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Climate Education in Kenyan

During the last two weeks of May, several hundred adolescents could enjoy a very special and exclusive climate education: With Dr. Wilkister Moturi, professor for environmental science at the Egerton University, and Merculine Rabera, representative of the international myclimate Climate Education Network Hot Stuff Climate Net in Kenya, the myclimate Climate Education Department was visited by two prominent climate specialists from Kenya.

During their stay in Switzerland, the two visited various schools in Zurich and Basel and led intensive and lively discussions with the young adolescents and teachers about climate change, climate carbon offset projects and cultural differences in terms of environmental awareness; something that usually stays abstract and far away for the Swiss students.

The following conclusion of a pupil shows the young people’s enthusiasm about the visit: “We have been discussing about Kenya during several weeks. The visit of the two Kenyans was extremely enriching, because it is much more interesting and informative if one gets the information directly from the ones who are affected by climate change. That is so much better than learning the background knowledge only from books.”

Merculine Rabera, who left Kenya for the first time in her life, was deeply impressed by the environmental awareness of the Swiss people, especially about the sustainability of the Swiss forestry. In Kenya, deforestation of the rain forest is a major environmental problem as a large share of the population does not know about the importance of intact forests for the climate. On the other hand, she also became aware of the different fields where Switzerland still has potential of improvement, such as the fields of resource and electricity consumption, e. g. through short-lived products or imported goods.