Environmental education and education for sustainable development in Bulgaria

Fostering and building human capital for sustainable knowledge societies in South

Eastern Europe6 - 7 March 2009

Bucharest Romania

Saving the Environment. NGOs support - National round table, 2002

Strategy paper of the Bulgarian network for environmental education - BEE Net, 2003 – Establishing a dialog with the state institutions for testing the opportunities in the field of EE.

Memorandum of understanding between MES and MOEW, 2004Information and education campaign for training teachers and developing the “Green Pack”, 2004The resource of educational materials gained through the years by different key players (civil organizations etc.) in the EE sphere.

Pprerequisites for establishment of the EEP WG

Engagements of the EEP WG

“Program for supporting the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Bulgaria” – a framework policy document for support and development of ESD in the formal schools of Bulgaria;

Creating opportunities for all stakeholders and decision makers, lecturers and teachers to improve the quality of ESD in Bulgaria;

Information poster about the development of main ideas and the concept of ESD - to be disseminated among all schools in Bulgaria.

The Program for supporting the ESD in Bulgaria envisages the following tasks:

In general, to stimulate and encourage the development of ESD in all forms of formal and informal education in Bulgaria. Particular tasks include:Encouraging the application of the ESD principles in all forms of formal and informal education in Bulgaria, as well as the teacher training.To support the creation and dissemination of contemporary ESD materials.To support the partnerships between representatives of state institutions, local authorities, businesses, schools, communities and NGOs on national, regional and local level for ESD development

1.A system of competencies of young people will be developed: linguistic (language and literature); informational; cognitive; socio-cultural and health-ecological.

2. An integrated approach to ecological, health, social and economical education is encouraged.

3.The Program will provide opportunities for development of programs for Continuing Education for Life.

4.The Program puts a bias on the combined participation of all stakeholders interested in ESD: state institutions, universities, schools, museums, national and nature parks, municipalities, NGOs, business organizations, media etc.

5.The Program will encourage the development of new educational materials, modern teacher training programs, projects for environmental improvement, and networks for exchange of information and experience.

PRIORITIES

MAIN RECOMMENDATIONSDevelopment of ESD programs based on the interdisciplinary approach.

Development of educational materials on ESD based on the use of interactive methods and ICT.

Supporting the schools for development of their own programs and projects in the field of SD, according to the local specifics.

Encouraging children and youth to participate in activities related to development and implementation of SD projects

Setting up networks for ESD information exchange should receive support from all interested stakeholders

Public participation in the decision-making process for development of ESD programs and projects on local scale must be encouraged

Support to educational service centers for children’s spare time must be provided. In addition, ESD programs for use outdoors (e.g. during field trips, Green Schools etc.) must be developed

Main projects in the field of ESD Green pack With Flupi for a better environment Environmental performance in primary

schools – a partnership Bulgaria/Flanders Environmental education at the primary

school in Bulgaria, financed by the MATRA Programme of the Royal Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Supporting the Development of Nature Conservation Education in Bulgaria, financed by Darvin Initiative, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of the United Kingdom

Green pack

Green Pack is a collection of instructional materials for environmental education. The Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe developed the Green Pack with support from the Toyota Environmental Activities Grant Program and the Toyota Social Contributions Fund and assistance from a number of European environmentalists and experts.

Green Pack includes several educational components for pupils from 5-8 classes, including a CD-ROM, handbook with lesson plans for teachers, a video cassette with environmental video clips and longer films, an environmental game and student fact sheets. The Pack is designed for use in Hungarian primary schools. It is offered free of charge.

Flupi

Flupi educational package includes 2 books – “Flupi and water” and “Flupi and air”. There are also posters, domino, video tape with animated version of the books and advices for environmental friendly behavior.  The package is accompanied by teacher’s handbook.

Flupi is an animal which helps the children to discover wonders of the nature. Together with him the children assimilate the most important knowledge about the contamination of the water and air and also some simple rules how to protect the nature.

Environmental management for sustainable living in schools

Environmental Managementfor Sustainable Living

in Schools

Partnership Project Between:

Project “Environmental Performance in primary schools” is being implemented within the framework of the 2007 – 2009 co-operation program between the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria and the Flemish Government. The Manual which is titled “Environmental Management for Sustainable Living in Schools”, produced within the framework of a former co-operation project with the Republic of South-Africa, will serve as the basis for implementation an environmental management system and integration environmental learning in the learning areas.

Environmental management for sustainable living in schools

Bulgaria as a partner of the project adapted the manual and the text to the specific Bulgarian situation in the primary schools. The manual is written in a user-friendly style for educational managers and teaching staff. The ideas presented are not prescriptive and we encourage adaptation to local contexts.

Calendar of the international events in the field of environment

22 March World Water Day

22 April Earth Day

22 May International Day for Biodiversity

1–4 June Green Week

5 June World Environment Day

29 June Danube Day

16 September International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer

16–22 September European Mobility Week

22 September International Car Free Day 31 October Black Sea Day

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!