Roots & Shoots program.

We Can, We Will.

We are a part of Roots & Shoots global movement, and we are proud to pioneer this program in Qatar. For the past two years, our main focus has been on living healthy and Climate Change. For this, apart from the already existing garden, we introduced food composting and was successful in reducing the food waste from 7 Kg to 1.8 Kg in the school.

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Overview

Information on this page is provided by the innovator and has not been evaluated by HundrED.

Web presence

2018

Established

10

Children

1

Countries

Target group

Students basic

Updated

May 2024

I hope to see more and more students who are aware about climate change and the need of immediate action to combat the climatic disaster that we are in. We need all the resources, including AI to consider this problem as an emergency and funnel our energies and brains to act to slow down the pace of the Earth's destruction.

About the innovation

Why did you create this innovation?

I believed that one of the ways in which we can reverse climate change is by creating awareness and promoting education about the environment. I also wanted to educate our students about the importance of eating chemical free, fresh food and how over usage of chemicals can pose a threat to human and animal life.

What does your innovation look like in practice?

This year, we could harvest around 50 Kg of vegetables from a small backyard vegetable garden without using any chemical pesticides or fertilizers. We allow the dead plants to decompose in the same garden soil which adds nutrients and humus for the next season. We also grow beans to add nitrogen naturally to soil. Composting the food waste and using it in the vegetable garden has helped a great deal in improving the fertility of the soil.

How has it been spreading?

We share all our weekly activities in the Roots & Shoots website which paved way for the Roots & Shoots 2024 awards. We were one among the ten Roots & Shoots champions from among the 177 schools selected across the Middle East. In the awards which was held in Dubai, our aeroponic gardening and our Organic Garden gained much popularity and attracted many educators to adopt this program in their schools. Many schools in Dubai were interested in our activities and connected in multiple ways to bring this to effect in their schools.

If I want to try it, what should I do?

Please contact us in this email to know more about the program: nsaleem@qf.org.qa

Implementation steps

Self - Sustained Schools

* Every school must start a chemical free vegetable garden in their campus, this educates the students about food security and how to self-sustainable in growing food
* By December, we should be able to harvest some crops. These, however small should be supplied to the school cafeteria and served to students fresh or cooked.
* Every school should have a composting facility to compost the food waste.
* There should be an Aeroponic or hydroponic structure to engage the students in the off season.

Reuse and Upcycling Campaigns

* Every School should have a recycling unit where they can collaborate with the designing department in the school to upcycle the daily single use plastic items like milk cans, water bottles, spoons, forks, plates etc..
* Every school must also have a paper recycling bin.
* Periodically, the reuse campaigns can be run by the student clubs where a room will display preloved items which can be given to the people who need them for free.
* A paper bag making unit can also be envisioned in the schoo

Climate Change Action Brigade

* A group of students can work as an active group to promote awareness about climate change by running competitions, conducting campaigns, planting trees and by celebrating environmentally significant events.
* They can work on cutting electricity and water usage, can set up activities to create awareness in this regard.