esfalp_v_-_web_small.pdf - European schools for a living planet

Reducing theecological Footprintof students at VISTEAM:SCHOOL:COUNTRY:COACH:TEAM MEMBERS:(ages 13 - 17)Green TeamVienna International SchoolAustriaBritta HörnchenYoonwoo Kim, Aiman Abdul Razak, Alexandra Christandl, Arushi Prasad, BingqingLiu, Britta Hoernchen, Christian Hesling, Gaia Caramazza, Gerum Gashaw Gebeyehu,Guglielmo Marta, Hannah Prattis, Kristina Dimitrova, Ilke Ilayda Cicek, IndraDorisvon FreytagDrabbe, Katherine Crosby, Lama Al Eryani, Lili Kovacs, Muhammad FahmiAbdul Muin, Netta Yehoshafat, Nina Grossfurthner, Paul von HabsburgLothringen,Vedangana Raj, Yuki KamishimaROLES, TYPE OF DECISION-MAKING AND LEADERSHIPMy role was to help create a “Green Team” in our school. I needed to communicate meetingtimes with students and facilitate meetings and book venues for events. In terms ofdecision-making, suggestions were made by the group and then decision taken (with myguidance). Students attended meetings and came up with ideas and implemented theaction plans.PROJECT DESCRIPTIONTOPICThe idea was to increase the environmental awareness of VIS Students. We used the conceptof the ecological footprint as a theme for the project. The members of Green Teamlaunched several events to tackle some urgent environmental problems within our schooland to try to educate students on how to reduce the school ecological footprint.MAIN ACTIVITIESDifferent events were organised around the “ecological footprint” idea.The Green team was created and started raising awareness with the first event “launchday” on the 17th of January. The team members calculated ecological footprints of theindividual students in the morning. During this process, students were able to reflect ontheir habits and think about consequences of their actions. After receiving their ecologicalfootprints, some students were shocked to discover that they were leading such awasteful lifestyle that they decided to change some of their careless habits and reducetheir footprints. The result of the individual’s ecological footprint was displayed on aboard where everybody could see it and realize that our footprints are much larger thanwhat Earth can possibly sustain.A“Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” was our next major event on the 22nd of March which wasthe day before Earth Hour. In the morning, our team took photos with the teachers,students and parents who would participate in Earth Hour. In order to further promoteearth hour, the team worked with the school administrators to turn off all the lights inthe hall for 20 minutes during the break. During the black out, an announcement wasmade by our team members, informing the students about the significance of EarthHour. For the event to work smoothly, the team members had done extensive research4 Schools Taking Action For Europe’s Environment