an active part for possible further projects and discuss and plan event formats and think about what the next youth photo festival can look like.

We offer advanced training for multipliers. Here we fathom the possibilities of the medium of photography in terms of media literacy and digitization.

Due to the current events, all actions will take place online.

See the featured YRE photo winners here.

Cooperation partners:

Deutscher Jugendfotopreis

Gesellschaft für Humanistische Fotografie

Native Foundation

Neue Schule für Fotografie

ORA-Netzwerk

Reporter ohne Grenzen

Young Reporters for the Environment

Climate Change and Southern Voices – a learning module for tackling the global connections of climate change

Climate change, species extinction and global inequality - clarifying complex phenomena and their interconnections can be challenging. The Foundation for Environmental Education Finland (FEE Suomi) and the Siemenpuu Foundation offer a multidisciplinary learning module for holistic climate education.

The learning module is targeted to upper comprehensive schools and upper secondary institutions. During the module, students get familiarised with the causes, effects and solutions of climate change. They are guided to reflect on climate justice and the interconnections of phenomena related to climate change and sustainable development. To bring the reflections into action, the students realize a YRE project. However, differing from the baseline YRE approach, the starting point for the project is a perspective of the Global South.

Teachers and educators can adopt the module with the help of a lesson plan and a variety of teaching materials. Short exercises and background materials are also available on the Climate Change and Southern Voices web page. The project was funded through the Frame, Voice, Report! project of the European Union.

#YREstayshome Challenge - Stay Home and stay active

Stay Home, but stay Active!

This is the challenge that YRE International is launching to prove that you, as a student, can still be an ambassador of the environment and influence your community while being at home. Indeed, YRE students from all around the world show solidarity by staying inside to avoid the spread of COVID-19, but FEE and the YRE programme also want to transform this unusual time into an opportunity for you to keep investigating environmental topics and to have a little fun! 

Every week, we will be sharing ideas on how you can still be involved in the YRE programme and gain new skills, raise awareness and investigate environmental issues from home. You will be able to participate in a variety of activities - from webinars to short videos challenges - together with students from all around the world. We hope you'll share your positive stories! 

Participate in the challenges and win prizes!

Weekly challenges will be published on different social media platforms of YRE International, e.g. Facebook and Instagram. Choose a challenge you want to participate in and respond to it by making one or more posts on social media. You can write and publish in English or in your national language, but don’t forget to make your posts public and to tag YRE International and your national YRE organisation, so we can share your stories! 

For longer articles, photo stories and videos, YRE students can publish these globally on YRE Hub in English. Please contact your National Operator to access the platform.

Challenges are open to any young person willing to participate! 

Special Competition for #YREstayshome

Your work in the YRE challenges has the chance of being rewarded with special prizes! Remember that your contribution can be anything from a short funny video about your life at home to a well-researched scientific article. Stories from the five following categories can be nominated to participate in this special competition:

1. Written story 

2. Single photo (with or without a caption)

3. Short video (max. 1 minute)

4. Most active participant (the participant should make min. 3 different posts/stories)

5. Special category (open for any other type of action, e.g. podcast, vlog, etc.) 

Nominating YRE participants and stories
YRE National Operators from each country are allowed to nominate one participant/story for each of the five categories that they believe is the very best contribution to the #YREstayshome campaign. There are very few criteria to be followed. The nominated stories must simply:

• be in English (or translated into English)

• have been published either on YRE Hub and/or on social media using the hashtag #YREstayshome 

• highlight a topic within sustainable development

• fit into one of the five categories above

• be sent to YRE International before Friday 26 June 2020

As always, we encourage the stories to be constructive, creative and hopeful!

Finding the winners:
All the nominees will be presented to the YRE National Operators who will give points to the ones they believe are the best. To ensure fairness, they are not allowed to vote for stories from their own countries.

The winners of each of the five categories of the #YREstayshome challenge will receive diplomas from YRE International and small financial prizes.

