Some of you may have wondered why the pediment of our school bears the mention "UNESCO Associated School"... why and for what?

By Thomas MAECHLER

But first, let's recall the basics! UNESCO stands for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Schools are therefore concerned by the "Culture" section, and our school was "associated with UNESCO" in 2007. The basis of this recognition is linked to the implementation of the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states, among other things, that "Every child in the world has the right to grow up healthy and safe, to develop his or her potential, to be listened to and taken seriously.

To have such a "label" shows those who have not yet had the pleasure of knowing us that the Steiner-Waldorf pedagogy is recognized by a "serious" international entity, and that this association is a guarantee of seriousness, respectability and openness.

Let's come to what we commit ourselves to after obtaining this label. First of all, of course, we have to comply with the above-mentioned Convention on the Rights of the Child. In addition, we are invited each year to a two-day seminar that brings together all the Swiss schools associated with UNESCO. We have a duty to share one or more of our pedagogical experiences, or those related to the existence of the school. The sharing of these different presentations on questions, current or completed projects, is very fruitful and inspiring for all.

The last of these seminars, in which I participated, was held in the World Nature Forum in Brig and gathered about thirty schools from all over Switzerland. We were introduced to the impact of climate change on the local geography, as well as to what the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch" offers to schools.

Then we all presented in a few minutes our respective contributions to the collective reflection "Sharing to grow". The topics were extremely varied, ranging from sharing thoughts on training for jobs that depend on sponsors with little "sustainable development" connotations to the creation of a clothing exchange room, run by students. Many of these presentations were made by high school students.

For our school, I presented what has been done over the past year to renew the outdoor games, kindergartens and primary classes. The goal was to give an example of what can be done, with or without outside companies, with a very modest budget or more consequent, by associating parents to the realization. All this with an emphasis on the use of natural materials, in line with a sustainable development approach.

We have also learned that the Swiss Commission for UNESCO is in the process of finalizing a computerized platform for the exchange of projects between Associated Schools. This platform will make it possible to propose or ask other schools if any of them would like to participate in an activity that is being prepared, to respond favorably to a request, to carry out an exchange between classes (of varying length depending on the age and the type of project)... Many opportunities to come that we could seize, for the students!

This forum was also an opportunity for very interesting informal exchanges; I came away enthusiastic about the potential of this circle of UNESCO Associated Schools. It is up to us to make the best use of those that we find interesting.