Youth engagement and environmental education

Students recycling their pet bottles, 264 students, 39 teachers and 75 villagers were trained in waste and school garden management.
Students recycling their pet bottles, 264 students, 39 teachers and 75 villagers were trained in waste and school garden management. / Photo: STUDIO MOMENTO

Youth engagement and environmental education

  • Our Objective

    Equipping young people around the Nam Tien protected area in Xayabury, Laos, to become active stewards of their local environment—through teacher training, community science, and school-based programs on biodiversity, climate adaptation, and sustainable land and resource use.

  • Figures

    The project was launched on January 1, 2024 and is currently in progress.

Summary

The long-term sustainability of the Nam Tien Provincial Protection Forest depends in part on the environmental knowledge and practices of the communities surrounding it. With around 60% of Laos's population under the age of 25, young people have a particular role to play. Hub Southeast Asia works with the local education office, the Northern Agriculture and Forestry College (Luang Prabang), environmental education specialists from the Field Alliance (Thailand), and the Elephant Conservation Center (ECC) to build the foundations for lasting environmental stewardship in schools around Nam Tien.

The project builds the capacity of local teachers, equipping them with knowledge and practical tools to implement environmental education across their schools. Training covers biodiversity conservation, school garden management, and climate-smart adaptation and risk reduction. Alongside curriculum work, the project has improved school infrastructure: water purifiers now provide safe drinking water to 1,316 students and 83 teachers, and waste management facilities have been installed to reduce air pollution from waste burning and create more enabling learning environments.

Field-based activities—including school visits to the nearby ECC to observe Lao elephants and learn about their forest habitat—connect classroom learning to the living landscape. The aim is to build the knowledge, confidence, and habits that allow young people to take an active role in the sustainable management of natural resources in their communities over the long term.

Impact at a glance

  • 1,316 students and 83 teachers have access to safe drinking water.

  • 264 students, 39 teachers, and 75 villagers trained in waste and school garden management.

  • 30 community leaders, teachers, and parents trained in biodiversity conservation.

Project Connections

Timeline

  • Kicking off Education of the Future in Nam Tien, Laos

    Project Update February 28, 2024

    The remote Sayaboury province in Laos has witnessed its forest cover decrease from 71% in 2017 to 58% in 2019. The Nam Tien landscape in the province has also seen large-scale cultivation of monoculture crops for export that is leading to soil degradation and unsustainable land use. Knowledge and tools to find alternative livelihoods and a more sustainable approach to farming are now more important than ever. There is no better time to cultivate environmental education for the future generations, and this is where we come in. Conserving nature while sustaining livelihoods is no simple task but the starting point is to work together, and work for the future. The Wyss Academy Hub Southeast Asia is kicking off environmental education activities in five schools where challenges lie ahead for communities and younger generations. In the remote area in Sayaboury province, Laos, we are working with environmental educators, school directors and teachers to listen to their needs and create linkages between local partners. By connecting the Northern Agriculture and Forestry College (NAFC) in Luang Prabang, Laos with local schools in Nam Tien, we have trained elementary and secondary school teachers and students on waste management, compost-making and growing their own vegetable gardens. In the past, the schools lacked a facility for proper waste management and tended to burn to get rid of the waste, polluting the air with unhealthy toxins that the students would breathe in. Now, with environmental education, teachers and students sort recyclables for sale and sprinkle their vegetable gardens with compost from organic waste.Based on the needs of teachers and schoolchildren, the Wyss Academy Hub Southeast Asia has renovated the five schools to create safe and conducive learning spaces for more environmental education in the future. For example, we have installed water purifiers in the schools to provide safe drinking water and reduce the use of plastic water bottles. This cuts the costs of ordering drinking water that comes in plastic bottles for schools and parents, and kids do not have to carry heavy water bottles from their home to the schools. This is just the beginning. During our last meeting in July with teachers and school directors, together, we came up with a plan for further environmental education in schools. Our environmental educators are going to work with schoolteachers on biodiversity and climate change resilience education. We are excited to work with the future generations, to make schools a hub for environmental engagement and an entry point to the local community.A solution to Nam Tien’s future lies with the children, and it is the way forward.

    Kürzlich installierte Abfallbewirtschaftungsanlage an der Primarschule Non Sawan in Nam Tien, Provinz Sayaboury, Laos | Foto: Chertalay Suwanpanich

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