The journey of growth and care for people and trees is strikingly similar. Just as trees must be nurtured right from the nursery before they grow tall and strong, so too our young learners should be taught to become champions of the environment from a young age.
It is on this premise that The First Lady's Mazingira* Award (FLAMA), a national annual environment and climate change competition was designed and implemented with support from various stakeholders and partners to tap into the creativity and innovation of young learners.
The competition aims to cultivate environmentally conscious, and climate ready learners equipped to act as agents of change and play a vital role in safeguarding the environment for future generations. With a vision of fostering environmental stewardship and building adaptive capacity, this initiative is poised to make a long-lasting impact towards a green and sustainable future for Kenya and beyond.
The competition provides a platform for children to learn to learn; by learning to do and learning through creative expression, empowering them to take action and also promote a culture of environmental entrepreneurship. FLAMAs objectives include nurturing young leaders for environmental conservation, encouraging climate action and eco- entrepreneurship and contributing to Kenya's ambitious goal of planting 15 billion trees by 20232. This is captured in FLAMA’s tagline; Mazingira Yetu, Jukumu Letu, Swahili for Our Environment, Our Responsibility
In collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry and various stakeholders, FLAMA is rolled out annually in schools across Kenya, where learners creatively express themselves around a climate change theme through art (painting and drawing), English and Swahili essay and poetry. The fully digital competition allows teachers to guide students through the entry and submission process.
In the 2024 FLAMA Edition, learners submitted their views and solutions under the theme; Restore our Land, Secure our Future which mirrored the 2024 World Environment Day theme allowing learners to provide local solutions to global challenges. Over 1,000 schools participated from across Kenya’s including special need learner schools. A panel of 40 judges including teachers and subject matter experts, developed robust judging criteria, trained to use the digital assessment platform, evaluated entries, validated scores and selected winners in each category.
The winning learners, including special need learners, teachers and schools were recognized and celebrated on October 10, 2024, during the Environment Day celebrations.
FLAMA also engages schools in climate action projects like tree planting, water harvesting, and sustainable waste management. This comprehensive approach aims to raise awareness, drive sustainable practices, influence policy, engage communities, foster creativity, and encourage tangible environmental actions for a greener future.
A multi-stakeholder, multi-sectoral, intergenerational approach is used to jointly co design, develop and implement FLAMA through a Technical Working Group (TWG). The FLAMA TWG is made up of technical and subject matter experts from relevant organizations including Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and incorporates relevant experts as and when the need arises. The TWG has representation of young people and special need learner experts.
Once the Technical Working Group (TWG) selects the FLAMA theme for the year; the guidelines, terms & conditions and communication materials are developed for wide dissemination.
The Award is initially announced through a circular sent out by the Principal Secretary of Basic Education, Ministry of Education and cascaded to the schools nationwide through the Regional, Country and Sub Country Directors of Education. FLAMA Secretariat then holds awareness forums across the country with education stakeholder associations including; Kenya National Union of Teachers, Kenya Primary School Head Association, Kenya Secondary School Heads Association, Special School Heads Association, among others.
The FLAMA team also visits schools across the country to create awareness and have learning events including in hard to reach schools and school for learners with disability ensuring no learner is left behind.
The FLAMA announcement is also shared electronically through social media and social groups to ensure as wide participation as possible.
1. Initially the Award was run in only one county in Kenya. The Awards has now expanded allowing learners from primary and secondary schools across the country to participate leaving no learner behind.
2. The Award is intentional about learners living with disability and has included a dedicated entry category and assessment for special need learners. This was made possible by having special need learner experts and curriculum developers in the Technical Working Group to ensure inclusively and diversity in the competition.
3. Currently, the competition is offered in English, Swahili, Sign Language and Braille. Swahili is Kenya's national language allowing for language Inclusivity and promoting cultural expression in environmental conservation. In future editions there will be a consideration for incorporating local languages to allow for intergenerational learning and indigenous knowledge in climate action.
4. Currently the artistic classification in the awards is art (painting and drawing), essay writing (English & Swahili) and Poetry (solo, choral and spoken word). In future editions, there will be other forms of creative expression such as recycled art, photography, music and drama.
To integrate a national and annual environment and climate action award such as the First Lady’s Mazingira Awards (FLAMA) into your country or school;
• Align with global and national priorities in climate education. Global climate education frameworks include UNFCCC’s Action for Climate Empowerment, SDG Goals 4.7 and 13.3, Education for Sustainable Development, Green Education Partnership among others.
• Ensure involvement and by in from relevant Ministries – including Education and or Environment and other Departments and Agencies such as Forestry, Curriculum development among others
• Secure financial and technical support from governmental bodies, NGOs, and corporate and private sector partners to ensure successful implementation.
• Establish a Technical Experts Committee comprising relevant stakeholders to co-design, develop, roll out and implement the environment and climate change award focusing on national needs.
• Develop hands-on climate action initiatives in schools such as tree growing, waste management and water harvesting projects tailored for student engagement and to allow learning by doing.
• Reach out and engage with FLAMA Secretariat team members to share experiences and expertise, fostering collaboration and knowledge exchange.
• Start with a pilot and build on lessons learnt and what works well, inspiring a generation of environmentally conscious and climate resilient citizens ready to make a positive impact on their communities and the planet.
