Malawi
Malawi Change Project workshops will take place in 2021. In the meantime, teacher educators who are interested in starting work on ESD teacher education Change Projects can consult other examples from the projects being developed in participating countries and make contact with the UNESCO office to share their work.
We will also be sharing examples of earlier ESD Change Projects that were developed in Malawi from the ESD alumni network.
News & Events
Innovation Flourishes out of SST Change Project at Phalombe Teachers Training College in Malawi
Following the launch of PaMtondo Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Change Project at Phalombe Teachers Training College in Malawi on 10th December 2021, a situational analysis challenged teacher educators and student teachers to address overdependence on charcoal and firewood by communities surrounding the college. The members of the Change Project agreed on making fire briquettes from...
Change Project: Litter management to make Chiradzulu Teachers Training College and its surrounding communities green.
Veronica Mtawali, Chiradzulu Teachers’ College
The CoP identified that poor management of litter on the campus was an ESD challenge. They elected to introduce a waste management system, to green the campus and surrounding villages by planting trees, and to review elements of the curricula to mainstream ESD Principles. Additional benefits flowed from this change project, for example, the upcycling of litter to create teaching aids; and increased indigenous knowledge concerning medicinal plants on the campus. Further, the College management reviewed the vision and mission of Chiradzulu to make sure it was in line with the SDGs 2030.
Following the online SST course, the CoP was established and they held a workshop with the management, students and lecturers around the litter management practices of the College. The CoP received the full support of the college community for the change project and departments agreed to mainstream ESD in their curricula. A member of the CoP, Veronica Mtawali, stated that SST had introduced her to “Transformative learning as a pedagogy which helped us to look at learning and teaching in a different approach.”. The litter was sorted into organic and inorganic waste; and the former was converted to manure while the latter went into the creation of teaching aids. 13 000 trees were planted on the College grounds and in the 12 surrounding villages (1 000 trees provided by the Social and Environmental Sciences Department and 12 000 were donated by the Press Trust.)
Challenges faced by the CoP were that some of the CoP members dropped out of SST due to inadequate data to complete the online course; the college term was short and very busy which hindered the CoP from meeting together as planned; and there was erratic rainfall during the planting season which made the manure less effective. To scale the project, the CoP have a number of plans in place namely, student teachers will implement the same change project in the schools where they are posted; new students to the College will be inducted into the change project with a mandate to evaluate the project to date, and to continue upcycling waste into teaching resources and to continue making manure. CoP members who have not yet graduated will be supported to do so. The on-going vision is a clean, green school.
Change Project: Inclusion: a wider strategy towards SD; and Briquetting: ESD School-led briquetting project
Magwira, T. L, Phalombe Teachers’ Training College
The CoP observed that amidst the de-forestation crises in the region that the College was also producing a great deal of waste paper. They were also aware of the lack of entrepreneurial and vocational skills amongst students who had learning challenges. To address these problems the CoP initiated a change project that would develop the vocational skills of making briquettes from waste paper. As community members use charcoal and firewood to provide household fuel, the sale of briquettes, as an alternative source of fuel, would decrease the deforestation and would provide an income for those who made the briquettes. These were vocational and entrepreneurial skills which were accessible to those with challenges. The CoP also embarked on a reforestation at the campus.
This change project involved many participants – learners, staff and the community. They embarked upon a number of activities, for example, collecting waste paper, processing the paper into briquettes which was a job shared by the learners and members of surrounding communities. The CoP held demonstrations to show off the effectiveness of the briquettes to the communities and officials. They conducted dramas to raise awareness and held focus group discussions. The CoP applied the current curriculum to the sustainability problems which had been identified. Through this application of the ‘old’ curriculum its deficiencies were identified and in this way the curriculum was transformed to serve ESD. This was a novel approach to curriculum revision for ESD.
Change Project: Tree planting in area of traditional authority in Kamenyagwaza
St Joseph Teachers’ College
St. Joseph’s Teachers Training College is a government grant Aided college and it is situated in the area of Traditional Authority Kamenyagwaza in Dedza district, Malawi. The Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Dedza owned the college. It is the only female public Teacher Training College in Malawi.
The college is planting trees as a Change Project. At the onset of the project, participants shared the initiative with the chiefs surrounding the college who came to plant trees together with villagers. When planting trees, the college worked with the forestry department which supports raising the trees to plant along the riverbanks. Community took care of the seedlings for the planting along the river. The participants complained that raising the trees is problematic due to water scarcity. The SST team observed that the participants were planting exotic trees that require a lot of water. After further discussions, the community of practice agreed to be planting indigenous trees that need little or no water at all.
The CoP believed that the change project had the potential to:
- Mitigate climate change
- Improve the socio economic status of the people in the area
- Reduce the firewood problem in the area and reduce the charcoal burning practices
- Reduce the siltation of the rivers in the area.
The change project was successful as over 10 000 trees were planted altogether at the institution and in the surrounding communities. In addition to the tree planting project, the CoP initiated a waste paper project with the student teachers. The waste paper was made into paper mâché and moulded into useful items. The CoP gave the ELRC Scholars a painted waste paper bin to bring back to the Centre.
