Green ESU

Poetree

The first major initiative in the ESU Climate Change and Green Issues season is the Education Department’s Poetree Competition for London primary schools.

Imagine a World Without Trees is the theme and is inspired by the 2009 Marsh Award for Children’s Literature in Translation. This award is administered by the ESU and the 2009 winner is Toby Alone, translated into English by Sarah Ardizzone, a novel with a powerful ecological message.

Entry is free, and schools are being asked to submit a minimum of 10 poems of any style and length. The winning school will receive copies of Toby Alone, donated by Walker Books, and a workshop delivered by Sarah.

Katherine Plummer, the ESU's Head of Education Programmes says: “We are excited about engaging with children and schools in London, in this way. It is also a great way for ESU Branches to become more involved with their local schools and communities and we hope that they will take advantage of this opportunity.”

The deadline for entries has been extended to Friday 20 November

The ESU is running a special season on Climate Change and Green Issues. From 24 October 2009 (International Day of Action on Climate Change) to May 2010 we will have activities and events for members, schools and the general public on topics of ecological significance, climate change and human security.

We will be running talks, visits, competitions and demonstrations at various locations in London and around the UK. ESU Branches will have the opportunity to take part in initiatives such as tree planting, recycling and sustainable living.

We welcome your input and would love to add photos of your events and activities. Please visit your branch page or International ESU page for details of local events.

Green Staff

Members of the staff at Dartmouth House dressed in green to celebrate the launch of Green ESU.

To see Cristel, ESU Alumni Officer at the Guardian's 10:10 launch, go to News.

Our International ESUs are getting involved too, ESU Portugal held an ECO Gala, ESU Argentina's Annual Business Luncheon was on Climate Change, ESU Cyprus hosted a lecture by the Commissioner of the Environment for Cyprus, ESU Ukraine held a debate on 'Human Security & Climate Change', ESU Iceland awarded prizes to masters students in climate change, ESU Brazil have started a 'keep the world clean issue', ESU Turkey are planning their own climate change season of events, ESU St. Petersburg are attending a screening of The Age of Stupid and planning a climate change essay competition and ESU Denmark is involved in the International Exhibition of National Climate Environment Challenges and is an accredited organisation at the Klimaforum 2009. We will bring you more news of events being held by other International ESUs throughout the season.

Table of contents

 

Links

More information on any of these issues can be found at Direct.Gov.UK.