Online Meetings and Webinars

This is also a time to get together online and remain connected despite the physical distance. From Monday 30 April, online meetings will be held for teachers, students, coordinators, and anyone in the network of YRE, Eco-Schools and LEAF. This is an opportunity to exchange experiences, share thoughts, and to develop connections between countries.

If you are interested in participating in these meetings, please contact your National Operator.

And proving once again that “Once YRE, forever YRE”, alumni from the programme have already offered to run webinars and presentations to keep students engaged and help them develop specific skills to become better reporters and youth leaders.

Click here for more detailed information about upcoming webinars.

Stay tuned and stay inside!

YRE student Maria Carreira participates in Youth Changemakers for our Planet Convention

On the 16th of April 2020, 500 young people will gather in London to attend the Youth Changemakers for our Planet Convention. This special event is hosted by WWF and supported by the Royal Geographical Society, and the motto of the event is “young people can turn this world around.” As the changemakers of the future, youth will be at the center of all panel discussions, training workshops and round tables to express their ideas and solutions for a sustainable future. The highlight of the event will be the world premiere of Sir David Attenborough’s new documentary David Attenborough: “A Life on our Planet” at the Royal Albert Hall. The 500 youth changemakers will have prime seats to witness the documentary’s call to action on the urgent climate crisis and its effects on the future of our planet.

Maria Carreira from Portugal, one of our Young Reporters for the Environment, will be reporting from the event as she interviews presenters, experts and other young leaders. Maria already has a proven track record as a Young Reporter; she reported from COP 24 in 2018 and wrote an award-winning article for the 2019 YRE Competition. As a biochemistry student at University College London, Maria is particularly passionate about science and biodiversity. She will use her academic skills and journalism background to share her feedback on Sir David Attenborough’s new documentary and spread a message of hope for the future of biodiversity and our planet.

New brochure about the impact of the Litter Less Campaign

Phase three of the Litter Less Campaign was implemented in 15 countries from 2017-2019. In this period, an impact measurement was conducted to better understand the effects of the campaign on the knowledge, behaviour and opinion leadership of the participating students. The overall results are presented in this new brochure.

“Phase three of the Litter Less Campaign has been another step in the evolving effort that Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) is taking to educate and change the behaviour of students, teachers and families in regard to litter and waste.

Pollution, waste and litter are global problems that affect our health, our perception of the planet and the integrity of the natural world of which we are a part. With the generous support of the Mars Wrigley Foundation, FEE is able to use its global network of schools to bring large-scale positive change to students around the world through transformative educational methods based on concrete actions and solutions.”

Daniel Schaffer Chief Executive Officer

The brochure can be downloaded here.

YRE guide on how to spot Fake News

Fake news is one of the biggest challenges in today’s online media landscape and fake stories can be difficult to spot. We have therefore created a step-by-step guide which take you through some of the elements of a story that you need to consider to ensure that what you are reading (or sharing!) is in fact true and legitimate.

Download the guide here.

New Litter Less Campaign video released

Our Litter Less Campaign spot has just been released! See the short video below.

The Litter Less Campaign is a joint initiative of the Mars Wrigley Foundation and Foundation for Environmental Education. Since its launch in 2011, the Litter Less Campaign has educated over three million students around the world about the challenges of litter and waste in their communities and empowered them to become leaders driving sustainability and positive behavioural change.

To learn more about the campaign, visit the websites of Eco-Schools and Young Reporters for the Environment.

2020 Travel Retail Awards will raise funds for Litter Less Campaign projects in India

UPDATE: TRBusiness.com - TFWA has taken the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 TFWA Asia Pacific Conference & Exhibition. Consequently the TRBusiness Travel Retail Awards ceremony will not take place in Singapore on Tuesday 12 May as initially planned, but will be relocated to a venue in London in June. 

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The Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) has been nominated by our valued partner the Mars Wrigley Foundation to be the beneficiary of funds raised during the 2020 Travel Retail Awards. The third edition of the annual awards ceremony, which is organised by TRBusiness, will be held on the 12th of May at The Conrad Hotel in Singapore.

