Seventy-eight schools across Malta and Gozo recently celebrated their achievements in connecting children with nature through BirdLife Malta’s Dinja Waħda environmental education programme, spread across all year groups from kindergarten to secondary.

The awards ceremony took place at Esplora Interactive Science Centre.

In the primary sector, 51 schools received the Gold Award, five schools received the Silver Award, three schools were awarded the Bronze Award, while 15 schools received a certificate. Two new schools received the Blue Banner, an award for schools that maintain the Gold Award for three consecutive years.

In the secondary sector, two schools received gold, one got silver, while another clinched bronze. The awards are based on commitment to biodiversity and sustainability education.

The 2021/2022 scholastic year offered the most-awaited opportunity to host school field visits to nature reserves once again after two years of COVID-19 restrictions and not being able to meet the students in person.

“We were very happy to welcome back around 3,700 students to Simar, Foresta 2000, Għadira and Salina Nature Reserves,” BirdLife said.

BirdLife also said that 25 schools reported positive feedback from its newest education programme Dinja Waħda +. This offers activities and resources that are tailor-made for each year group and are available on its website. The topics proposed consist of a progression of activities integrating knowledge, values and skills.

The ceremony also marked the launch of a new scholastic year of engagement (2022/2023) with Dinja Waħda, which forms part of BirdLife Malta’s commitment to protect wildlife and its habitats through nature-based learning activities.

The programme is run in collaboration with the Directorate for Learning & Assessment Programmes and is supported by Bank of Valletta.

The BirdLife Malta education team also announced that Dinja Waħda would be going international. The Ornithological Society in Romania has this year launched ‘nature friendly kindergartens’ and Dinja Waħda+ activities have been translated in Romanian and adapted to the local environment.

Another highlight of the event was the presentation of the Erasmus+ Natural Nations project, which is coming to a conclusion after three years of work. The project enabled BirdLife Malta to add more activities to the Dinja Waħda+ programme, which emphasises the importance of pollinators and improving biodiversity on school grounds. The students who attended got the chance to plant their own herbs and learnt about the importance of flowers for pollinators.

The awards were presented to schools by BirdLife Malta CEO Mark Sultana, BirdLife Malta education manager Stefania Papadopol and Charles Azzopardi, head of CSR and communication at BOV.