These are some of the projects with which NECT is involved with:

Environmental Learning

To actively promote change towards a healthier society. Founded on principles of social justice and sustainable environmental practices. NECT believes healthier societies rely fundamentally on respect for individual rights, the vitality of communities and the celebration of diversity.

The word environment means surrounding objects or circumstances, but now it is used more loosely to mean the condition of the air, water, land and other things surrounding us. The environment consists of forms of life such as animals, plants, and human beings as well as non-living substances such as water, air, soil and rocks. In the last hundred years the environment has become seriously affected mainly due to the following reasons: economic factors, industrialization, man's increasing dependence on machines, and large-scale use of chemicals in agriculture, to name some.

Urbanization has lead to increase in human population causing destruction of natural resources of the environment. The world has woken up to the magnitude of this problem and various organizations like NECT have taken initiatives to bring local communities together in order to find to find solutions.

Some of the issues NECT and the local communities are seeking solutions for include; food security. Energy, water harvesting, solid waste, pollution, biotechnology etc.

Our Five Objectives of Environmental Education

Eco-school Club

We prepared this information in response to a request from students who attends an eco-school club who wanted some ideas for starting one at their school.

Suggestions for starting an eco-school club:

The following are some suggestions. You have specific knowledge to know what may or may not work best for you and your fellow students, according to level of abilities of club members. Club members can build from these suggestions and create their own ideas and projects.

How about starting out with a purpose for the club, such as:

PURPOSE:

To gain an understanding of our environment and our place in it;
To be actively, physically and spiritually involved with nature;
To improve the natural environment;
To help protect and preserve wildlife;
To develop and enhance our mental and physical skills;
To lessen our negative impact on the environment;
To teach others about what we have learned;
To provide a service to our community.

GOALS:

To connect with nature through positive learning experiences which will benefit ourselves, our environment and wildlife in our community?

PROJECTS:

  1. Grow living gardens: Flowers, vegetables, native plants
  2. Plant native trees on school grounds
  3. Make birdhouses and nesting boxes and place on school grounds
  4. Build wildlife habitats: To provide food, water and shelter for wildlife
  5. Build a nature trail with signposts and information
  6. Build a compost pile, using grass clippings, fruit and vegetable scraps
  7. Environmental education: Provide learning resources for members

ACTIVITIES:

Conduct an audit of the plants and animals found on your school grounds. Learn about plants and animals of local environment; find out what would help the local wildlife and environment; interact and participate as a team on designated projects; work in partnership with other groups (such as local environmental groups) on special projects. Learn by touching, feeling, smelling, listening, understanding, and connecting with nature.

TOOLS/MATERIALS NEEDED:

Depending upon projects - Resources to information, seeds, seedlings, saplings, gardening gloves, various digging tools, rakes, pieces of wood, strong wood glue, hammers, nails, all weather non-toxic paint, brushes, and other materials according to various projects.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES:

Self-knowledge and knowledge of the world around us, healthier natural environment and increase in natural wildlife habitat, increase in species and biodiversity of wildlife, earn ecology badges for activities performed, gain positive and peaceful feelings.

ONGOING:

Monitor and follow up on continued care of projects as needed ("feed" compost pile, water gardens and young trees, provide birdseed especially during winter months).

TEACH OTHERS:

Develop lesson plans (according to various levels of abilities) to teach others about the environment, species, and conservation; develop learning games for fun. Provide information about the club and its activities on school website.

MEMBERSHIP:

All students are welcome to participate in the ecology club.

MEETINGS:

Location and schedule (you can meet at the Field Studies Centre).

COMPOSTING:

Begin a compost pile at school with grass clippings, vegetable and fruit scraps. This will provide rich nutritious soil for your plantings while recycling and using waste material.

OTHER NOTES AND IDEAS:

Experience and discuss: Feel of feathers, rocks, fur, wind; smell of grass, leaves, bark, soil, flowers; listen to the sounds of nature, identify what they are.

If there are enough members, can have different groups and name them after endangered species in your state or species that are native to your area.

At each meeting, plan to have one member prepared to talk briefly about a specific subject related to ecology and/or the environment. It can be a poem, an experience, a feeling, some information, or whatever the member chooses. The talk should be limited to a few minutes. Members may choose the subjects they will talk about. The subjects and assignments should be decided upon early enough to give the members enough time to prepare.

Plan a tree planting project. Ask The Field Studies Centre, Local NGO's could assist with technical advice. Volunteers could help with transporting trees and help at tree planting events. Participate in other groups' tree planting projects.

Make bird feeders, nesting boxes, bird houses - can sell them within community to help wild bird populations. Provide safety tips with them (wash hands, keep feeders clean and well supplied, where to place them). Study what birds live in your community, and which birds visit your area as they migrate. Find out what style of bird feeder/house/nesting box they would prefer, what type of food they need, the size of birdhouse, size of hole, perch, and where to place it so that predators are less able to reach it.

Use good bugs to control pests and avoid harmful chemicals.

Enlist the help of a teachers, parents and family members, a mentor from the Field Studies Centre.

When you improve your local natural environment and help protect and preserve wildlife, everyone benefits.

Food Security

Because of the unsustainable cost of commercial -sector grain costs and persistent food insecurity in Mbaruk community leaders and NECT team have encouraged practical guidelines for community-level food security. The advantages of communal grain storage are:

Locally controlled and managed grain banks, building on a high level of community involvement, represent one approach currently being tested in Mbaruk. This enables poor groups within villages to acquire and build grain stocks and preserve quality, thus ensuring their food security in lean periods, while marketing any grain that is surplus to community needs. Group members decide upon a viable system for adding to or withdrawing from the grain in a grain bank scheme, with interest rate payments allowing a gradual accumulation of capital within the grain bank.

In following this approach, the partners are firstly seeking to understand the situation, characteristics and needs of Mbaruk communities, recognizing that any initiative in community storage should be developed through a process in which demand is established, and the way of working elaborated, by the group. At the same time, the wider market and policy environment, and any prospective developments in this, need to be kept in view. This process should ensure the development of sustainable local institutions for grain management, financial viability of the management methods, and technical viability of the storage system.

Permaculture, Water Harvesting Soil Erosion

Production of native food and medicinal plants to provide a - focus for education on indigenous heritage as well as for use and sale on site.

Dual-use Structural, Edible Landscaping and Permaculture Gardens

Examples of environmentally low impact small-scale agriculture to provide a focus for educational activities as well as supply produce for on site requirements and sale.

Fruiting perennials and productive species planted throughout the building environs

Compost and worm farm to utilise organic waste for soil improvement

Global Environmental Youth Work (GEWY)

NECT's GEYW is targeted to schools, youth workers, other educators and organisations in the formal and informal sectors to promote understanding and learning for a better world through education for sustainable development and global citizenship.

What we offer:

Projects in Kenya

The projects are always of some tangible benefit to the community and follow certain criteria. For example, projects enhance rather than replace local initiatives, and they are not undertaken if the work would otherwise be done with paid labour. No specific skills or qualifications are needed.

We also run project related training events in UK. Sessions can be tailored to meet specific needs.

Projects in the UK

We run a range of residential and non-residential projects involving schools and youth groups. Our projects explore themes such as Global Citizenship, North-South linking, arts education, sustainability, outdoor learning, and eco-schools. Opportunities exist for schools and youth groups to get involved in current projects or developing ideas for new ones.

If you are interested in social justice, peace and non-violence, the environment, social care, the arts, spiritual communities, cultural exchanges, why not join us?