Recognizing the importance of acquiring green skills and empowering children and youth, UNICEF has designed and presented for the first time in Greece the Green-Pal digital tool. All young people aged 14-24 living in Greece can access the tool for free by sending the message "Greenpal" via WhatsApp, Viber, Instagram or Facebook Messenger.
Users then interact with a chatbot through a series of interactive exercises exclusively designed to focus on the effects of climate change and how young people can reduce their carbon footprint and contribute to environmental sustainability. Specifically, the five exercises that can be completed in the timeframe that each person chooses, are as follows:
Upon completion of the above exercises, the user receives a Certificate of Participation from UNICEF.
1. Brush Up on
your Climate Knowledge.
2. What are
Greenhouse Gases anyway?
3. Create your
Awareness Campaign.
4. Meet Your
Local Heroes.
5. What can I do about it? The Power of Your Voice.
"We must all unite together for our common goal! If we don't take action to protect the environment immediately, in a few years there will be no more planet to live in!", says a 17-year-old girl from Central Macedonia, sounding the alarm and underlining the importance of young people taking immediate action for the environment and tackling climate change.
Green-Pal uses a learning approach that follows the principle of experiential learning. Children and young people learn through interactive exercises to reduce energy consumption, save water, and adopt environmentally friendly practices in their daily lives. It also contains short exercises focusing on i) green skills, ii) critical thinking, and iii) action skills.
Green-Pal was developed by UNICEF's Office of Innovation in collaboration with the Association for Learning Design and Education for Sustainable Development (ALDESD) and the American University of Sharjah (AUS). The tool was launched globally at the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai in November 2023. Green-Pal is designed based on the pillars of the Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) adopted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
To launch Green-Pal, the UNICEF Office in Greece will organize a series of webinars for teachers and face-to-face workshops for adolescents and young people aged 14-24 years old. Teachers interested in presenting the tool in their schools and classrooms can register their availability here.
