No longer just onlookers

Two major forums and a concert to disseminate information about the environment among nation's youth, Zhuan Ti reports.

A series of events to improve children's awareness of environmental protection and advance China's efforts in curbing air pollution will be held in Beijing on April 23, one day after World Earth Day.

The First International Principal Forum on Environmental Education, the First China Youth Environmental Forum and a concert about environmental protection performed by Chinese and German students are all jointly sponsored by the United Nations Environment Program's China office, China's Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Education and China Daily.

The events' focus is to promote environmental education among Chinese youth and encourage their participation in environmental protection activities.

Officials from UNEP and MEP will be invited to the International Principal Forum on Environmental Education, while guests will include representatives of foreign organizations, principals from Canadian and German-invested international schools in Beijing and principals from Chinese middle and primary schools.

They will share their insights on education policies, current global practices in the education of environmental protection and international exchanges in environmental protection.

Speeches and discussions are expected to enable participants, especially the school principals, to gain a better understanding of environmental protection education and enable them to help their students play a more active role in environmental protection activities.

Sun Hairuo, 16 and the vice-president of the executive committee of the China Youth Environmental Forum and a student at the International Curriculum Center of the High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China, said China's youth should stop being onlookers to environmental issues as China continues to suffer from nationwide air pollution.

The student-led forum will focus on sustainable development and consumption, Sun said.

She said environmental education in schools is a longterm project and is crucial to clearing the nation's skies of pollution.

By educating China's youth about the world's environmental problems, students will gain a better understanding of the impact their actions have on Earth.

Environmental experts will also be invited to give lectures at schools, said 17-year-old Yang Hongjia, a member in charge of publicity with the executive committee and a student at Beijing No 5 High School. Actress Song Jia, a UNEP image ambassador for sustainable consumption, will be invited to participate in promotions for the forum, Yang said.

A microblog and a WeChat public account will also be launched to spread information about environmental protection among students, she added.

Five environmental protection courses have been organized at campuses across Beijing, said Li Yuetong, 16, a member in charge of communications with the executive committee and a student at the Beijing Chaoyang Foreign Language School.

Overseas experts will be invited to deliver speeches at the forum and interact with Chinese students, she said.

Chinese students are also encouraged to share their ideas, in English, about how they would further environmental protection.

The concert on environmental protection will be jointly sponsored by the organizing committee of the Black Forest Arts and Cultural Festival and the Central Conservatory of Music Middle School.

The performers will brief audience member on how their music relates to environmental protection.

The concert, aimed at popularizing environmental science and promoting education of the arts, will be acoustic, Yang said.

Contact the writers through zhuanti@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 04/08/2016 page24)