RCE Cairo - 2018

School 2030: Education for Sustainable Development in Boulaq Slum Area (EDUCAMP III)
CSV
Basic Information
Title of project : 
School 2030: Education for Sustainable Development in Boulaq Slum Area (EDUCAMP III)
Submitting RCE: 
RCE Cairo
Contributing organization(s) : 
• The American University in Cairo
• SEKEM Development Foundation
• Al Mofid – NGO
• Ministry of Education – Egypt
Focal point(s) and affiliation(s)
Name: 
Hani Sewilam
Organizational Affiliation: 
Center for Sustainable Development - The American University in Cairo
E-mail: 
sewilam@aucegypt.edu
Format of project: 
PowerPoint
Language of project: 
English
Date of submission:
Friday, September 21, 2018
Web link: 
http://www.educamp.eu/
Additional resources: 
The project’s main objective is to transform education in Egypt to ESD by enhancing schools in areas of informal settlement to meet the goals of the country’s larger sustainable development strategy, known as Egypt Vision 2030 and contribute to the Global Action Programme on Education for Sustainable Development (priority 2, 3 and 5).
The main components of this project phase involves establishing an ESD model for poor public Egyptian schools. The selection of these two represent the real problems most Egyptians face. During the first phase of the initiative, EduCamp I, the team created education for sustainable development kits and delivered them to various schools in Egypt, opening seven centers of excellence in seven Egyptian universities. For the second phase of the project, EduCamp II in 2014, we began working to introduce education for sustainable development in informal areas around Egypt. EduCamp III now aims to introduce sustainable development teaching in Egyptian schools over a period of one year, implementing the initiative on a larger scale with support from the European Union and German government. Plans include developing sustainable learning environment, developing teachers and school managers capacity building program, and developing education kits that tackles local challenges such as water, energy, food, and biodiversity.
Does this project link to any education and/or sustainable development policy or policies?: 
Yes
Egyptian Strategy for ustainable Development (Egypt Vision 2030), UN Sustainable Development Goals SDGs and the Global Action Program GAP on ESD
At what level is the policy operating?: 
National
Geographical & Education Information
Region: 
Africa and Middle East
Country: 
Egypt
Location(s): 
Greater Cairo (Giza)
Address of focal point institution for project: 
Hani Sewilam,
Professor and Director
Center for Sustainable Development
The American University in Cairo
Egypt
sewilam@aucegypt.edu
Ecosystem(s):
Agricultural, Fresh water, Urban/Peri-urban
energy
Target Audience:
Community, Primary, Secondary, Teacher Ed.
Socioeconomic and environmental characteristics of the area : 
Boulaq El Dakrour is one of the poorest informal areas located in the western urban area of Greater Cairo within the boundaries of Giza Governorate. The number of inhabitants increased from 197,000 in 1976 to 500,000 in 2003 with a population growth rate higher than the growth rate in most other urban areas in Giza. The area is suffering from several problems such as, poverty, unemployment, insufficient health services, absence of safety in the streets, gender problems, sewage, potable water, high cost of electricity, etc. and poor quality of public education is much poorer in BD than even in the surrounding areas.
Description of sustainable development challenge(s) in the area the project addresses: 
Thus, many families either enroll their children in schools outside the area such, or pay for private lessons to help enhance their children’s prospects for the future, both causing significant financial burdens on families in the area. The problem of private lessons even at early school grades and its financial burdens on poor families which demonstrates the shortcomings of the existing schooling system. There is safety problems that are faced by girls related to education. Hence, girls drop out of school at much higher rates than their male peers. Concerning boys at preparatory schools, the main problem is prevailing violent behavior.
Contents
Status: 
Ongoing
Period: 
April, 2017 to December, 2018
Rationale: 
To face the mentioned socio-economic challenges mentioned above, this project aims to transform the poor schools in slum areas and beyond in Egypt into schools that meet the objectives of the Country’s Sustainable Development Strategy “Egypt 2030”, the SDGs and the GAP priorities as well as meet the RCE’s mandate. This means that innovative approaches need to be created to upgrade the infrastructure and afford the teaching tools and materials with minimum cost. This also means this project will have to develop a role model for the Egyptian schools that enables them to achieve the GAP priorities. There is a need for engaging the community in the school management and activities to ensure the sustainability of the model. It also includes improving educational facilities and services, especially for children, female youth, and children with special needs in educational services. This transformation will provide solutions to the real-world problems (infrastructure, overcrowded classes, low teaching quality, private lessons, violence, etc.) with focus on children, youth, children with special needs and females and mothers in the area.
Objectives: 
The overall goal is to transfer two schools in one of the poorest slum areas in Egypt to be a model for sustainable school of 2030. The specific objectives are:
1. Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Kits to be developed and integrated into school activities
2. Enhancing capacities of school teachers, administrators, and ministry officials in Boulaq
3. Capacities of schools in Boulaq are to be developed with enhanced and renovated infrastructure
4. School-Community Participatory system established as a model for other schools in Boulaq
5. The concept of School of 2030 established and disseminated in Boulaq and in the Ministry of Education
Activities and/or practices employed: 
The project has been implemented through different work packages each was devoted to achieve one of the above objectives:
WP1- questionnaires and interviews with all stakeholders in the slum area and schools were carried out to analyse the real problems and ESD challenges.
WP2- based on the analysis, ESD kits have been developed by professional educators based on the local needs.
WP3- Capacity Building program has been developed for teachers and school administrators on the implementation of the kits and modern teaching methods.
WP4- A School-Community Participatory Model has been developed between school board and community stakeholders to sustain the school ESD activities.
Size of academic audience: 
beneficiaries: childeren = 2700, Teachers = 184, School Admins = 24, Ministry officials = 12, Mothers = 125, community participants = 15, schools = 2
Results: 
Transforming learning and training environment:
Transferring two of the much deteriorated schools in Boulaq into a real model for school 2030 including sustainable learning environment, infrastructure, new ESD kits, and ESD school activities (greening, sustainability games, energy and water efficient system, etc.).
Building capacities of educators and school administrators:
enhanced teachers’ ESD skills, administrators awareness of ESD and community collaborating to sustain the school.
Accelerating sustainable solutions at local level
Raising awareness in Boulaq area related to the importance of ESD and the meaning of SG and its relation to their challenges and family life.
Advancing Policy
At the ministry level, there is now more understanding that ESD is the way to implement Egypt 2030 and reach the SDGs. Egyptian parliament invited Prof. Sewilam for a speech and open discussion on the future of ESD in Egypt. Prof. Sewilam is now in discussion with the ministry of education to upscale EduCamp to include more regions and train more teachers.
Lessons learned: 
1. Involving the community from day one is the key of success
2. Raising the ESD awareness of school administrators is as important as the teachers otherwise they are an obstacle.
3. Convinced propitiations of the ESD importance forms a great push in the right direction.
4. Sharing results of previous projects and collecting them is essential
Key messages: 
The hope is that this project will move Egypt’s education system forward in meeting the country’s vision for 2030, GAP and SDGs. RCEs can create a great movement in the communities’ awareness of the problems facing them and can develop suitable interventions for achieving the SDGs.
Relationship to other RCE activities: 
RCE Cairo has a strong relation and long-term cooperation with RCE Graz-Styria
Funding: 
500,000.00 Euros from the German International Cooperation and European Commission

