For the first time in parallel to the climate negotiations, a summit dedicated to education is being held. Indeed, how to change practices and acts without changing attitudes? How to fight against climate change without working educationally?
A group of persons has been working on this huge task which is that of the reform of the education system in the world and from their work was born a Manifesto for a global citizenship education. As a result of this long-term work, several Ministers of Education were gathered at the initiative of France.
Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, Minister of Education, education and research, organised a Thematic Day on environmental education on the 4th of December. In the presence of Ségolène Royal, Rachid Belmokhtar, Minister of National Education and Vocational Training of Morocco, Mr Moussavou, the Minister of Education and Technical Education of Gabon, and Irina Bokova, Director General of UNESCO.
Young delegates from “Take Care of the Planet”, representing European cultural diversity, have had the honour to close the event; Jules (16 years old) of Armorin High School Crest, Boel (17 years old) and Frederikke (18 years old) of Roskilde high school in Denmark, took up the challenge to write a text together. They were accompanied in this co-writing by teachers, the team at “Monde Pluriel” and also other young people of the "Let's Take Care of the Planet" network who shared their ideas and experiences.
Here they give us a strong testimony of school, as they see it: open-minded, supportive, selfless, and above all, one which would prepare them to face the real problems of our world.
In this speech, they cleverly compare our interdependent world to a football team, where everyone has a role to play in order to “score” through "co-responsibility". They were greeted by loud applause; their words had an enormous effect on the audience who were just as much in search of a meaning as their generation..
Read the original speech (bilingual version)
More information:
- Do you want to see and here the original performance (in French) : Click here
- Do you want to read Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem’s speech? Click here (in French)
- Do you want to read the Manifestofor a global citizenship education.Click here
