RCE Greater Kuala Lumpur - 2022

Education for Climate Action for Peace (E4CAP)
Basic Information
Title of project : 
Education for Climate Action for Peace (E4CAP)
Submitting RCE: 
RCE Greater Kuala Lumpur
Contributing organization(s) : 
The Blue Ribbon (TBR) Global (Project Initiator & Leader)
UCSI Group SDG Secretariat Office
CSO-SDG Alliance (Malaysia)
Laozi Academy
Blue Mountains Institute & Permaculture for Refugees (Australia)
UCSI Schools (Malaysia)
UCSI University (CERVIE)
UCSI College
Potato Productions (Singapore)
Kiwanis (Malaysia)
Focal point(s) and affiliation(s)
Name: 
Norani Abu Bakar
Organizational Affiliation: 
UCSI Group SDG Office
E-mail: 
norani@ucsigroup.com.my
Name: 
Noorulhuda Abu Bakar
Organizational Affiliation: 
The Blue Ribbon Global (E4CAP)
E-mail: 
noorulhuda.abubakar@gmail.com
Name: 
Nurul Fatihah Suhaini
Organizational Affiliation: 
RCE GKL
E-mail: 
fatihah@ucsigroup.com.my
Format of project: 
Virtual sessions (PPT, Videos), experiential learning
Language of project: 
English and Malay
Date of submission:
Sunday, September 4, 2022
Web link: 
https://www.facebook.com/EDUCATION4CAP
Additional resources: 
(General) The Blue Ribbon Global: https://www.facebook.com/blueribbonglobal/
(For teens) Teens4CAP: https://www.facebook.com/Teens4CAP/
CSO-SDG Alliance: https://www.facebook.com/APPGMSDGMY/posts/pfbid02vrrV6YhvcTPXoUykroUGi2tz9quP6PFf3tLcV5nj89QZRARqgZu2WrpEmr2exW7zl
Permaculture for Refugees: https://www.permacultureforrefugees.org/what-we-do/partners/
UCSI Schools: https://www.ucsiinternationalschool.edu.my/kl/world-soil-day-celebration/
Lush award: https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/ethicalcampaigns/lush-spring-prize
Instagram: SpringGardenSpring
Does this project link to any education and/or sustainable development policy or policies?: 
Yes
11th Malaysia Plan
At what level is the policy operating?: 
National
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
At what level is the policy operating?: 
International
The Paris Agreement
At what level is the policy operating?: 
International
National Forestry Policy
At what level is the policy operating?: 
National
Geographical & Education Information
Region: 
Asia-Pacific
Country: 
Malaysia
Location(s): 
Greater Kuala Lumpur
Address of focal point institution for project: 
Garden Spring, Lot 11274 Jalan Lawrence Law, Cheras 56000, Kuala Lumpur
Ecosystem(s):
Agricultural, Forest, Mountain, Urban/Peri-urban
Target Audience:
Community, Higher, Secondary, Teacher Ed., TVET, Youth (Informal)
Retirees
Socioeconomic and environmental characteristics of the area : 
Greater Kuala Lumpur (GKL) which area is about 2% of Peninsular Malaysia has around 8.4 million of Malaysia’s total population of 32.8 million, and approximately more than 2 million documented and undocumented migrants. It is among the fastest growing metropolitan regions in Southeast Asia, in both population and economic development, and is a unique multicultural Asian hodgepodge that offers a rich cultural experience and access to a diverse workforce and urban dwellers of different ethnicity, religion, nationality, and educational and socio-economic backgrounds. In 2020, GKL contributed to 40% of the nation's GDP and is the engine of Malaysia's economic growth.
Description of sustainable development challenge(s) in the area the project addresses: 
In May 2022, the All-Parliamentary Party of Malaysia for SDG (APPGM-SDG) conducted a research on the pressing needs of the Cheras community, i.e., where the RCE GKL office is, and mapped them to SDGs. The report listed improvements needed for these SDGs: Social - SDG 1.5, 3.8, 3.9, 5.1, 5.4; Environmental - SDG 12.4, 13.2, 13.2, 13.3; Economic - SDG 8.2, 9.1, 11.1, 11.3. In July 2022, APPGM-SDG and Cheras Member of Parliament selected RCE GKL as one of the Cheras solution providers for enhancing community resilience, educating the public and institutions on the climate crisis, and facilitating interagency and community collaboration to resolve environmental degradation; accelerated diminishing of its greenery; and enhancing CO2 sequestration. Prior to this research project, E4CAP has been working on enhancing food security among the forced and undocumented migrants in GKL, especially throughout the COVID-19 pandemic when many lost their sources of income and had to rely on food banks. The project officially began in October 2019 when a few alumni from Permaculture Design Course that TBR organized in June 2019 partnered to curate E4CAP training modules, a few months before the pandemic hit our global society.
