High schools awarded for actions dedicated to sustainability and the environment

Love for nature and economic skills are learned from the youngest ages. A number of 10 high schools involved in actions for sustainability and the environment were awarded within the project Economy for your community, run by Junior Achievement (JA) Romania and Raiffeisen Bank. According to JA Romania, the initiative aims to increase, among students, the level of awareness regarding environmental issues specific to their community. A number of 169 high schools from 96 localities completed the first stage of the project by using the educational resources available on the JA Learn platform, in classroom activities. Thus, more than 6,280 students completed case studies or teamwork exercises through which they developed a better understanding of the concepts and principles specific to sustainability - the product life cycle, the 9R principle, ecological footprint, green economy . Thus, 28 of these high schools continued with the second stage of the project, by carrying out information actions for community members on the topics of responsible use of environmental resources and planning feasible actions in the near future. Organized as a competition, this stage aimed at high school students' ability to propose solutions for environmental problems and to become agents of change in their communities. The winning project belongs to a team made up of students and a coordinating teacher from the Grigore Moisil Theoretical High School in Timişoara, who proposed the use of upcycling for clothing items and advice on their use as methods to combat the phenomena of fast fashion and clothing bullying.

Another nine projects belonging to some high schools in Bucharest and in the country were awarded for the relevance of the proposed actions in relation to the needs identified at the community level and the positive impact they can create. From creative recycling to the dendrobotanical arrangement of the spaces around the high schools and the protection of habitats and biodiversity in the community, all projects demonstrated commitment to sustainable development and environmental protection. The 10 high schools will benefit from financial support in the total amount of 76,000 lei, which can be used exclusively for carrying out actions that contribute to the responsible management of resources within the school or to improve study conditions.