Can education save the environment?

A discussion on ‘Education for the Environment: fashion or pledge for change’ is being delivered by Paul Pace at Inspirations Café, St James Cavalier, Valletta, on Thursday at 7.15 p.m.

Last year, over 30 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide were released into the environment, the highest ever, and over one in four fish stocks were in a state of collapse or had already collapsed.

Locally, 40 fish species are on the brink of extinction, our water table could be unusable within 14 years and tree cover stands at only 0.66 per cent. These statistics reflect on the appalling state of our environment, even though Unesco has been promoting a ‘Decade of Education for Sustainable Development’ since 2005.

As part of his talk, Pace will reflect on the current situation and will offer concrete ideas on how this trend can be reversed. His ideas focus on how the public can achieve change. This approach is exemplified in Ekoskola, a worldwide programme that is run locally through Nature Trust.

The talk is part of the Malta Café Scientifique series, and will be followed by an open discussion.

Malta Café Scientifique aims to encourage the public to engage with scientific issues by inviting a speaker to give an informal, short talk. This is followed by free wine and food, and a discussion where people can ask the speaker any questions relating to the topic.

For more information, e-mail maltacafescientifique@gmail.com.