Young Reporters for the Environment National Seminar 2011 Supported by : Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs Ministry of Education, Employment & the Family

Think... Investigate... Write... Capture... Publish... Convey.. 2

 FEE is a non-governmental and non-profit organisation promoting sustainable development through environmental education  It is represented locally by Nature Trust (Malta)  FEE programmes: 3

YRE growth in Malta 4

Programme cost  Schools pay a participation fee of €12 annually.  Total programme cost for NTM is €34,000.  As from next year those participating in more than one FEE programme will pay one fee.  Special thanks goes to all the sponsors for making this possible. 5 MRRAMEEF

YRE Participating Countries BrazilCanadaChiliChinaCyprusDenmark FranceGreeceItaly KazakhstanLatviaMalta MoroccoNew Zealand Portugal RomaniaMontenegro Slovakia SpainTurkeyWales 6

Objectives of the YRE Programme  students learn through their investigation  have a vision of the professional world  use the internet and new educational technologies for learning and communication  understand the issues of sustainable development and citizenship  advertise investigations/projects  have fun! 7

The 3 pillars of YRE Understand Act Be positive 1. Local investigation 2 Journalistic production 3. Communication towards local audience 8

Types of Projects The Article must not be longer than 1000 words and should include a title and subtitles. Photos, graphs or drawings may be added to support the article. The Photo should be of good quality. A short text (150 words max.) must explain the link between the photo and sustainable development. The Video Clip should not be longer than 2 minutes, and should feature a local investigation. 9

8 main investigation topics:  Agriculture and Nature  Cities  Coastline  Energy  Climate Change  Waste  Water  Biodiversity 10

Winning photo entries: 11

Winning article entries: 12

Follow up of local investigations:  Features in local newspapers  Interviews on TV programmes  Activities in schools 13

Monday, 7th June 2010 Overdue clean-up San Anton School students, parents and staff last Saturday removed an abandoned car that had been in Selmun for over 20 years. This was a follow-up activity to the Imġiebaħ project undertaken by the Young Reporters For The Environment group and for which the school was awarded first prize, and coincided with World Environment Day. The initiative was supported by Philip Agius and Sons Ltd which provided transportation to remove the vehicle 14 Follow up activity in the newspaper

Project news programme 15

Activities at School 16

Activities at School 17

Ideas for investigation: Global issues in relation to the local situation –Fair trade –New trends in agriculture –Renewable energy –Climate refugees –Water –Sustainable fishing 18

Ideas for investigation: Local environmental issues –Water consumption –Local councils in relation to environmental issues –Eco tourism –Green cars –Coastline development 19

Working on the project: Networking with local and foreign schools for joint projects: –Gives more depth to your investigation –Makes research and investigation easier –Can be integrated with other twinning projects 20

Integrating YRE with school projects 21  The EkoSkola programme  Summer school programmes  Writing programmes

The YRE programme and the local curriculum  The YRE programme provides opportunities for project work in a variety of secondary school curriculum subjects  More specifically, YRE projects can be developed into the course work required by the SEC syllabus for Environmental Studies, European Studies, Geography and Biology  At the post secondary level YRE can be developed into the practical project required for Systems of Knowledge, Geography (A) or Biology (A) 22

Project work – Environmental Studies  Topic 1: The geographical and geological context of a historical or archaeological site in Malta or Gozo.  Topic 2: Man’s impact on one of the valleys of the Maltese islands.  Topic 3: The main characteristics of the Maltese village core.  Topic 4: An example of civil architecture of the British period.  Topic 5: Investigating one primary activity in Malta – Does it still have a future?  Topic 6: How green are the new cars on the market and do young people consider environmental aspects when buying their first car? 23

Geography – Fieldwork Report 1. (a) Rural fieldwork (b) Urban fieldwork (c) Fieldwork in coastal areas 2. Weather observation (iii) The field trip follow-up could include: - discussing/analysing information/data collected in the field; - helping students to write down conclusions reached; - examining sketches, maps, and photos for relevance; - giving hints to students on how to write a report of the required length, namely between 1500 and 2000 words. 24

Biology Visits to places of biological interest: Experimental farm Fish farm Plant nursery Recycling of solid waste and sewage treatment plant Water treatment plant Nature reserves Natural history museum SEC Syllabus (2009): Biology

Services offered to schools National coordinator Web site – local and international Linking with other schools Support during the actual writing of projects Local and international newsletters. (YRE and EkoSkola newsletter) Incentives to the network (Awards, YRE book) 26

YRE article entries Guidelines and tips on how to write a good article 27

YRE photo entries Guidelines and tips on how to take a good photo 28

YRE video entries Guidelines and tips on how to take a good video clip. 29

YRE incentives – International The YRE Book - an annual production of the network Publication of articles in the website Internationally recognized certificates for students Networking with foreign schools 30

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32 Trophies to the international winners Individual prizes to students and teachers Publication of articles in the local press Publication in the local website A day with the press for the local winner Possibility of visits abroad meeting other young reporters YRE incentives – National

A photo submitted by 14-year-old Luke Scicluna from the Archbishop's Seminary, Rabat, has won the Special Award in a contest for Young Reporters for the Environment organised by the Foundation for Environmental Education. The photo, taken in Bahrija, was titled: The Gateway to the Future of the Natural World - Our World. 160 photos were submitted by 22 countries. The first prize was won by China, the second by Slovakia, third by China, while the special prize was awarded to Malta. The Young Reporters for the Environment project aims to help students understand issues related to sustainable development and citizenship, and actively participate in their learning by working on projects with other students and teachers. The final projects, consisting of journalistic productions, are submitted for international acknowledgement. This was the third year that Malta participated in the programme. Nature Trust Malta thanked the Ministry for Education, the Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs, HSBC Bank Malta and Wasteserv for supporting the programme all the way. The Times of Malta, Tuesday, 15th June :03CET Student's photo wins environment award

How to participate in the YRE programme: Register (as a school) in the YRE programme Select a topic to be investigated Choose methodology : article, photograph or video clip Inform the national coordinator Register your project online for networking Once validated by coordinator, articles/ photos are stored in the Library, and become available to the YRE community. These may be updated online. 34

Calendar Starting a project: any time during the scholastic year Ending a project: any time, but before 31st March Submission of YRE articles or photos: any time Submission articles or photos for YRE Awards: Deadline end of March Selection by national coordinators of max. 3 articles and 5 photos: Deadline 30th April Meeting of the International Jury: end of May 35

Some important points: Any entries can be uploaded on the international website. Entries for competition basis need to be sent to the national coordinator via . 36

Exceeding word limit automatically disqualifies. Plagiarism is a serious offence and will automatically disqualify. Last entry date for competition is 31st March Late entries will not be accepted. Students or schools who need assistance are to send entries by mid March. 37

The international web site A powerful press agency - database of projects - co-operation - news - library of articles / photos 38

The National Website 39

YRE... a unique opportunity... to voice your views and get heard. Make use of it! 40 Young reporters at SMC Verdala BSS