Pictures:

File Name Caption for picture Photo Credit
Image icon Teachers RCE Cairo.JPG (1.74 MB) TEACHERS TRAINING RCE Cairo
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
(https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs) and other themes of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
SDG 1 - End poverty in all its forms everywhere 
Indirect
SDG 2 - End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture 
Indirect
SDG 3 - Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages 
Indirect
SDG 4 - Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all 
Direct
SDG 5 - Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls 
Direct
SDG 6 - Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all 
Indirect
SDG 7 - Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all 
Indirect
SDG 9 - Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation, and foster innovation 
Indirect
SDG 10 - Reduce inequality within and among countries 
Indirect
SDG 11 - Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable 
Indirect
SDG 12 - Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns 
Indirect
SDG 13 - Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts 
Indirect
Theme
Traditional Knowledge  
Direct
Agriculture 
Indirect
Arts 
Indirect
Curriculum Development 
Direct
Waste 
Indirect
Global Action Programme (GAP) on Education for Sustainable Development – Priority Action Areas
Priority Action Area 1 - Advancing policy 
Direct
Priority Action Area 2 - Transforming learning and training environments 
Direct
Priority Action Area 3 - Building capacities of educators and trainers 
Direct
Priority Action Area 4 - Empowering and mobilizing youth 
Direct
Priority Action Area 5 - Accelerating sustainable solutions at local level 
Indirect
Update: 
No