Activiteit/evenement

This service was created during COVID times when parents could no longer enter the school. A team of students and a teacher started an online catalogue in a Google doc shared with the community. This way, on a weekly basis parents and students can check if what they've lost appears in the catalogue and when it does (different sections created for a variety of items, always with description and deadline),claim it via email. Items can then be delivered to Primary or collected by Secondary students

• Welke tips wil je andere Eco-teams geven bij het organiseren van een activiteit/evenement?: Kids are bound to misplace things and forget them anywhere. This services facilitates also for parents to keep track and not having to buy unnecessarily new clothes. By having a 2 weeks deadline since cataloguing, we ensure people keep an eye and all the unclaimed clothes can then be donated to other people that perhaps will take better care of them.
• Onderwijstype: Voortgezet onderwijs
• Waarom zijn jullie hier trots op?: Through this service we promote responsibility (students and families are reminded to always take care of their belongings by adding name tags/other), responsible consumption (not to waste usable clothes/other) and reusing (same families) but also find new users for the lost unclaimed items which every 2 weeks are donated to our own school's Swap Shop or the local NGO Juupu.
• School: United World College Maastricht

Our Secondary Outdoor Education Coordinator trains students in middle school to use a compass, read maps, set tents, hike and cook food outdoors. From time to time these expeditions and excursions are also open to families in our community with children in Primary who also love and can enjoy the Outdoors. The older students then help training the younger ones.

• Welke tips wil je andere Eco-teams geven bij het organiseren van een activiteit/evenement?: Not all schools can afford an Outdoor Education Coordinator position but perhaps among teachers or staff there are people willing to train students who could then join hikes with their families several times per year.
• Onderwijstype: Voortgezet onderwijs
• Waarom zijn jullie hier trots op?: These different opportunities promote the enjoyment and protection of Nature and the Outdoors and bond the community together. We get to know our surroundings.
• School: United World College Maastricht

A 3 month long design-thinking course which this year included the training to all DP1 students in January (delivered by a team of staff members and alumni) but also the implementation of their projects in April, in collaboration with local organisations. Students pre-registered into 10 themes, including Planet&Climate, Equity & Inclusion, Anti-Racism&Diversity or Building Resilient Communities, to name a few. The themes provide the framework for the methodology used: user research, SDGs, etc

• Welke tips wil je andere Eco-teams geven bij het organiseren van een activiteit/evenement?: It is important to provide opportunities for students to learn to identify challenges or problems in their own school or community and allow creative thought for them to come up with solutions that they can develop and improve over time.
• Onderwijstype: Voortgezet onderwijs
• Waarom zijn jullie hier trots op?: For the last 7 years this program has equipped our graduating students with the skill-set and tools to intentionally bring about positive change in their communities, taking Maastricht as our initial/experimental hub. Great projects have come out of this program. This year's top Community Panel awards were for 2 projects in the Equity & Inclusion theme group, promoting second hand clothing and rethinking beauty through inclusive fashion and in the Planet & Climate theme group with the project Kinowa, promoting plant-based diets and raising awareness about their health benefits and climate action.
• School: United World College Maastricht

Three upper Secondary School students and our Eco-School Program Coordinator have established a service this year to monitor and produce annual Carbon Footprints of our school's activity. The aim is to establish an annual report that can be shared with our community but also across other UWC schools, all of which have signed a Climate Commitments pledge. The team meets weekly and has planned and sent out surveys, made presentations to all year groups and interviewed key roles within the school.

• Welke tips wil je andere Eco-teams geven bij het organiseren van een activiteit/evenement?: The team needs to be very meticulous and passionate about the topic as the many sessions just analyzing data can be long and tedious. It is also important to identify how some of the data can be collected via existing mechanisms already in place. Also important to book in advance assembly slots or other per year group and with teachers and parents so we can reach everyone in the school.
• Onderwijstype: Voortgezet onderwijs
• Waarom zijn jullie hier trots op?: The establishment of this service for our students ensures that -in line with the UWC Climate Commitments signed by our Head of School in May 2021- our school will report our own climate impact, as a basis to inform our solution-based efforts, and enable cooperation among the UWC schools and colleges in implementing individual climate strategies. This annual report will help us share data that will illustrate where and why we need to take climate action.
• School: United World College Maastricht