Some 1000 teachers to be trained under OSCE environmental education project in Azerbaijan

BAKU, 8 August 2007 - Implementing an environmental education programme for secondary school teachers and raising their awareness on local and global sustainable development issues is the aim of a project launched by the OSCE Office in Baku this week.

The project was designed to help establish a capacity in the field of sustainable development and environmental education in Azerbaijan, and will run until the end of the year.

"The environmental situation in Azerbaijan remains an area of concern, so raising environmental awareness in schools is an important element in addressing the issue," said Torbjorn Bjorvatn, Economic and Environmental Officer at the OSCE Office.

"We are pleased to have an opportunity to enhance the capacity of the teachers and develop new approaches to teaching and learning by providing up-to-date materials on sustainable development issues in the local language."

Up to 1000 people are expected to participate in the training of trainer's programmes. They will learn how to use the so-called Green Pack education set, which includes a handbook for teachers, lesson plans, information and working documents, and multimedia tools.

The Green Pack will help set a new model of behaviour at school, at home and in society rather than simply accumulating knowledge in particular environmental areas.

The project will be implemented in co-operation with the local NGO For Sustainable Development, and is supported by the BTC-SCP Pipelines Project's Environmental Investment Programme, the Ministries of Education and Environment and Natural Resources.