Algerian, Indian, and Korean Students Ready to Take Action on Climate Change

Young teenagers from India, Algeria, and South Korea virtually met their peers through IVECA’s Live Class. After three months of collaborating through IVECA’s virtual classroom, students discussed the impact of climate change and how it affects the lives of the citizens in their countries. As climate change issues become more severe across different parts of the world, many activists are raising awareness of these effects and campaigning for solutions. To raise awareness of the problem within their countries, students presented to their peers some of the outcomes of climate change in their communities, such as air pollution in Korea, landslides in India and rises in temperatures and droughts in Algeria.

These middle schoolers were challenged to create sustainable solutions and motivate their audience to adopt their new ideas. Students shared possible actions that can be taken by the local communities to protect their environment, such as saving energy, recycling, using public transportation and using water mindfully. By enabling them to learn from each other’s diverse perspectives, students’ global collaboration inspired them to take an active role in this cause. “The solutions were amazing and very helpful… we will try to follow them in our country,” said an Indian student about her Korean partners’ presentations.

In wrapping up the Live Class, students from all three countries commonly resonated that it was a meaningful semester in which they gained a new perspective on the influence of climate change and sought personally feasible ways to solve the problem. The schools’ principals also highlighted the sense of accomplishment that students became part of the mission of raising awareness about climate change. The Korean principal shared his remarks emphasizing, “We have a duty to the future generations of the world, and working together we can implement the shared solutions.”

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Students Make Mindful Choices for A Global Society

In early December, partnerships from Korea and the United States came together to present mindful decisions to support UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Throughout the semester, high school students reflected on our daily choices that continue to produce negative effects around the world. After identifying two or three common choices and their impacts, students developed solutions for citizens to make conscious decisions in an effort to promote positive results. Group presenters highlighted choices to advance the progress of SDGs featuring environmental aspects and responsible consumption.

Climate change is noted to be caused directly by humans. It is human choices that affect the future of our global society. Students researched the consequences of specific choices and explained the best decision to their IVECA friends. Daily decisions that affect our environment include choice of transportation, duration of showers, consumption of food, and use of plastic products. Positive choices students proposed incorporated using a bicycle more frequently, taking short showers and being mindful of water consumption.

The current amount of product consumption by people around the world has created negative effects such as an increase in child labor, water contamination, and landfill usage. Korean students outlined three types of consumption; Impulsive, Conspicuous, and Imitation. Buying products from around the world has never been easier. With social media on the rise, consumers are quick to purchase items (Impulsive) to show a higher social status (Conspicuous) and fit in with others (Imitation). In order to combat this problem, American students suggested only buying what you need, researching products before you buy, and making the buying process inconvenient.

The goal of student presentations was met by raising awareness of how our everyday actions affect the future of our environment. An American student shared, “After all, I learned from you through IVECA, I am sure to make good environmental choices from now on. I plan on recycling more and reducing my consumption of unnecessary items for sure.” Through IVECA, students are making changes starting with themselves. It is beautiful to see future generations take accountability and make mindful choices for a global society.

#IVECA #interculturalcompetence #LiveClass #SDGs #GlobalCitizens #GlobalEducation #InterculturalExchange #IVECAFall

Chinese and Vietnamese teenagers inspired to improve the world through friendship and partnership

For two months this semester, high school students in China and Vietnam worked together for the first time in the IVECA virtual exchange program. As part of their projects, students researched the causes and effects of climate change in their countries to discuss possible solutions with partner peers. When they met through the Live Class this week, students enjoyed celebrating their global friendship while shedding light on local cultures as well as each other's collaborative work.

Besides learning about commonly shared environmental impacts of climate change, students from these neighboring countries had a precious opportunity to appreciate the diverse cultures they have. Chinese students introduced beautiful Hanfu, the traditional clothing of Chinese Han people, and Vietnamese students presented a dynamic dance performance filmed in their music club. Smiles on their faces and continued applause from the students showed their mutual attraction and respect for the activities. "...your performance is very attractive. The dance is very powerful, which makes me have an interest in your music," said a Chinese student while their Vietnamese peer commented, "This experience has been enjoyable, and I do hope that we will be able to meet again in the future."

Supporting the students' passionate conclusion to take action to protect the environment, principals stressed the importance of global collaboration to mitigate climate change. The Chinese principal elaborated, "We know that humans have a common destiny so that we will work together to overcome the disasters caused by climate change, and we have to take measures to protect our environment to maintain a green and peaceful life." The Vietnamese principal shared his inspiration in his closing remarks, "I'm very proud of you for your great effort, and I hope that you've learned much from the class and we can do something to improve the situation around the world."

#IVECA #LiveClass #SDGs #GlobalCitizens #21stCenturyEducation #GlobalPartners #CulturalCelebration #InterculturalCompetence