Landmark Foundation was invited to participate in an education program with Gouritz Cluster Biosphere Reserve (GCBR) on the Jobs for Carbon Project currently running in the Rooiberg region. Vanwyksdorp Primary is a rural school in this small town of Little Karoo. The group we are currently working with consists of about 27 learners from grade 6-7.
This collaborative partnership forms part of Landmark Foundation’s Green Projects, which aims to establish “Green Clubs” at schools. The establishment of these clubs will form an important part of changing communities and their attitude toward the environment, working with a small group of learners within a school will grow and expand outward into the community and into the environment.
Landmark’s role is to guide the education process so that maximum effect is achieved with minimal impact and resource wastage.
The program will endeavour achieve its outcomes by transferring SKILLS, imparting KNOWLEDGE, changing ATTITUDES and instilling VALUES.
This will be done in as many ways as fun and creatively possible. The four pillars are there to make sure that there is a lasting and more holistic approach to education. The learner will have gained a true development of the love for nature as well as understanding his/her own relationship with the environment. “The environment is not something out there; the environment starts with you in it”. If we wish to succeed in educating our youth to be better guardians of our planet we need to do it from changing the inside and changing consciousness. A simple burst of valuable information no matter how much is learnt, cannot be internalised nor used correctly if the understanding of the whole has not been reached.
The education program contains many “ART” activities; these are aimed at developing the self and sparking the creative being. It will add confidence and raise self-esteem within the learner as well as kick start the elements that are needed to inspire themselves and the world around them. Once they are more awakened and aware the task of teaching them about the natural world around them becomes much easier. It also equips the learner to make better choices for themselves and more importantly for their immediate environment.
The program on the recent camp at Rooiberg with Vanwyksdorp Primary fully encompassed all the elements of holistic education.
Vanwyksdorp School Camp
(Photo: Monica Vaccaro)