ENO Tree Planting Day
21st of September 2005

The ENO programme organised a tree planting event 21st of September 2005. This project was to celebrate the new school year and the international day for peace. Over 200 schools in 66 countries planted thousands of trees (over 100 different species) for the environment and peace, within 24 hours. Trees were planted at midday local time. This activity started in New Zealand . Following the Sun, our “chain of trees” spread to Asia, Europe and Africa . Finally it reached North and South America and the last trees were planted in Hawaii . Schools and youth groups registered for this public event. They updated information about their trees and sent feedback, experiences and feelings. A lot of photos and videos were submitted with messages. All the information were submitted to a special database on the Internet. Experiences were shared through video conferences and chats. Children also sang and danced a tree planting song especially made for this event. The database is not complete yet but will be updated during September and October. A slideshow of this event will be available by November 2005, as well as the final summary (the exact number of trees, tree species, photos etc.).

A global database of trees was created on the Internet. This database is useful for learners as well as public at large. You can browse the database by tree species in Latin, number of planted trees, city, country of name of school. Learners get to know about tree species and biodiversity. In addition, they learn geographically about countries and cities, as well as different people and cultures. New partnerships or twinning between schools are created. The database itself is an ideal site to make environmental projects. At the same time, it is an example of the power at the grassroot level. Schools invited local decision-makers and media to join their events. At the same time they raised environmental issues and peace in their local communities. Schools can do projects together, encourage each other and network in a flexible way. This simple pedagogical model is typical in the ENO Programme. It supports the latest trends in teaching and learning (communal and collaborative learning). The empowerment of learners is the key for success: the feeling that you are making a difference with other committed people around the world.

Planting trees as well as other concrete actions for the environment are good ways to co-operate with schools, especially in the developing countries.

ENO Tree Database:

http://eno.joensuu.fi/treedatabase.htm