Change Project: Making briquettes to decrease charcoal usage and deforestation
Mary Phiri, Mponela Technical College
At Mponela Technical College, there are five TVET educators actively involved in the Change Project through the welding and fabrication unit. The community of practice is making briquettes to use in the coal fire stoves which burn longer and are used from waste materials. The participants shared that the project took time to take on due to lack of technical support. The SST team’s visit served as an ignition to their innovation which aims at supporting a circular production system.
Challenges which the CoP faced included not being able to source sufficient raw materials for the briquettes, time constraints which led to the use of WhatsApp and Zoom, and difficulty in sourcing data bundles for the webinar. The CoP observed that the use of traditional clay pots was more effective than modern pots when using the briquettes. They intend to extend the project to include this element. The CoP is hoping that the communities will adopt the briquettes as a new fuel source and pass this knowledge onto to other communities in the future. At the time of writing the project was continuing to progress.
Change Project: Transforming the campus through the planting of trees
Nyirenda Leonard, Karonga Teacher’s College
The challenge which the CoP identified was that ‘it has no favourable climate conditions’ and therefore the natural resources of the college must be well managed. The CoP decided on a change project that would improve soil quality, increase vegetative cover, manage waste (organic and paper), and provide an opportunity for community involvement. To achieve these aims, they decided on a tree planting project . Student teachers and Teacher Educators were all involved in the planting of indigenous and fruit trees.
In the top illustration the planting of trees is underway and in the bottom illustration the community are involved. The CoP found that the trees were being vandalised for food and medicine by the surrounding communities so instead of trying to keep the community members out, they invited them in to share in the tree planting in their own communities and benefit from the harvest. A second initiative was to upcycle waste paper into useful items using paper mâché and paint. This project continues to progress at the time of writing.
Change Project: Using renewable solar energy as a sustainable clean source of energy
Henry, Malawi Aida Technical College
The problem identified was the over-relance on wood from the forest as a source of domestic and industrial fuel. The idea of introducing solar energy as a source of electricity was chosen for the change project. The plan was to install solar panels at the campus and to include the nearby secondary school leaders, community traders and citizens to meet the solar panel providers and see how it works for themselves. The students were assigned to find out:
- merits and demerits of using solar electricity
- common places where industrial use of solar Electricity is done
- the effect of using solar electricity on environment
- contribution of using solar Electricity to minimizing climate change
Although the project was hampered by financial constraints, a demonstration site was set up and the project continues to make progress at the time of writing.
Change Project: Horticulture: Vegetables, trees and agroforestry
Hopeson Mkwanda, Blantyre Teachers Training College
The CoP identified that hunger and poverty were amongst the most severe problems in the community. In response to this, the CoP embarked on a change project to plant fruit trees and a vegetable garden and to use these activities to teach ESD to both the Educators and the Students. The CoP faced a number of challenges like pests and diseases, a lack of manpower during the holidays, deliberate uprooting of seedlings, and weather patterns. These challenges were overcome by involving the community, planting specific plants that grow well in the location and using agro-pesticides.
The CoP intends to continue with the edible trees and the vegetable garden as it is affecting the health of the community positively and they have observed participants growing vegetables at their own homes during the holidays. The CoP also intends to start an ECO-School at the campus.
Change Project: Proper waste and environmental management: Making briquettes, compost, manure and tree planting
Ronica Thangwi, Lilongwe Teacher Training College
The problem identified by the CoP was that there was poor waste management and degradation around the campus. They were particularly concerned about the waste of food remains, paper and organic waste from trees and plants. They also noted the deforestation from the overuse of wood and charcoal as a household fuel. To cover all these bases the CoP decided on a change project which would aim to create briquettes, upcycle waste paper into paper mâché bins, and make manure. The student teachers were encouraged to draw on the elders for indigenous knowledge and intangible cultural heritage. The CoP intended to use these activities as a mechanism for integrating ESD into the college. At the time of reporting the project was progressing well as can be seen from a photograph drawn for the CoP reporting for the SST assignments.
Change Project: Communal woodlots and plantations
Prince Kangachepe, Namitete Technical College
The challenge identified by the CoP was that due to the use of timber in construction and as a sources of fuel, there was a shortage of trees. To solve this problem the group embarked on a tree planting project. Teacher educators co-ordinated the planting of trees and the student teachers took care of the planted trees. The CoP also took advantage of a number of college events to promote the change project and were able to some institutional funding. The CoP faced headwinds on the project which they describe as,
Although there have been some challenges such as changes of climate and mind set of some community members, these ones have been sorted out by setting clear goals for the project through sensitization and replanting of the seedlings.
The CoP observe that there have been a number of successes as a result of the change project, for example, the timber shortage will be reduced, community members are upcycling the sawdust for useful purposes, community mindsets have shifted towards sustainability and 21st skills have been built amongst the students – especially with regard to creativity, planning and reaching goals.
Change Project: Sateco Park Land Management: Planting trees and clearing water draining systems
Isaac Lupiya, Salima Technical College
The challenge identified was that there is intensive soil erosion at the campus and the land is unstable. The plan was to plant trees and to clear water drainage systems. The CoP took advantage of the rains for tree planting and to cover the trees with baskets to prevent the goats and cattle eating them. Drainage systems were established although some were overwhelmed due to the heavy rains, nevertheless, others remained effective. These actions are illustrated from exerts from the CoP assignments. The CoP remain optimistic about the actions they have taken now as it will take time to see the full benefit. The project continues to progress at the time of writing.