The funds raised at the Travel Retails Awards will be directed towards the Litter Less Campaign, a joint initiative of FEE and the Mars Wrigley Foundation. The Litter Less Campaign educates children and youth on the issues of litter and pollution and gives them the opportunity to engage their local communities in awareness-raising activities. Since its launch in 2011, the Litter Less Campaign has educated over three million students around the world about the challenges of litter and waste in their communities and empowered them to become leaders driving sustainability and positive behaviour change. Phase IV of the Litter Less Campaign was launched in 2019 and will be implemented in 15 countries through two of FEE’s global education programmes, Eco-Schools and Young Reporters for the Environment.

The Travel Retail Awards raise funds through a charity prize raffle of high-value products donated by the event’s sponsors and participants, along with cash donations made throughout the evening. Proceeds raised for the Litter Less Campaign at the May 2020 event will be specifically directed to projects at twelve schools in the region of New Delhi, India. The Litter Less Campaign will engage roughly 6,000 students and reach hundreds of communities in the region, where littering and waste management issues pose a serious challenge.  

“As a business that is all about better moments that make the world smile, Mars Wrigley ITR is proud to partner with TRBusiness to raise awareness and funds for the Litter Less Campaign. FEE’s Litter Less projects drive behaviour change around litter and waste prevention. They will create better communities in India with the support from the travel retail community, and we are very excited about the opportunity to drive impact in this way.”

–Gary Clarke, General Manager, Mars Wrigely ITR

“FEE is privileged for the funding and for the partnership it has been granted by the Mars Wrigley Foundation since 2011. Litter is a form of pollution that poses an increasing global problem but that can be solved by change in individual behaviour. The Litter Less Campaign is an essential part of our ongoing efforts to educate and change the behaviour of children, youth and adults around the world to reduce the negative impacts of litter. Any additional support that can help us in our pursuit to make schools hubs of positive change will be greatly valued and put to good use. We are grateful to be the designated charity of the Travel Retail Awards and thank the travel retail industry for its generous support and cooperation.”

-Daniel Schaffer, CEO, Foundation for Environmental Education

Funds from the 2020 Travel Retail Awards will benefit Litter Less Campaign projects in India

About the Travel Retail Awards

TRBusiness, retail’s leading provider of duty free and travel retail news, launched the first and only consumer-voted awards dedicated to the travel retail industry in 2018. The game-changing initiative and awards event recognises true ingenuity in travel retailing. It awards airports and products following a judging process, which involves expert research and priceless consumer blogger and video blogger feedback to crown the industry’s trailblazers.

About Foundation for Environmental Education

Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) is the world's largest environmental education organisation with members in 77 countries. Through five ground-breaking programmes, FEE empowers people to take meaningful and purposeful action to help create a more sustainable world.

About the Mars Wrigley Foundation

The Mars Wrigley Foundation partners with organizations around the world to help people and communities flourish. Founded in 1987, the Foundation works to provide oral health education and care, improve lives in mint- and cocoa-growing regions, prevent litter and waste, and create vibrant communities.

YRE student Kristin Rodrigo joins international panel at Night of Ideas in Paris

On Thursday, 30th January more than 200,000 participants from 80 sites around the world will take part in the fifth edition of the French Institute’s Night of Ideas. The theme of the night’s debate, “Being Alive”, will explore ecological balance and humanity’s relationship with the world. Canadian YRE student Kristin Rodrigo will join the debate from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris as one of three young activists there to discuss biodiversity and climate change. The event will be hosted by the French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves le Drian and Minister of Ecological Transition Elisabeth Borne, and journalist Hervé Gardette will facilitate the discussion.

As a zoology student, Kristin brings to the table her passionate and informed views on wildlife conservation and biodiversity. Her work and studies focus on what human beings can do to protect the living world during this critical time for the environment. Kristin also notably represented YRE at COP24 in Katowice, where she addressed the link between biodiversity protection and indigenous peoples. Kristin and the other young activists will use the occasion to present solutions and advocate on behalf of younger generations for climate action and biodiversity protection.

