Hosted by SALL , contributed by Najah_abd_adan on 5 February 2023
The current project was initiated three years ago by the Science and Technology Center-Sakhnin with a group of students at Taha Hussein junior high school, that is still taking part in the project, in an attempt to raise awareness about the importance of keeping public places clean and maintained. It is crucial to know that removing garbage from public places is everyone's responsibility. In fact, everyone should be responsible for his/her trash/waste. For the purpose of the project, a campaign for raising awareness was initiated last year. Various societal actors were involved such as representatives of the municipality, parents' committee and towns association. Throughout the implementation of the project, students engaged in various activities last year: they took a walking tour, painted, planted trees and flowers in the Retirement Home garden and the surrounded area, put signs with sayings that emphasize taking care of the environment and keeping it clean along the way starting from each school involved in the project till reaching the Retirement Home. In addition, videos for our students and partners encouraging the public to take responsibility and keep public places clean and maintained were posted and shared via different social media platforms.
Online surveys were conducted enabling all societal actors expressing their opinions and reflecting upon the whole process. Analysis of the results derived from the surveys revealed the usefulness of the initiative. The project provides us with plentiful opportunities to protect the environment and foster values.
This year, the project was expanded to include kindergarten kids, elementary school students, businesses' owners, football players, parents, representatives of Sakhnin municipality and different associations. With the various societal actors, Al-mal park which was built by the municipality was chosen due to the garbage left by visitors in the area. A campaign for raising awareness was initiated: introducing the topic, shedding light on the advantages of cleaning and maintaining the park and highlighting the disadvantages of leaving trash. The project is still in progress and the next steps will be implemented soon during the upcoming months: painting the hiking trails, putting trash cans, cleaning the park, placing signs with sayings and conducting a Peak Day for all the participants. Definitely, surveys will be conducted in attempt to reach conclusions regarding the effectiveness of the current campaign.
The Solution
The suggested solution is taking Al-Mal park, which is in the area of the three schools, in cooperation with the community and the residents, initiating a campaign to take responsibility for the cleanliness and implementing environmental values.