Young Reporters for the Environment (YRE) is a European-wide environmental education programme developed for secondary schools by the Foundation for Environmental Education.

Students can work as an entire class or as a small team to undertake a project on the environment.The projects must relate to one of the following themes:

• Waste
• Bio-diversity
• Energy
• Water

Objectives of the YRE Project

The main objectives of the YRE project are:

• To encourage interest in and responsibility for LOCAL environmental, social and economic issues that impact on the students local community.
• To encourage sustainable living and behaviour stemming from heightened awareness of local environmental issues.
• To give students the ability to conduct research & write journalistic articles.
• To encourage project based pedagogy and innovations in teaching techniques.

The YRE project provides invaluable experience for students as they come into direct contact with the key players in their community; conducting research and interviews to gain knowledge on local issues before displaying that collated data to the community as a whole. As well as activating an interest in and heightening awareness of the local environment and indeed widespread local issues, it improves their communication skills, encourages teamwork among the class and introduces them to the notion of environmental citizenship and responsibility.

When implemented into a school, one of the benefits of the project is its transversal integration into the curriculum. Most subjects can be incorporated into work on YRE: science, history, geography, languages, computer sciences etc. Moreover, students acquire new skills in communication and the use of new technologies. Indeed the YRE programme shows that new technologies, and especially the Internet, can

help promote education, environmental issues and European co-operation.

This year the programme will also be a competition. For details, please go to the National Award Section.

In short, YRE is a vibrant and dynamic programme that couples digital technologies with active participation and environmental citizenship.

For more information, or how to register your school in the YRE Programme, please contact:

YRE Manager
An Taisce, 5A Swift’s Alley, Francis Street, Dublin 8
Tel: 01 400 2222 Fax: 01 454 1802 E-mail: yre@antaisce.org