Follow along with Kristin at the Night of Ideas on YRE social media:

Instagram: @yre_int
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yre.global/

More information about the event can be found on the French Institute’s website: https://www.lanuitdesidees.com/fr/program/soiree-de-lancement-de-la-nuit-des-idees-2020-1/

PRESS RELEASE - Winners of YRE's 25th Anniversary Video Competition

This year Young Reporters for the Environment (YRE) celebrates its 25th anniversary as an international programme run by Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE). To mark this anniversary, a special 1-minute video competition was launched. YRE Students and Alumni from around the world submitted videos that reflect the essence of the programme. A total of 25 videos from 10 different countries were selected and shared on social media throughout 2019.

After a year of counting likes from social media and after collecting votes from YRE national Operators, we are now proud to announce the final three winners. These videos are fantastic examples of what YRE is all about!

“We were extremely excited to watch all the videos presented which celebrate our anniversary. Seeing how the programme has helped the YRE students make a positive change through their actions is truly inspiring.”

— Malgorzata (Gosia) Luszczek, International YRE Director

Many congratulations to the winners and huge thanks to everyone who participated and helped celebrate our 25th anniversary!

1st place winner: YRE Malta (Malta)

1st winner video for the YRE 25th anniversary

2nd place winner: What is YRE to me? (Canada)

2nd winner video for 25th year anniversary

3rd place winner: Slovakia Mladi Reporteri (Slovakia)

3d winner video for 25th year anniversary

Two videos from Portugal also received a lot of points and can proudly consider themselves as runners-up. You can enjoy these below and if you want to see all the videos, simply go to our YouTube playlist.

YRE: opening new opportunities for my life (Portugal):

among the best videos for the YRE 25th anniversary

My experience as YRE (Portugal):

among the best videos for the YRE 25th anniversary

“For the past 25 years YRE has been growing in a number of countries. Over these years, we recognize the new challenges the youth are facing with the climate change emergency. At the same time, young people have more power to act as Education for Sustainable Development Leaders and this what YRE offers to them. ”

— Malgorzata (Gosia) Luszczek, International YRE Director

Finding the three winning videos

The 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners have been found in the following way:

25 videos submitted from YRE countries around the world were chosen and shared on the facebook page of YRE International throughout 2019. The video that received the most likes on Facebook received 12 points, the second-most liked received 11 points and so on. Only likes on the original post uploaded by YRE International counted.

Once all the videos were published, the YRE National Operators were given the opportunity to vote, giving 1-12 points to any of the 25 videos - except videos from their own country.

In the end, the three videos with most points received 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place awards.

About YRE – ‘Giving our environment a voice’

The Young Reporters for the Environment programme aims to empower young people aged 11-25 to take a stand on environmental issues they feel strongly about and to give them a platform to articulate these issues through the media of writing, photography or video. The programme is based on a four-step methodology which seeks to develop students’ critical thinking and expression, creativity and leadership skills. Every year the top YRE investigations have the chance to participate in the annual YRE competition and to be assessed by professional juries on national and international levels. The programme also gives Young Reporters the opportunity to participate in international environmental conferences to further develop their skills and network.

Website: www.yre.global

About the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE)

With members in 76 countries we are the world’s largest environmental education organisation. Through our five ground-breaking programmes, we help communities realise the benefits of sustainable living. Recognised by UNESCO as a world leader within the fields of Environmental Education (EE) and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). 

Website: www.fee.global

YRE joined the Northern Dimension Future Forum 2019

YRE was part of the Northern Dimension Future Forum which took place in Espoo, Finland on 28 November 2019 with interesting discussions on fresh and sustainable experiments of the Global North.

Daniel Schaffer, CEO of FEE was among the speakers along with the Environmental Journalist and Director of the Office of Environmental Information, Angelina Davydova and Christian Kaufmann, Co-founder of WeAct & Finance Manager at Swisscontact.

