This year 22 young environmentalists from 5 Armenian communities – Garni, Urtsadzor, Lusashogh, Khachik and Arpi – took part in the  SunChild summer school.  It was organized in the Eco Lodge of the Caucasus Wildlife Refuge from August 8 to 15.

Sunchild Eco Clubs Network has been functioning since 2006, providing environmental education to more than 2000 children from all the regions of Armenia.

This year the young environmentalists participated in lectures devoted to different environmental topics, educational role-playing activities, overcame the Hiking Scavenger Hunt, learnt how to reduce, reuse and recycle, painted comics on environmental topics, combined with some fun time full of various games, dances and songs.   Greatly supported by the materials provided by the  UNICEF Armenia, the “sunchildren” learnt about and had discussions on the Sustainable Development Goals and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The representatives of organizations co-funding the project – Bella Gordon from the US Forest Service and Rob Sheldon the Ornithological Society of the Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asia/OSME.

SunChild eco clubs network is an environmental educational project elaborated by the FPWC. Its aim is to provide Armenian children with environmental and civic education. By the end of the training year, each of the eco-clubs makes a short documentary on a specific environmental issue of their community. The films made by children have been included in the programs of a number of international environmental film festivals and came back with awards.