Unida Christian Colleges, Inc. Philippines took part in the largest Climate Action Project in education history

World Economic Forum recognizes Climate Action Leadership of 3.4 million teachers and students from 149 countries

INQUIRER.net BrandRoom / 04:09 PM February 08, 2023

Last January 19, the World Economic Forum designated the Climate Action Project as an Education 4.0 Lighthouse, one of 14 innovative public-private collaborations that are reimagining the childhood learning experience. The Forum, which engages the foremost political, business, and cultural leaders to shape the global agenda, recognized the leadership of the 3.4 million teachers and students who participate in the Climate Action Project at its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland attended by 2,700 world leaders this week.

“Young people worldwide are witnessing climate change and want to take action. They understand the power of collective action and of the integral role that they play in creating change at a global level. Their actions make our Lighthouse shine brightly,” said Dr. Jennifer Williams, Co-Founder, Take Action Global (TAG) the nonprofit organization behind the Climate Action Project, a free program that brings together thousands of PreK-12 classrooms from around the world to examine climate change and environmental literacy. During the six-week program, teachers use curriculum and lesson plans in 16 languages to guide students through weekly activities. In the final week, participants celebrate Climate Action Day, a global online event where students ask questions and share their learning and actions with world leaders, climate scientists and researchers, and international youth activists

On September 26, 2022, Unida Christian Colleges (UCC) of Imus City, Cavite, Philippines, joined the Climate Action Project launching for students around the globe.

One of the main projects sponsored by UCC for the academic year 2022-2023 focused on employing educational technology infrastructure to help achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. The UCC’s robotics team created a prototype using Lego EV3 software and robotics kits to address water waste and support other UN SDGs. The team actively participated in the LEGO “Build the Change Challenge” for sustainable futures.

Unida Christian Colleges, through its esteemed President, Mr. Jayson R. Sardido, worked with public and private schools around the Philippines to raise awareness of the program and its potential global impact through inspiring orientations and knowledge-sharing sessions with the school’s administrators, students, and parents.

The participating students of the Climate project sprang into action to build a systems toolkit for the Philippine climate, incorporating videos discussing Philippine-induced disasters. Aside from that, the UCC Climate Action project students conducted interviews to collect input from community partners and stakeholders to incorporate it into the curriculum for classroom instruction to raise students’ levels of consciousness and help them plan practical courses of action.

Furthermore, UCC also laid a firmer groundwork through collaboration with regional, national, and international groups of educators including the Department of Education. To help low-income households in the community, UCC partnered with the Organic Gardener’s Society of Cavite, which provides livelihood and sustainability programs that train the participants to develop fruits correctly, and other green leafy vegetables.

Unida Christian Colleges is pleased to collaborate with other international schools to disseminate findings and showcase successes throughout the Climate Action Project initiative. To make the project effective and impactful, many countries, including Italy, Spain, Poland, Romania, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, India, Pakistan, and Singapore joined by communicating the results of their participation in the Climate Action Project.

Finally, Unida Christian Colleges, the largest private school in the City of Imus and a “Leader in Robotics Technology Excellence,” will take on the challenge of putting on the first-ever climate action game jam with the well-known international gaming industry to make the largest game-based learning libraries in the country.

The time is past when we only thought about fears and frustrations when it comes to climate action. With climate education and climate action project, the consequences of climate change are fully known now – and we are here to embrace the change and make a difference.

“Climate action education has an important role to tackle climate change on a global scale. It informs students, takes away climate anxiety, and brings important skills to a classroom including empathy, creativity, and problem-solving,” added TAG co-founder Koen Timmers. “We are honored by this recognition and look forward to joining our peers in the knowledge-sharing networks and leadership meetings hosted by the World Economic Forum as part of this initiative.”

About Take Action Global

Take Action Global (TAG) is a leading nonprofit organization committed to climate action education for educators and K-12 students. During the past six years, TAG has served over 3.4 million students and educators from 149 countries through the Climate Action Project, Climate Action Day, and the Climate Action Schools program. TAG established partnerships with international experts and world leaders, including WWF, NASA, LEGO, Cartoon Network, and the Jane Goodall Institute, and 20 Ministries of Education. TAG is accredited by the UN Environment Programme and a co-author of the Climate Literacy Petition on Earth Day 2022 with the Earth Day Organization and Fridays for Future. https://www.takeactionglobal.org