A Finnish YRE, Hector Ekholm, reported from the Forum. Read his enlightening article and watch his interviews here: https://yreint.exposure.co/categories/northern-dimension-forum-2019

YRE joined the Youth Mundus Festival 2019

YRE participated at Youth Mundus Festival which took place in Rome this November. With the aim to empower youth, Youth Mundus is a new Global Content & Music Festival Initiative which included workshops, video screenings, panelists discussions and much more!

Kristina Madsen and Nicole Andreou, two FEE members and coordinators were there, running a workshop on Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Education, taking also part in a Clean-Up Action as part of the Litter Less Campaign.

Martina Misfud and Isaac Sam Camilleri, two experienced YRE from Malta, reported from the festival and wrote some very interesting articles that you can read here: https://yreint.exposure.co/categories/youthmundus-festival

YRE is now open to International Schools

YRE gives young people aged 11-25 a platform to research environmental issues and promote solutions through investigative reporting, photography, and video journalism. Read more about the programme and get registered!

It is now possible for International Schools in countries without a National Operator to join the YRE programme and be managed through YRE International.

International Schools can also join the YRE competition with submission deadline on 06 April 2020. One 1st place winner in each category will be chosen and submitted to the International Competition where they will be assessed by the International Jury alongside entries from all countries. Winners to be announced on June 5, the World Environment Day.

Here you can read more about YRE International Schools.

For any questions regarding the International Schools, do not hesitate to contact Gosia Luszczek.

Join us!

YRE at the Northern Dimension Future Forum

YRE will be involved at the Northern Dimension Future Forum 2019 with discussions on Fresh and Sustainable Experiments of the Global North. The Forum will take place on Thursday 28 November 2019 at Dipoli Congress Center at Espoo, Finland from 10am-6pm.

Daniel Schaffer will be among the speakers, participating in the Plenary Panel Discussion : Pathways towards more sustainable future taking place at 13:15-14:30. An exhibition will also be held during the same time, presenting different fresh solutions to societal changes.

Two YRE students from Finland will be reporting from the Forum and they are presented below.

“I'm currently studying at Helsingin luonnontiedelukio (Helsinki's School of Natural Sciences). I applied to be a YRE at the Forum because it sounded interesting and was something completely new for me.” - Ebrahim Afshar

“I'm studying at Helsinki's School of Natural Sciences. I am interested in politics and economics studies. I applied to be a YRE at the Forum because it focuses on my interest and I love writing.” -Hector Ekholm

Meet the YRE going to COP25 in Madrid

COP stands for `Conference of the Parties’. It’s an international meeting where civil society, governments, international organizations, businesses, bankers and many others working on climate policy and science get together to talk and negotiate climate change solutions.

COP25 will take place at IFEMA – Feria de Madrid in Madrid, Spain from 2 to 13 December 2019 and it will focus on countries’ readiness and implementation of the Paris Agreement.

Below you can read some information about some ambitious YRE who will be participating at COP25.

Joana Pedro

My adventure as a YRE began in 2011 and even though I had never dreamt to be a journalist, my love for the environment and nature made me interested in discovering the project. Since then I have participated in several missions, seminars, contests, workshops, and conferences, both in Portugal and internationally, and I am eager to continue to be a part of it since it has just got me fond memories, loads of good friends, knowledge, and skills.

Laura Morgado

I am Laura Morgado, 16 years old and I live in Madrid. I study 1st of Bach and I am very concerned about climate change. In specific, I am very interested in the field of how climate change can affect health and some other consequences it has on the Earth.

I think the project YRE is a very interesting activity which we can use to raise awareness among young people, as well as adults, about climate change and its importance. I am very excited and grateful for having this amazing opportunity of being a journalist for a couple of days.

