IFS Students Elect Eco-Delegates for Sustainable Development
The elections for student eco-delegates took place in IFS Middle and High school. Fifty-five eco-delegates were elected by their peers to become leaders and ambassadors of educational projects and actively participate in the implementation of sustainable development within IFS.
The fight against climate change and the pursuit of greater biodiversity are two essential topics concerning students now and into their futures. They require the mobilisation of our entire society and a profound change in individual and collective behaviour. The French national education system has been mobilised in this challenge, and environmental issues are increasingly at the heart of the new school curricula followed by IFS.
The election of eco-delegates within French schools is one measure taken by the French national education system to encourage and promote greater sustainable development education. In 2020, and for the first time, IFS Collège and Lycée students elected fifty-five eco-delegates of their own. These delegates are the primary advocates of ecological questions within IFS and play an essential role in sensitising and mobilising their peers to make IFS a school committed to the protection of the environment.
Biology teacher and IFS secondary school sustainable development coordinator Samuel Tricot brought together the eco-delegates to explain their roles within the school community and initiate the first sustainable development ideas and approaches to be implemented during the school year. The eco-delegates reinforce working groups related to sustainable development that already exist at IFS. These include the L.I.F.E. workshop, (Lycéens Investis pour le Futur de notre Environnement) and the Sustainable Development Education option offered to high school students.
At IFS, several initiatives have already been implemented and led by students from Kindergarten to High school. Educational projects are initiated each year and focus on biodiversity. These include the creation of a “plant wall” and a pond at the Secondary school. There is also a permaculture project at the Elementary school. In addition, Earth Day is organised each year by IFS students and brings together external speakers who are experts in environmental issues. This event also features awareness and education stands and presentations made by students.
Sustainable Development education taught at IFS provides students with an understanding of the complexities of the world in its scientific, ethical and civic dimensions. Transdisciplinary in nature, sustainable development appears across teaching programmes and allows students to embrace the scientific spirit and develop their sensitivity to the environmental relationships found in the world. IFS students are made aware of sustainable development from Kindergarten into Elementary and continue their explorations in subject-specific areas throughout Collège and Lycée.