Did you know that bees dance to make honey? Amazing! Originally designated by the United Nations, on the 20th of May the world decided to celebrate these very important and small creatures. So did the RIS Eco Council! The celebrations were very active and even if we had to develop them digitally, we managed to spread the message to each student effectively.
To mark the event, the Eco Council organised a variety of activities for our students during the assembly, such as a House competition and a special lecture with Dr. Franco Ferroni, the Head of Agriculture and Biodiversity of WWF Italy, and Dr. Alberto Zilli curator of the Lepidoptera collection from the Natural History Museum London. These talks focused on the importance that biodiversity plays in our lives and the relevance of the bees and insect pollinators.
A very important outcome of this lecture was on the impact that climate change has had on these species. It had been proven that due to factors such as global warming, pollution, deforestation and other factors, the insect species population started to decline in number. Their existence is important as our own ecosystems depend on their actions and more relevant is the pollination process carried out by bees and other insects.
It is also important to mention that to start solving the problem of the pesticides causing the decline of insect species and the damage to the ecosystems, WWF Italia is running the European Citizens Initiatives (ICE in Italian) ‘Stop Pesticidi per fare la pace con la natura’ (Here is the link to take action!).
If the initiative will receive the minimum amount of signatures required, the European Union Commission and Parliament will consider WWF Italia’s proposal, which consists of eradicating the use of pesticides by 80% by 2035 to protect insects and most importantly our own health!
Furthermore, we organised a House competition entirely dedicated to bees. You might be thinking how is it possible to organise such a challenging event only for bees? Well that’s what we did! Each student from the Early Years up until to the High School was asked to voluntarily film themselves dancing either the ‘Ape Maia’ song or the ‘Tootsie’ song by Drake in order to make the connection to the dance bees do to produce honey. We were stunned by the high level of attendance and even some teachers took part in it (Ms Vanneste and Mr McNeill particularly took the lead, well done!).
The students were also given the possibility to dress up as bees to celebrate the bee's joyful colors and some of them even painted their shoes black and yellow. We are very proud of the amazing environmental awareness that our school has and the leading role that our students have in shaping a greener world of tomorrow!
In conclusion, as the Eco Council Students Vice Coordinator Alessandro L. said, quoting Dr Alberto Zilli, , ‘If we really care about our lives, we should really care about insects'. We must start caring about these marvellous creatures that help us in so many ways!
I would like to quote the notable words of the Indian Lawyer Mahatma Gandhi, that always guide me during challenging experiences, ‘Be the change you want to see in the world’.
This is to say that we can make it possible and that expeccially during these hard times it is important to be united ! Keep safe and stay tuned! Thanks to all the students, parents and teachers that participated and see you at the next Eco Council event!