In August 2024, 10 members from OWLHK team embarked on a journey to Penang, Malaysia. Through the 9-days-8-nights interflow trip, the team visited the botanical garden, the national park and the butterfly park, exploring Penang’s diverse ecology thoroughly. The team also seized the opportunity to engage with various environmental education organizations, including a government-funded independent institution, an organization managed by a group of educators, and the environmental conservation group that manages a nature park. The team gained insights into Penang’s environmental conservation policies and development. Besides, the team interacted with principals, teachers and students from three "Eco-schools”. We experienced the schools’ sustainable facilities and appreciated the eco-friendly products designed by students. We sought to take a page out of Penang’s book for the Hong Kong education system.
We would like to express our gratitude to all the environmental education organizations we spent the time with, which have broadened our understanding of environmental education. Special thanks to the Green Educators’ Workshop (GREW) for inviting us to participate in the press conference for the “Penang World Cleanup Day”, enabling us to experience the exciting environmental education event. We were also given the opportunity to visit their “Sustainable Community Centre”, and understand more about a range of diversified environmental education activities. On the other hand, with the liaison from GREW, we interacted with students and teachers at SMK Kampung Kastam, SJKC Union Pulau Pinang and SMK Convent Butterworth. Such experience has inspired us to promote green living practices among students through methods like “Upcycling” and “Student Empowerment”. We would also like to extend our thanks to The Habitat Foundation for leading us in exploring the mangrove mudflats and turtle hatching sites at Penang National Park, as well as for the field visit to the nature park “The Habitat Penang Hill”. We were delighted to exchange ideas on environmental education with their team members. Last but not least, we appreciate the arrangements made by the Penang Green Council, which enhanced our understanding of Penang’s waste management policies. It motivated us to educate students and the public about the vital importance of sustainable development through our environmental education activities.
