Through its partnership with Nature Trust - FEE Malta (NT), the (CEER) has, for these last 20 years, provided young people with opportunities to actively engage in actions promoting sustainability through the international Eco-Schools programme (locally known as EkoSkola).
Since its humble beginnings in 2002, EkoSkola has grown into the largest national network of schools actively engaged in education for sustainable development (ESD) catering for 84% of the total student population from kindergarten to post-secondary education in State, Church and Independent schools in Malta and Gozo.
This CEER-NT partnership was primarily concerned with empowering students to identify and act on sustainability issues in their respective schools, households, and communities. A crucial aspect of this approach was creating opportunities to bring the voice of children to policy makers, both local and overseas.
So, over the years, different fora to achieve this were developed, such as: 15 editions of the Children's Parliament, 11 editions of the Young People's Summit, several consultation meetings with various Maltese presidents and ministers; and countless meetings with mayors and councillors of different localities.
The most recent event is a continuation of a tradition that started off during the 2007 General Elections campaign, that is the presentation of a memorandum (drawn from a nationwide consultation with EkoSkola students) to representatives of the main political parties on Monday 14 March 2022. The memorandum primarily requested a clear commitment from politicians towards the setting up of formal structures that acknowledge student input in decision making fora that have an impact on the quality of their future.
While celebrating CEER-NT partnership’s twentieth anniversary, it is quite encouraging to note that its pioneering work in the promotion of students’ voices for sustainability has, over the years, produced an ever-increasing cohort of ex EkoSkola students who are now quite vociferous and active citizens in political parties and youth action groups.
