2024-03-01 10:12:21
The “In Time with Climate Change” initiative covers students from grades 5 to 12 in Bulgarian schools during the 2023-2024 school year.
Visa and the “Together in Hour” foundation are partnering in the “In Hour with Climate Change” initiative, which aims to promote environmental education and raise awareness among junior high school and high school students in Bulgarian schools about ways to deal with environmental problems.
Visa’s inclusion in the Climate Change initiative is part of the company’s commitment to support the sustainable and environmentally responsible development of the economy and society. As one of the global leaders in digital payments, Visa is focused on developing products and solutions that help people and businesses accelerate sustainable consumption and behavior.
“We at Visa Bulgaria are dedicated to promoting a sustainable future. We have already made significant progress in terms of our commitment to the environment. Together with Bulgarian banks, we offer Visa cards made of biodegradable materials. Two years ago, Visa achieved global carbon neutrality in our operations and met our goal of using 100 percent renewable electricity in 131 offices in 76 countries and in our four global processing centers. To date, Visa has supported more than 600 sustainable mobility projects in public transportation, including in our capital Sofia. All of these actions show our commitment as a company to a more sustainable future, and I am proud to add to them our joint initiative with the “Together in an Hour” foundation aimed at the development of eco-education in the country,” said Krasimira Raycheva, Visa Bulgaria manager.
As part of the initiative, in October, 4 weekly quizzes were held for students through the educational site prepodavame.bg. The purpose of these quizzes was to attract the attention of children and show their knowledge of the factors that cause climate change. Since the opening of the quizzes, more than 2000 students have taken them. At the end, all participants are entered into a raffle and winners are rewarded with environmentally sustainable products provided by Visa.
“Modern research shows that climate change is a topic that young people are very interested in.” Unfortunately, there are few topics in the core curriculum that pay attention to it. That is why it is crucial that more teachers recognize eco-education as an opportunity to develop skills needed in the 21st century and to prepare today’s children for the challenges of the future,” says Yulia Mishkova, senior “Project Management” specialist at prepodavame.bg.
The “Together in an Hour” Foundation, supported by Visa, developed within the initiative support materials for teachers of children from grades 5 to 12 across the country related to the study of climate change and ways to deal with it. The four manuals prepared specifically for the project have already reached over 1,200 teachers from schools across the country. Using the materials, teachers can present the topic to students in an engaging and interactive way.
The most successful teaching practices from Bulgarian classrooms will be awarded in the “Focus Good Practices” competition and will be announced at the conference of the same name in April. To date, applications have been submitted for more than 200 good practices.
Within the framework of the program, since the beginning of the year, the competition for student projects has been launched, which challenges students to generate ideas and develop projects to help solve local eco-problems. Three student teams will have the opportunity to win prizes for improving the environment in their school and to conduct workshops with the educational community of prepodavame.bg at the “Good Practices in Focus” 2024 event in April. The implementation of the best projects will be supported by Visa Bulgaria.