The School Director, Dr. John Zuman, addressed the VIS community and invited the members to engage in actions that support our journey as an Eco School. Following the Director's introduction, we received a message delivered by George Schenk, an Eco Action Team Secondary School student who represented the voice of the young generations, inviting the community to take action. Through the beautiful voices and meaningful messages delivered by the Primary School Choir, we celebrated and honoured our planet.
According to UNESCO, sustainable development begins with education. This week VIS joined the worldwide community engaging in Earth Action. Our students had the opportunity of participating in presentations, talks and workshops that included Nature-based Solutions (NBS) to the problems we are facing on our planet.
We had the honour to welcome a VIS Alumni, Prof. Bano Mehdi-Schulz from the BOKU University, who gave a presentation of her work and the applied NBS that help farmers to grow crops through sustainable practices.
We also were grateful to host Mr. Robert Connell and Ismael Leitmannstetter, from Climate Partner, who gave a presentation to more than 240 secondary students about the importance of clear measurements of Carbon emissions, and the actions that can be taken to reduce them. Following this presentation, Ms. Farhat Ariana, shared with our students her work with the solidarity group to help educate girls in Afghanistan, in response to inequalities and education, providing our students with a significant opportunity to support.
During the week, we were visited by the Alfrink College Green Team, who travelled from the Netherlands to participate in the VIS Global Earth Action Week. The young guests engaged in talks with the VIS Green Teams and the Eco Action Team to discuss ideas and find connections that may help their school in the journey to become a sustainable school like ours.
Through education, VIS invests in the future of our students to become active and knowledgeable citizens of the world, engaging and gaining the Green Skills needed for the future restoration of societies and our planet.