Gwangju Office of Education Launches 'Climate Crisis Emergency Action Practice Group' on Earth Day

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Gwan-woo] The Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education announced on the 23rd that it held the launch ceremony of the ‘Climate Crisis Emergency Action Practice Group’ at the Creative Convergence Education Center auditorium on the 22nd, in observance of Earth Day.

The Office of Education planned this launch ceremony so that the entire Gwangju educational community, including students, can respond to the climate crisis.

About 60 people attended the launch ceremony, including Jang Hwi-guk, Superintendent of the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education, Kim Na-yoon, Chairperson of the Education and Culture Committee of the Gwangju City Council, and representatives of school and education office practice groups.

The launch ceremony was conducted while strictly adhering to preventive measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The ‘Climate Crisis Emergency Action Practice Group’ consists of separate practice groups made up of about 1,300 students, teachers, parents, and education office staff.

1,050 elementary, middle, and high school students and 110 supervising teachers voluntarily formed 100 school practice teams.

The school practice teams plan to set their own diverse practice themes and goals and take action, including ▲reducing the use of disposable plastic products ▲practicing waste separation and resource recycling ▲saving energy and using it efficiently ▲reducing food waste ▲practicing vegetarianism ▲and activities to protect school forests.

Staff from the Office of Education and various institutions also organized their own climate crisis practice groups. Regional parent networks formed parent practice groups for climate crisis emergency action to participate in students’ practice activities.

In the launch declaration, the ‘Climate Crisis Emergency Action Practice Group’ stated ▲guaranteeing the environmental learning rights of future generations and strengthening practice-centered climate environment and ecological education ▲creating sustainable ecological village communities ▲practicing vegetarianism to improve green dietary habits ▲actively reducing disposable product use and recycling resources ▲spreading solar power generation and practicing energy transition.

It also included a firm commitment to protect a sustainable future through achieving carbon neutrality by 2045 and overcoming the climate crisis.

The Office of Education plans to promote an online relay campaign for climate crisis practice actions that the Gwangju educational community can participate in together, using this launch ceremony as an opportunity.

Superintendent Jang Hwi-guk said, “It is time to achieve a major transformation in life different from before for a sustainable and safe future, and we must act immediately to respond to the climate crisis.”

Jung Sung-hong, head of the Climate Crisis Emergency Action Practice Group (teacher at Shinyong Middle School), said, “We will actively carry out environmental and ecological education activities with students, parents, and faculty to realize the seriousness of the climate crisis in schools and to take emergency action.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.