Ishbel Cora Rodríguez

¡Hola! My name is Ishbel Cora Rodríguez, and I am 23 years old. Recently, I completed a bachelor's degree in Journalism and Comparative Literature at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. And now, I work as a Puerto Rican journalist in Global Press Journal, a news organization that trains and employs women to produce high-quality local news coverage that elevates awareness and ignites social change. I feel committed to writing about the issues that concern me. For example, I am interested in topics related to accessing education, human rights, public health, gender equality, and the environment. In my free time, I enjoy going to the beach, seeing theatre, and spending time with my loved ones.

Alvaro Jimenez

Hello my name is Alvaro and I am from Spain, I live in a town 30 minutes away from Madrid. I am currently studying 1st of baccalaureate at Zola, a school in the north of Las Rozas. I enjoy playing sports like football or tennis. I am also very interested in health issues that could affect anyone just because of living where there is bad air quality. That is why at COP I would like to investigate more about this topic and get more information on how this may influence people's performance at sports.

Lauren Ricard

As an international news reporter and, even more importantly, a nature-lover, I have developed growing concerns about environmental and sustainable development issues over the past few years. While covering stories across Cambodia, China, India, Madagascar, the USA and Europe, I was struck by how unequally it affected people – some of the more destitute, who are only responsible for little gas emission and pollution, ending up being the most affected, their habitat being destroyed or slowly disappearing. Almost three years ago, as I was completing my masters of journalism in France, I won the Young Reporters for the Environment French competition with a video report on sustainable scuba diving in Marseille – and how we can all follow this local example to help clean our oceans and protect our resources through simple, daily gestures. I then had the amazing opportunity to keep working with this YRE network on several projects, including a wonderful workshop in Lisbon and a UNESCO conference in Paris. These eye-opening experiences made me feel even more concerned by these issues and strengthened my will to keep working in that field to better inform people about what is going on, the risks we are all facing and provide them with handy solutions to help save our beautiful planet. Being a sea lover and a diver, I plan to specifically investigate stories related to water resources, oceans protection and the issues regarding its biodiversity.

New Eco-Schools Children for Children Campaign to Support The Bahamas

It is estimated that 70,000 people, including more than 18,000 children and teachers, have been severely affected by the recent Hurricane Dorian in The Bahamas. Twelve Eco-Schools on two islands, Grand Bahama and Abaco, suffered extensive damage or were destroyed.

To support children from our twelve affected Eco-Schools and to raise educational awareness on the increasing vulnerabilities to natural disasters from climate change, the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) has teamed up with our member in The Bahamas, Bahamas Reef Environmental Education Foundation (BREEF), to launch the Children for Children campaign.

Individual Eco-Schools from our global network of 51,000 schools in 67 countries will be able to participate in this global campaign, which will help educate students on climate change risk reduction and resilience. Each of the actions taken by these schools will also include a fundraising component so they can make donations to help the recovery efforts of affected Eco-Schools in The Bahamas. Donations from outside of the Eco-Schools network are also welcome.

“The overall goal is to raise educational awareness on the impacts of climate change and the increasing vulnerabilities to disasters, and at the same time help the schools in The Bahamas buy new equipment and educational materials that will allow students to return to normality as soon as possible,” says FEE’s CEO, Daniel Schaffer. 

Since 1981 FEE, through its Eco-Schools, Young Reporters for the Environment, and Learning about Forests programmes, has been educating children, youth and adults to increase awareness and action on creating a more sustainable world. Today, with increasing vulnerabilities to natural disasters from climate change, FEE is in a position to mobilise support for rehabilitation and climate resilience, particularly within the educational infrastructure.

“Though born out of adversity, the Children for Children campaign unites the global Eco-Schools network with the children of The Bahamas not only to show that they care, but to lend their financial support to the ongoing recovery of children affected by Hurricane Dorian. As a low-lying archipelago, The Bahamas is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to the adverse effects of climate change. Nevertheless, climate change affects every one of us on earth and it is up to us all to take action,” says Casuarina McKinney-Lambert, Executive Director of BREEF.

