The International Support Network for African Development (ISNAD-Africa) is a UNEP-accredited non-governmental organisation that is committed to raising global and multi-stakeholder support for green growth in Africa. ISNAD-Africa operates a network of more than 1,500 green growth professionals, researchers, youths, students and enthusiasts from over 100 countries across the globe.

In view of providing hands-on environmental education among the youth across African countries, ISNAD-Africa is implementing the Environmental Education Programme. The Environmental Education Programme (EEP) employs a co-creation approach to empower African youth to maximise the high enthusiasm, technology savvy, resilience and exploratory spirit of the youth in conceptualising and implementing innovative local environmental solutions across the continent. The EEP seeks to:

• empower secondary school students in African countries to identify environmental challenges and needs in their communities,
• develop solutions to them through critical thinking and application of previously acquired knowledge from subjects in secondary school, and;
• gain hands-on experience in implementing their ideas supported through mentorship from international experts and peer learning and present their projects to other participating students’ teams in other African countries, experts from across the globe, partnering organisations among other stakeholders.

The 2020 edition of the programme will build on the successful pilot-scale implementation of the programme in Nigeria, South Africa, Cameroon, and Uganda in 2018 and 2019. With funding support from the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE), Washington DC, USA; each selected student team will be awarded up to USD 500 grant to implement their projects while monetary awards will also be given to best performing student teams and their coordinating teacher, among other benefits.

The programme seeks to provide youth with action competences that will enable them to develop capacity and long-term commitment to sustainability for everyday life, career engagement or voluntary service as environmentalists or influencers for the environment at the local and international levels.

Requirements
i.) Each secondary school will be represented by a team comprising a minimum of 5 students and a coordinating teacher. (more students and teachers are allowed depending on the nature of their project)

ii.) Each team is required to identify environmental challenges and needs in their communities covering resilient communities, low-carbon economies, and/or healthy ecosystems in their localities and propose an idea of how they could address the challenge or meet the need.

a.) Resilient communities:  This comprises of project ideas that are focused on building and rethinking current infrastructure and support to build community resilience to environmental, social, and economic changes. Such projects will be aimed at mitigate the effects of climate change. This priority area can include, but is not limited to, projects related to climate action and adaption, sustainable food systems, and access to green spaces

To inspire your thoughts, see examples of projects on resilient communities here. (Please note that the projects exemplified here are not to be duplicated in your submission, they are only to inspire your thoughts. Projects that will be selected for the programme must be innovative and address a challenge or need in your context.

b.) Low-carbon economies: This covers projects that employs new and innovative approaches to reduce carbon output and meet energy needs in view of building a sustainable future. This priority area can include, but is not limited to, projects related to the circular economy, recycling, reducing and reusing, and energy efficiency.

To inspire your thoughts, see examples of projects on low-carbon economies here. (Please note that the projects exemplified here are not to be duplicated in your submission, they are only to inspire your thoughts. Projects that will be selected for the programme must be innovative and address a challenge or need in your context)

c.) Healthy ecosystems: This covers project ideas that are aimed at securing the future through the preservation of natural resources and the diversity of life that it supports (nature conservation and biodiversity). This priority area can include, but is not limited to, projects related to the protection of land, water, and biodiversity.

To inspire your thoughts, see examples of projects on health ecosystems. (Please note that the projects exemplified here are not to be duplicated in your submission, they are only to inspire your thoughts. Projects that will be selected for the programme must be innovative and address a challenge or need in your context).

iii. Letter of support: A letter from the school’s management expressing its support for your team’s participation in the programme. The letter should also indicate that the school has/will provide electricity access and internet access as well as a projector and camera for quality and short video recordings.

Benefits
Each selected team will receive:
i. Support from international experts as Technical Advisors to refine and implement their project through top-notch mentorship
ii. Capacity development through critical thinking, hands-on project implementation, high-touch mentorship, online webinar presentation and training
iii. Up to USD 500 funding for the implementation of your project idea for all selected teams
iv. Certificate of participation from ISNAD-Africa (Nigeria), NAAEE (USA), among other partners
v. Monetary prizes will be awarded to the teams with the top three innovative and impactful project with their coordinating teachers
vi. Leverage on the global visibility and publicity of ISNAD-Africa, NAAEE and GEEP to promote their schools

Application Procedure

Qualified and interested teams are invited to complete the online application.

Please download the budget template for your project. Complete it and submit it as a PDF document during the application process.

Deadline for applications: Friday, December 4, 2020 (11:59HRS GMT)

For inquiries, please contact us via eep@isnad-africa.org

For partnership, kindly contact adedoyin.adeleke@isnad-africa.org (cc: eep@isnad-africa.org)