On November 24th through 27th, our GECKO team, along with our core group of volunteers and interns, spent the week with Yangshuo Vocational Technical School. We reached out to 200 students, bringing environmental awareness education through engaging hands-on activities and presentations which introduced the challenges of environmental protection and sustainability, examined solutions to the problem of waste and personal steps we can individually take, and looked ahead to how to work towards a more sustainable future.
The students participated in several activities, including making personal commitments on how to reduce their environmental footprints, picking up litter in a small village, decorating recycling bins, and writing their own green wishes on ribbons hung on a tree ceremoniously planted at the closing of our program, which also included student music and dance performances. Read one student’s feedback here.
We have been invited back to Yangshuo, this time not only to engage high school students but also local villagers on the importance of sustainability. Shelly Chen (owner of the eco-friendly Riverside Retreat, professor of tourism at Yangshuo Vocational Technical School, and organizer of the week’s events), explains that due to new high-speed routes under construction to Yangshuo from Shenzhen and Hong Kong, Yangshuo’s eco-tourism industry will rapidly increase in the next few years – as will the amount of construction, resorts, restaurants, and shops. Shelly recognizes that although this boom will have a positive effect on the economy, maintaining the environmental beauty of Yangshuo will be crucial to sustain the tourism industry. Shelly has explicitly recruited our Greennovate team to help Yangshuo work towards sustainable development.
Our team in Yangshuo was also joined by Tiamara Williams and the film crew of Inspiring Lives, who will convert their footage into a documentary feature about our GECKO Yangshuo Program, to be included in their 10-episode series which will take them across the globe.
For more pictures, click here.
