We can all help protect our planet. Will you?
IHWO Environmental Commitment
Since February 2020 International House World Organisation (IHWO) has been active with new projects and initiatives to raise the issue of environmental sustainability throughout our network and in the language teaching industry.
Students have taken part in international projects, IHWO has made new policy commitments, and IH schools have been encouraged to take overt actions to safeguard our planet and minimise the negative impacts we have on our environment. We want to protect our precious planet.
The 40,000 km walk challenge
Our newest project is a 40,000 walk challenge starting on 1st October 2021. We want to reduce harmful CO2 emissions and change peoples’ habits. Staff and students of IH schools around the world will be walking a combined 40,000 km between October and the end of the year. We are walking short every-day journeys instead of taking the car. 40,000 km is the circumference of the earth. We want the whole IH community to walk around the earth by the end of the year, giving it a metaphorical hug.
How are IH schools taking part?
We are encouraging staff and students in all IH schools around the world to challenge each other, set a target, and keep a total of how many kilometres they are walking. IHWO will be keeping a global totaliser, updated regularly, to track our progress around the world.
As well as raising environmental awareness, this project creates wonderful opportunities to enrich the curriculum and extend students’ learning. IH schools can “virtually” walk to each other, or “virtually meet” at a central point of interest. An online meeting at the end would provide opportunities for students to use their language learning in a real context, and meet like-minded students from other countries and cultures and see what environmentalism means to them.
The central IHWO team will be completing a “virtual” walk around the North Pole on the frozen Arctic Ocean, highlighting the environmental issues of the melting ice cap and the loss of habitat for rare arctic flora and fauna.
We are looking forward to hearing how other teams are embracing this challenge!
For full details, see the event page https://ihworld.com/events/events/40-000km-walk/
