Cyprus’ Minister of Education, Sports and Youth Prodromos Prodromou and his Greek counterpart Niki Kerameos discussed on Wednesday the development of coordinated actions for the cultivation of skills from an early age and the promotion of an environmental citizenship concept in schools, on the sidelines of the UNECE Summit in Nicosia.
In her statements after the meeting, Kerameos said that she gladly participated in the inter-ministerial meeting, which “attempts to link even more closely two separate sectors, the environment and education, although they are already inextricably linked, in the sense that education has a crucial role to play from a very early age in the cultivation of concepts related to the protection of the environment, the prevention of environmental degradation, and the development of a better understanding of the environment”.
“These are issues that we have discussed many times together with the Minister in the context of the emphasis that we are placing in the European Union on the cultivation of skills and I think that Greece and Cyprus stand united in this respect in order to pass on the message of the importance of cultivating skills to our children from a very early age,” she noted.
For his part, Prodromou said that they exchanged views on environmental education issues, but also other issues related to the very close cooperation between the two countries, while he underlined that on the occasion of this session and the conclusions that will be reached on Thursday on the Mediterranean countries’ strategy on environmental education for sustainable development, it is time to capitalize on practices that we already have in our schools.
Prodromou also stressed that it is no coincidence that this session is taking place in Cyprus, but it is also related to the very good work that has been done so far in the UN Commission’s Steering Committee, which Cyprus has been chairing since 2017.
He added that we need to look very specifically at the development of skills workshops in schools because environmental education is not just another lesson, but an experiential process, adding that schools in Cyprus, especially primary schools, already have action plans that incorporate all these environmental knowledge and sensitivities, but this must be done through practical and participatory processes.
“We are gathered here to say that we need to act now and we need to act together. Responding to the climate crisis and its challenges is meaningless if the whole world is not together and at least in greater Europe we will be together and we in schools will also promote the concept of environmental citizenship,” he concluded.
Source: Cyprus News Agency