Next summer the campaign will follow up with the progress of how the recovery efforts for the children and schools in The Bahamas is progressing and a final publication on the ‘Climate change risk reduction and resilience education’ will be published.

To find out more about how to donate, school fundraising activities, educational resources and how an Eco-School can register for this campaign, please visit: www.ecoschools.global/childrenforchildren

YRE is off to the Youth Mundus festival next week

YRE is proud to be involved in the first Youth Mundus festival which will take place in Rome on 14-17 of November. Youth Mundus is a new Global Content & Music Festival Initiative which will include workshops, panelist discussions, video screenings, concerts and much more - all with the aim of empowering youth!

Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) will be represented by Kristina Madsen (International YRE Coordinator) and Nicole Andreou (International Eco-Schools Coordinator) who will be running a workshop on Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Education as well as doing a Clean-Up Action as part of the Litter Less Campaign.

Two highly experienced YRE students from Malta will also be reporting from the festival. They will be doing interviews and social media updates directly from the venue. Read more about Isaac and Martina below.

Isaac Sam Camilleri:
My name is Isaac. I am a 16-year-old college student studying Maths and Physics. This will be my first time as a YRE International representative, but definitely not the first time working as a YRE. Some of my work includes investigating the EU milk and vegetable scheme which was a scheme that sent mixed messages because it taught children that fruit/vegetables and milk are good for you while providing a plastic container to each child. The other major thing I worked on is seeing what my home town local council (Valletta) did to be more environmentally active and report that to the citizens to let them know how it affected the environment and then leave them to decide if they want to keep the same or change.

Martina Mifsud:
Hi! It's Martina, a 22-year-old YRE. I am a Dental Technologist by profession and an Explainer at an amazing interactive science museum. I believe these two jobs have taught me about the huge impact of consistent little things, and the importance of education and raising awareness. In this light, living sustainably is something I practice on a daily basis and it is an integral part of my daily decision making. I try to spread the word wherever I go, raising awareness and having informed discussions, from which I also learn a lot. I believe that getting everyone on the same page, doing the small actions, is what will ultimately make the difference.

YRE statistics 2019

Meet the YRE going to World Environmental Education Congress 2019

The World Environmental Education Congress (WEEC) is an international conference focusing on education for environment and sustainability. This 10th Congress is the first of its kind to be held in Asia under the theme of Local Knowledge, Communication and Global Connectivity. A highly relevant theme for YRE!

WEEC will take place in Bangkok, Thailand from 3-7 November 2019 and below you can read about the inspiring YRE students who will be reporting from the congress.

Bhargav Patel (India)

I’m a 3rd year undergrad student pursuing a Bachelor of technology in the field of Information and Communication Technology from Ahmedabad University, India. My areas of interest involve Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and AI for sustainability. I am the co-founder and elected secretary of the Environment Club at Ahmedabad University. The objective of the club is to organize activities that spread awareness towards the environment and sustainable development in a fun way. Due to my interest in technology and continuous efforts, I was selected as a Facilitator for Google’s Explore ML program and Microsoft Student Partner. Currently, I am involved in the environmental community to get a better understanding of real-life problems and the technical community to find where and how technology can help to find solutions.

Eunice Tan (Singapore)

I’m Eunice! I’m a filmmaker and I care deeply about the environment. It started in 2017 when I made a video series about local efforts to protect wildlife in Singapore. I’ve always been interested in the environment growing up, but seeing our amazing biodiversity up-close convinced me that I had to do more. Climate change is in the global spotlight and I truly believe that there is no better time primed for change than now. That's why I hope that telling stories through film and photography can make a positive impact.

Qiyun Woo (Singapore)

My name is Qiyun, I'm an Environmental Studies major with an interest in circular economy, creative social impact and systems-level change. I enjoy breaking down complex problems into opportunities, and am highly motivated to drive systemic change and social impact. I make infographics on Instagram (@theweirdandwild) to show people that sustainability and living consciously is vibrant and easy, and show that complex concepts can be digestible. I’m a creative spirit and I’m on a mission to create exciting experiences and forge new ways of looking at sustainability.

