Litter, construction and pollution were among the topmost issues addressed by young Maltese reporters in a yearly competition.
With a staggering 250 entries compiled by students from 28 schools through the Young Reporters for the Environment (YRE) programme, the upcoming reporters from Malta and Gozo gave a heavy flack to certain decisions that were taken at policy level while suggesting practical sustainable alternatives.
YRE is an international programme run by the international organisation FEE – Foundation for Environmental Education which is represented locally by Nature Trust – FEE Malta. Through this Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) programme, students are provided a platform to carry out investigations and air their views about issues related to sustainable development by reporting through article writing, videography or photography.
An awards ceremony was held at The National Aquarium on June 2, in an event sponsored by AKTI and Zero Waste Future.
All students were presented with certificates, while winners of the different categories were presented with trophies and cash prizes. HSBC Malta Foundation funded freebies for schools.
While highlighting the achievements of this year, the national YRE coordinator, Audrey Gauci, gave details of the Litterless Campaign Phase V and projected future plans.
She also mentioned the experience students had in Portugal, where they met other reporters and worked together for a week to report on sustainability issues.
Another highlight was the online international collaboration between Slovenia and St Nicholas College Dingli Secondary school, which resulted in a joint video.
Present for the awards were Erica Schembri from WasteServ, Glenn Bugeja from HSBC and Laura Sue Armeni, director, risk management, policy and EU affairs, with the latter presenting awards to the best three reports on sustainable mobility.