For my fourth week of work experience I spent a week with an organisation called ECO UNESCO, in Dublin! What does ECO UNESCO do?ECO-UNESCO is Ireland's environmental education and youth organisation. It is part of the World Federation of UNESCO Clubs, Centres and Associations (WFUCA). During the week I spent there I discovered its aims are:
- to raise environmental awareness, understanding and knowledge of the environment among young people
- to promote the protection and conservation of the environment
- to promote the personal development of young people through practical environmental projects and activities
- to promote the ideals of UNESCO
Without further adieu I will briefly explain to you the type of work I did at ECO UNESCO and tell you the things I learnt from this exciting week. Every year ECO UNESCO run a hugely successful programme called the 'Youth Environmentalist Awards'. It is an all-Ireland environmental awards programme that recognises and rewards young people who raise environmental awareness and improve the environment. The President of Ireland attends the final each year and many other prominant figures attend the final too. I think it would be a fantastic programme for St Gerard's to get involved in, it can be compared to the BT Young Scientist Awards only it is based on the environment instead of science. While I was at ECO UNESCO I helped prepare for the Young Environmentalists Awards, as the final was to take place a few weeks after my work experience. I manually sorted out all the projects belonging to the finalist's by topic, age group and by province so that the judge could easily examine the projects and pick the winners. I also transferred feedback given by students on ECO UNESCO's Young Environmentalist workshop, and other workshops that the organisation provides, on to an excel file. I was very grateful for having completed the ECDL module on Excel as it made the job a lot easier!
Others jobs I was given at ECO UNESCO include analysing the effectiveness of their website and creating a SWOT (strengths, weaknesess, opportunities and threats) analysis. As their target market is the Irish youth, they were interested to hear my opinion on their website and their programmes. In addition I verified their contacts list to check if any details such as email adresses or phone numbers or directors of organisations had changed. I learned how to efficiently find the contact details of many companies, radio stations and organisations! During the week I got the chance to talk to various people working at ECO UNESCO about their work which was very fascinating. I learned all about the programmes they offer such as a programme specialised for people who are not suited to the school system or for individuals who have completed school but are not sure what they'd like to do next, and this programme provides these people with valuable skills and fundamental knowledge, contacts and resources on how to find the best careers for them as well as basing these courses around the environment. One of my jobs was to try out a few websites and online resources which could potentially be used in these programmes and list the pros and cons of each online resource. As well as that I browsed through online newspapers for interesting environmental stories, and I had to summarise these articles in my own words. The great thing about ECO UNESCO being located in the heart of Dublin City is that I could wander around Dublin during my lunch breaks and try out new cafes and restaurants and get to know the city better, which I thoroughly enjoyed!
I had a fun and worthwhile week of work experience at ECO UNESCO and I got out of my comfort zone throughout the week, which is what Transition Year is for! I learnt a great deal about the environment and I am now more aware about it. I also discovered the countless programmes and courses available for every type of person! I will most definitly recommend the school to get involved in the Young Environmentalist Awards and maybe enter the competition myself next year!