Gozo Minister Justyne Caruana enthusiastically agreed to a suggestion made by a student for the setting up of the first Regional EkoSkola Committee for Gozo. The suggestion was made during a meeting of student representatives from 13 Eco-School committees called by the Minister.

Dr Caruana immediately gave her go ahead to appoint a committee where a student representative from each school and the Gozo Ministry meet on a regular basis to discuss and plan projects and initiatives, giving a stronger voice to children.

Minister Caruana noted down all that was said by the students, welcomed various innovative suggestions and replied to each and every point raised, giving explanations about the various projects already being planned and developed.

Other suggestions made during the interesting and productive discussion included more outdoor experiences and opportunities for families with children, open spaces for exercise and leisure, initiatives to reduce the use of single use items and banning of balloon releases, incentives to promote car pooling, the installation of innovative systems which produce clean energy, educational campaigns and littering enforecment rules.

During the meeting each EkoSkola student representative spoke freely and made suggestions on how each particular situation could be solved or improved and gave their opinion on various aspects relating to the students’ interests as well as issues within their schools.

Each suggestion was welcomed with great enthusiasm as this was one of the fundamental aims of the Eco-Schools Programme – an active citizenship that give young generations the tools to make their voices heard and participate directly in decision-making and implementation of projects for a better Gozo.

The Eco-Schools programme is run by Nature Trust-FEE Malta.

Nature Trust-FEE Malta CEO Vincent Attard and Eco-Schools Programme national coordinator Prof. Paul Pace also attended the meeting.