Reply To: Congo Paparazi

[Congo]

The date of 5 June of each year is dedicated to the International Environment Day. This celebration is about promoting global awareness, in order to protect the planet and its natural resources. “Bringing people closer to nature”, is the theme chosen for 2017. With a view to inviting the whole of humanity to reflect on how man, who is part of nature and who depends on it, must to behave.

It is with this in mind that the 4th edition of the FESTIVERT (Green Festival) took place from 5 to 13 May 2017 in Boma, in the province of Kongo Central, to raise awareness of the values ​​of Nature and growing environmental problems.

The erosion and spread of desertification, the proliferation of greenhouse gases and climate change, the decline in the biological resources of animals and plants, the widespread pollution of soils and groundwater, the risks of reducing the layer Of ozone are, among others, the questions developed and supported with sufficiently evocative examples.

“Their consequences immediately threaten our future and that of future generations. So, it is important that the population is aware of this information, that it is sensitized on environmental issues, “said the Director of FESTIVERT and coordinator of CAREC (Cartel of Artists Civic Educators).

For Lele Michoux Bossay, environmental education should help to foster the development of citizens’ awareness in the course of school life events.

Theater, dance and poetry are the different artistic disciplines used by FESTIVERT as an approach, like workshops and other meetings to raise awareness about natural systems and the protection of the ecosystem.

This approach allowed participants to clearly identify the themes developed. A question-answer game was also organized to assess the level of understanding of young people. The aim is to make pupils of eco-citizens, in order to induce them to change their behavior in favor of the environment.

Pupils trained as amateur actors have presented shows on themes evoking innumerable ways that favor the preservation of nature.

On stage, the artists invited the public to play with them on the theme developed (participatory theater) in order to educate young people on the values ​​of nature.

It should be noted that the organization of this 4th edition was made possible thanks to the support of COFED and received material and pedagogical support from WWF.

Beyond live arts shows, the Festival has distributed tools and other awareness-raising materials, including printed and other comics, with the support of COFED.

Launched in 2014, FESTIVERT, which is a civic and ecological education program, raises awareness among students about the environment, including sanitation, deforestation, wildlife management, water management …

The applied methodology (participatory student theater for pupils, drawing contest around environmental themes, singing) enabled students to easily understand certain notions on nature conservation. The environment is today one of the most powerful vectors for the penetration of science into culture.

The ideal remains to develop new didactic approaches that could have an impact on the knowledge and behaviors of students through this Festival.

After this successful edition, said its Director of FESTIVERT, a training course for some teachers on deforestation will be organized in October and December. This will once again be a school meeting in the context of raising awareness among students and