Students and teachers across various educational levels stepping up to take action for conservation, with most nominations received to date under Community in Nature Schools Award 2024

- Winners to receive prizes from Guest-of-Honour President Tharman Shanmugaratnam at upcoming 13^th edition of Festival of Biodiversity

- Public can look forward to an exciting lineup of programmes and activities at the Festival to learn more about the rich biodiversity in our City in Nature

A record total of 70 nominations from a range of educational levels from preschools to junior colleges were received for the third edition of the National Parks Board's (NParks) Community in Nature Schools Award. This is the highest number of nominations since the biennial award started in 2020. The Award recognises the efforts of educational institutions, educators and students in proactively promoting the conservation of local biodiversity. This reflects the growing commitment within educational institutions to bring nature conservation into the curriculum and to engage more young Singaporeans to participate in biodiversity conservation. As our youth will be the future stewards of our city, such efforts within educational institutions are critical to Singapore’s transformation into a City in Nature.

President Tharman Shanmugaratnam will present the Award to the top winners at the upcoming Festival of Biodiversity, the biggest biodiversity festival in Singapore. Members of the public can also learn more about our native biodiversity by participating in an exciting array of biodiversity-themed programmes and activities at the Festival, which will be held on 25 and 26 May at One Punggol.

Schools, teachers and students taking action for nature conservation

The 70 nominations received for Community in Nature Schools Award 2024 are an increase from the 44 and 65 nominations received in the first and second editions respectively. There are three award categories – School, Teacher and Student – across educational levels ranging from preschools to junior colleges.

The nominated projects showcase a diverse range of initiatives that include environment- and biodiversity-focused interdisciplinary project work, student-led eco-trails and weaving nature-related topics into schools’ curriculum. For example:

·       Mee Toh School, winner of the “School of the Year” Award, developed an interdisciplinary biodiversity programme where biodiversity-related learning points were woven into various subjects including English, Mother Tongue, Science, and Art. Students were taught the names of biodiversity in their mother tongue languages, discussed the issue of urban wildlife visiting residential estates in their English classes, and learnt to build ‘Fauna Hotels’ for pollinators in their art classes and how to code micro:bits to complement its function. For example, by programming a sensor and incorporating it into the structure for data collection.

·       Mr Mohan Krishnamoorthy from Greendale Primary School, winner of the “Teacher of the Year” Award, inspired and empowered his students to explore and implement solutions to various environmental challenges. He led them in designing and building a wetland pond in the school, which not only provides habitats for biodiversity, but offers learning opportunities for the wider school community as well. In addition, Mr Mohan worked with his colleagues to weave the wetland pond into the school’s Science curriculum, providing more opportunities for experiential learning.   

The Community in Nature Schools Award aims to encourage educational institutions to take on a more active role to conserve our natural heritage. It also provides a networking platform for educators to exchange biodiversity-related knowledge and experience.

13^th edition of Festival of Biodiversity, the biggest biodiversity festival in Singapore

Organised by NParks in collaboration with the Biodiversity Roundtable, the Festival of Biodiversity is an annual celebration of the community’s efforts to conserve Singapore’s natural heritage. It is also the culmination of NParks’ Biodiversity Week to commemorate International Day for Biological Diversity, and aims to deepen appreciation and build stronger ownership of our rich biodiversity among Singaporeans.

This year’s Festival will feature an exciting array of biodiversity-themed programmes and activities, such as interactive booths by the nature community and schools, exhibitions, talks, guided nature walks, and art and craft workshops. In addition, there will be supporting programmes and activities held at various locations across Singapore.

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Information accurate as of 23 May 2024