I'm very involved in the environmental community in Singapore and am a youth sustainability advocate. I was also the president of the Environmental Studies student club in my university. I strongly believe in community-driven initiatives to push for social change - the more innovative the better :) 

Loraine Lee Yen (Singapore)

Hello! I’m studying Communications and New Media in NUS, and would like to be in the media industry in the future. I believe that the media plays an important role in shaping people’s mindsets, and want to use my skills in writing for good to ensure we protect our planet home. Hence, I hope to delve more into the topic of sustainability, to learn while at the same time, influencing others to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle!

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Young Reporters from Turkey

A YRE team from Izmir Saint-Joseph French School, Turkey will also be at the World Environmental Education Congress. They will report on activities, write articles, and take photos during the conference. In one of the academic sessions, the leader of the team will present a research paper which was produced as part of a YRE project of the school.   

Litter Less Campaign: The longest-running school campaign on litter continues

PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Gosia Luszczek, International YRE Director
Foundation for Environmental Education
E: gosia@fee.global

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Over 3 million students from more than 5000 schools across the world have participated in the Litter Less Campaign the past 8 years. The campaign has helped not only students, but also their teachers, parents, and local communities address the issue of litter and waste.

The Litter Less Campaign, which was launched in 2011, has just entered its fourth phase and will be implemented in 15 countries until 2021. The campaign is a joint initiative between Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) and Mars Wrigley Foundation which educates children and youth on the issue of litter and gives them the opportunity to engage their local communities in awareness raising activities.  

“Providing students an opportunity to learn about the challenges of litter and waste in their community and empowering them to become leaders through the development of meaningful solutions drives sustainable, positive behavior change. The Mars Wrigley Foundation is proud to have supported millions of students around the world through the Litter Less Campaign,” says Anne Vela-Wagner, Executive Director of the Mars Wrigley Foundation.

Through the Eco-Schools and Young Reporters for the Environment programmes, students will carry out litter action plans and media campaigns which aim to tackle specific litter and waste issues. These issues will be carefully selected by the schools together with their National Operators in order to achieve the biggest and most relevant impact in their local communities.

“FEE is privileged for the funding and cooperation it has been granted by the Mars Wrigley Foundation since 2011. The funding of these two extra years are a testament to the impact we have had with the campaign to date. Litter is a form of a pollution that continues to increase as a serious global threat. The situation our oceans are facing due to plastic and micro plastic pollution are a sad example of this. Hence we believe this fourth phase is essential for our on-going efforts in educating and changing the behaviour of children, youth and adults around the world,” says Daniel Schaffer, CEO of Foundation for Environmental Education.

A campaign with a clear impact

Based on research conducted the past two years, the Litter Less Campaign has a clear positive impact on students’ knowledge, attitude and opinion leadership with respect to litter and waste management. The data shows that students who participate in the campaign know more about waste management, conserve more resources and are less likely to litter compared with students who do not participate in the campaign.

“The campaign highlight is always the enthusiasm of the children to make a difference and be given a platform to use their pupil voice concerning issues that affect them. Because of the raised awareness of Litter and its impacts around the world, especially to our oceans and wildlife, pupils have had a real purpose in their actions and messages to their school and community,” says Julie Giles, National Operator, Wales.

About the Foundation for Environmental Education

Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) is the world's largest environmental education organisation with members in 77 countries. Through five ground-breaking programmes, FEE empowers people to take meaningful and purposeful action to help create a more sustainable world.

About the Mars Wrigley Foundation

The Mars Wrigley Foundation partners with organizations around the world to help people and communities flourish. Founded in 1987, the Foundation works to provide oral health education and care, improve lives in mint- and cocoa-growing regions, prevent litter and waste, and create vibrant communities.

Countries implementing the Litter Less Campaign 2019-2021

Australia, Brazil, China, England, France, India, Ireland, Kenya, Malta, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Russia, Scotland, Spain and Wales