Environmental Education Interflow and Co-development

In addition to exploring Penang's rich ecology, we also had in-depth interactions with various local environmental education groups in this trip. Green Educators’ Workshop (GREW) was one of the organizations that we had spent much time with. We participated in their press conference for the "Penang World Cleanup Day." During the Waste Audit session, we also learned about waste sorting and calculation. This experience helped us to understand more about the organization of large-scale environmental education events, as well as the educational efforts prior to the event. It has provided us with valuable insights for our future work.

Sharing by Dr. Ken So (Education and Research Manager)

The "Penang World Cleanup Day" is a one-day event held at various locations, for instance, beaches and schools. Participating organizations will be required to count the waste collected after the event ends. I am highly impressed by GREW's organizational capabilities. It facilitated various schools and institutions across the country to collectively participate in a cleanup movement, amplifying the impact of environmental initiatives.

During the Waste Auditing session at the press conference, GREW demonstrated to the participants how to introduce the 5R concept to students. Participants followed the emcee’s instructions. As we illustrated the concepts with our hands, we recalled the concepts in the following order: "Refuse”, "Reduce”, "Reuse”, "Recycle” and "Rot”. I appreciated such teaching method, as it could help students to understand the priorities within the 5Rs. Subsequently, in the practical demonstration session, the GREW instructor invited school representatives to learn waste sorting.

Understanding the organization in ‘Penang World Cleanup Day”

Participating organizations are further categorized into different roles, enabling GREW to mobilize manpower from various schools easily

School teacher representatives learned to sort waste into different categories

Learning the 5R concept through an interesting way

Through this experience, I realized prior promotions and education efforts were indispensable to the smooth execution of an event. I believe that we can take reference to the organizational method of GREW, providing additional training for our team members and staff. It could equip them with related knowledge and teaching skills, elevating the effectiveness of our activities.