We were hosted by GAP Ireland for oneweek in May 2018 to take part in a job shadowing. We visited local programmes in Ballymun, a suburb of Dublin, and participated in GAP IE activities such as Biodiveristy Week, where we joined in on a workshop with classes from a nearby girls’ primary school. The children explored the small ecological world of a local park, learning how the various species interacted to maintain their micro-ecosystem.
We visited the GLAS Community Garden, which was originally created to aid disadvantaged neighborhoods by providing healthy, available food options and skills in organic farming while raising the quality of life for the area. Together with local youth and adults, we helped run the garden for a day. We were also introduced to the Park Stewardship programme, a campaign aimed toward schools to promote the protection of local parks, along with a few other school-age environmental programmes.
Our job shadowing provided us many examples of practical, non-formal and informal activities for education on sustainable development. We also learned how to direct our educational materials toward different target audiences. Our work with GAP IE strengthened our capacity to design programmes that could motivate and rejuvenate local communities.
