Tribune News Network
Doha
The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MoECC) has concluded the activities of the first edition of the Summer Environmental Club 2024.
The three-week event, with the participation of 20 students from public schools, featured various activities, including educational lectures and workshops presented by experts in the field of the environment, and field visits that enhanced environmental awareness among the students.
The activities served as a real opportunity for the participants to learn the importance of preserving natural resources and dealing with them wisely and sustainably in light of environmental challenges such as pollution, climate change and environmental issues.
Students in the 2024 Summer Environmental Club learned about the concept of sustainability, the protection of wildlife, marine and air life, and the human impact on them. The club also provided students with an opportunity to practically apply what they learned and direct them towards environmentally friendly practices through workshops, lectures and seminars organised by the ministry.
The 2024 Summer Environmental Club left a positive impact on the participating students, making them more enthusiastic about research and innovation in the field of environmental solutions, enhancing their awareness of environmental issues and directing them towards sustainable behaviours.
The summer activity achieved remarkable success thanks to the cooperation of the departments of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, lecturers and organisers who expressed their desire to enhance environmental awareness among students, in addition to the cooperation of students who were interested in attending daily to learn about their local environment and ways to preserve it.
The idea of launching the summer environmental club dedicated to state school students comes from its belief that young people are the hope of the future, and that through their efforts a clean and sustainable environment can be achieved for future generations, and that protecting the environment is a shared responsibility that falls on every individual in society.
The participants enjoyed a number of activities that contributed to enhancing their awareness of the components of the Qatari environment. In the first week, they learned about wild plants in Qatar, their medicinal and aromatic benefits, and harmful plants that are not suitable for human or animal use to avoid.
They also learned about the birds of the Qatari environment and their role in maintaining the environmental balance. The ministry also organised external trips for them to the Qur’anic Botanical Garden, the National Museum of Qatar and the Rawdat Al Faras Centre for the reproduction and production of the Houbara bustard.
The second week included the organisation of a workshop on the ‘Effortless, Don’t Waste’ initiative launched by student Noura Al-Dosari, in which she addressed the importance of utilising food scraps and converting them into organic fertiliser, and a ‘Recycling Old Fabrics’ workshop.
The students also visited the Shati Al-Bahr Group’s factories to learn about the company’s efforts in environmental protection, sustainability and recycling.
The activities of the second week were concluded with a visit to the Central Radiation Laboratory at the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, where the students learned about the importance of the laboratory in environmental radiation measurements, radiation control and measurement of radioactive pollutants.
In the third week, the students visited the research ship Jinan and the Msheireb Sustainable City, and learned about the types of reptiles in the Qatari environment and their role in preserving the food chain and biodiversity. The activities also included a trip to the solid waste treatment centre to learn about the stages of recycling, the technologies used in these processes and their environmental and economic importance.
The Summer Club concluded its activities with a lecture presented by environmental expert Dr Hail Al Wawi titled ‘The Importance of Afforestation in Confronting Climate Change’, where he reviewed the efforts of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change in supporting Qatar’s initiative to plant 10 million trees by 2030, and the role of trees in pulling carbon dioxide from the air, storing it and releasing oxygen to maintain environmental balance.
