Quezon City Teachers trained on Climate Change and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
Teacher Participants pose for a group photo during the virtual training on climate change and ESD conducted by WWF-Philippines.
More than 100 Public high school and elementary teachers from all 6 districts of Quezon City were trained by WWF-Philippines last June 8, 2022 on Climate Change and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD).
The one-day training entitled “LEARNING SUSTAINABLY: A Virtual Training for Teachers on Climate Change and ESD”, was held under WWF-Philippines’ “Our City 2030: Youth Visions and Solutions” project and in partnership with the Schools Division Office of Quezon City (SDO-QC), specifically for the School Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Officers (SDRRMO) along with other school representatives.
The session started with welcome remarks from WWF with Atty. Gia Ibay, Head of the Climate and Energy Programme, and SDO-QC with Dr. Maria Teresa Namoro, Chief Education Program Supervisor. A brief introduction to WWF was presented by Ms. Jonna Jacinto, Project Officer of the ESD unit followed by the the discussion of project background and objectives, by Ms. Debby Sy, Project Coordinator of “Our City 2030”. A quick overview on the important role of cities and its citizens to a low carbon future was also given by Ms. Imee Bellen, Project Manager of “Our City 2030”.
Discussions on key topics were led by WWF’s ESD Program Manager, Mr. Dino Calderon who tackled the topics Climate Change and the 1.5C Warming Limit, while ESD Project Officer, Ms. Maye Padilla, Project Officer explained about the role of education in sustainable development and the application of ESD in schools. Ms. MK Amador, Project Manager of PLAN International Philippines was also invited to talk about Disaster Risk Management and Climate Resilience in the context of schools.
Focal Teachers from the 3 pilot schools shared their experiences and learnings to their co-teachers during a Panel Discussion.
Select teachers who have implemented ESD in their schools during the 2019-2021 pilot implementation of the project were also invited as panelists to participate and give testimonies. Mrs. Ma. Theresa Palting of Balingasa High School, Mr. Roland del Rosario of Judge Feliciano Belmonte Sr. High School, and Mrs. Alma Gacuan of Justice Cecilia Munoz Palma shared their experiences and the benefits they have gained in integrating ESD in their own classroom and school activities.
As part of their final outputs during the training, the teacher participants were grouped into various break-out groups where they answered and accomplished worksheets about making their schools sustainable and resilient. They also participated in a Webbing Activity linking 3 or more subjects and school & community activities to one sustainability topic. This exercise was done for the teachers to appreciate a holistic approach towards sustainable development.
“We thank WWF for this virtual training as more schools are now introduced to ESD. Moving forward, if there are other activities like this, we can now also tap the assistance of the 3 pilot schools in conducting specific and district-focused ESD training” said Mr. Dale Latawan, Project Development Officer II of the SDO-QC and the Our City 2030 Focal Person.
This training also served as the first activity of the Our City 2030 project under its Phase 2 implementation. Other activities focusing on food security are lined up until November/December 2022 for select partner communities of Quezon City.
