Dubai: EWS-WWF (Emirates Wildlife Society in association with WWF) has been named one of the top five programmes in the region and in the top 25 globally in the category of Education for Sustainable Development.

The NGO was invited to present its programme at the Unesco 2014 World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development in Japan last week.

The development comes at the end of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.

To maximise the impact of its environmental efforts, EWS-WWF encourages students to define, plan and deliver changes as part of Eco-Schools UAE.

Pupils are also offered the opportunity to work on a project to upgrade their school’s environmental efficiency with seed funding provided by EWS-WWF. The organisation also offers support to teachers whose schools are connected with its programmes and offers teachers the chance to earn a Green Teacher Diploma.

Often environmental information developed for use in other countries has little significance in the Arab region due to its arid climate. To overcome this, EWS-WWF has integrated locally relevant environmental knowledge into its education programmes, such as its online learning portal www.beatiwatani.com.

EWS-WWF also encourages students to conduct their own research on environmental topics that affect the region.