Contents
Status: 
Ongoing
Period: 
October, 2019
Rationale: 
Education for Climate Action for Peace (E4CAP) provides continuous capacity development and builds collaboration among community members to enhance their resilience amidst drastic climate change. The program trains them in designing and implementing sustainable lifestyles, especially in the area of soil regeneration, setting up of edible gardens and food forests, and reforestation in an urban context. E4CAP is truly needed as many city dwellers were threatened by a food crisis despite the availability and accessibility of underutilized areas in GKL. Among the forced migrants that do not have access to mainstream education, the program connects the refugee and Malaysian school-aged youths and facilitates a change of narrative among the refugees as contributors to the GKL community's need for enhancement of food security. Refugee youths who converse in English and Malay better than their parents as a result of their education at refugee alternative learning centers build great bridges for social integration, and this is key amidst an uncertain climate extreme. E4CAP also provides opportunities for internships and livelihood preparedness training for the forced migrants and recoveries from substance abusers, and part-time jobs and volunteerism for the retirees. In GKL, the latter mostly had a great working experience but were challenged with positive emotional well-being during the pandemic lockdown and wish to engage meaningfully as members of the society.
Objectives: 
1) to provide a sound climate action education and training that focuses on regenerative design for living and implementation using the permaculture concept
2) to advocate United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) implementation through interagency and community partnerships
3) to enhance awareness of holistic well-being (physical, mental and emotional)
4) to foster peace, and unity, and to promote SDG 4 Quality, Inclusive, and Equitable Education
5) to create internship or job opportunities
Activities and/or practices employed: 
After the first 18-Day Permaculture Design Course organized by TBR in June 2019, followed by the birth of E4CAP in October 2019, the E4CAP implementation process involves 4 stages: Awareness, Comprehension, Action, and Commitment. Below are their flagship initiatives:
AWARENESS – event oriented: (a) Competition for World Soil Day since 2020, endorsed as a National Competition in 2021 by the Ministry of Education (b) partner for National Competition for BizChallenge since 2021
COMPREHENSION – short-term training: (a) Vocational Internship Program (VIP) since 2019 (halted during lockdown), (b) Eco-edible Gardening Course for high school-aged students (6 sessions virtual + 1 session practical) since 2020 (c) Introduction to Permaculture (15 hours) for adults since 2020, physical and virtual (d) Climate Action Incubator Program (CAIP) (3 months virtual + 1 day practical) since 2021
ACTION – enrollment to minimum 1-year mentorship & teamwork: (a) teens - Internship for VIP & CAIP graduates (17 to 19) since 2019 AND (b) youths and adults - being trained to facilitate its modules, e.g., Introduction to Permaculture participants & Eco-edible Gardening since 2019 (c) volunteers to Spring Garden Spring community garden
COMMITMENT – adopting any E4CAP modules for the long run: schools/learning centers adopting relevant VIP/ CAIP modules & setting-up own community eco-edible gardening
Size of academic audience: 
1000+
Results: 
2022 witnesses great demand for E4CAP's initiatives. NGOs or institutions that had attended E4CAP permaculture training have started setting up their edible gardens or are now planning to upscale E4CAP training for their centers, e.g., Feed the Hungry, Kiwanis, Girl Scout, and UCSI School. Increasing support from the government agencies is demonstrated by its recent long-term collaboration with the Department of Forestry in training and sapling planting and monitoring activities at Sungai Besi Forest Reserve Conservation. The key breakthrough happened when the Ministry of Education approved the participation of refugee learning centers in its Teens4CAP World Soil Day National Competition that was hosted by UCSI Schools in December 2021. This creates greater hope for inclusivity and mainstreaming of education for school-aged refugees. E4CAP also received two international recognitions in 2021 - Lush Spring Award (Young Category) and Youth in Permaculture Award. In 2022, APPGM-SDG acknowledges E4CAP's Spring Garden Spring (SGS) Community Garden as one of the solution providers to Cheras SDG. E4CAP has also collaborated with the National Anti-drug Agency Wilayah for monthly volunteerism at SGS for its clients.
Lessons learned: 
Challenges - During the COVID-19 lockdown, physical training for permaculture was difficult, especially when E4CAP lost the training venue that it had been using since its inception. However, this creates opportunities for others to extend support. This includes TBR's good neighbors, a family that offers a free lease of their land for E4CAP SGS community work, and Laozi Academy which provides indoor training space.
Success factors - interagency partnerships between government agencies, NGOs, learning institutions, CBOs, and individuals are key in thriving towards success in running for the long-run, and curation of sound curriculum content relevant to our targeted audience. Public engagement and a participatory approach to solving challenges and problems, including an intergenerational approach and inclusion of the under-privilege, are also fundamental for social and environmental regeneration.
Key messages: 
In this Anthropocene era, when our resources are diminishing, we have to look beyond 'sustaining' our planet for the sake of development. History has shown mankind's ability to adapt, hence, E4CAP invites community members regardless of their backgrounds to earnestly work together to transform our attitude, lifestyle, and business approaches, to truly live out people care, earth care, and future care, and to be brave to aspire life of abundance. We and nature are the solutions to today's climate problems. E4CAP advocates social and environmental regeneration and urges the community to begin with simple solutions restoring the soil underneath our feet and within what our hands can reach, and eventually to extend this to others, close and far, with inclusivity and equitability. We owe pursuing these climate acts to future generations.
Relationship to other RCE activities: 
Teens4CAP World Soil Day National Competition (hosted and organized by UCSI Schools)
UCSI College BizChallenge (by UCSI College)
UCSI University 3P-1G (3 Plants 1 Graduate)(by UCSI University)
National SDG Youth Summit (by CSO-SDG Alliance)
Peace and Unity Education (a required subject at El-Shaddai Refugee Learning Centre)
Funding: 
Fund Sept-Nov 2022 expenses from CSO-SDG Alliance
Fund from Lush Spring Award and Youth in Permaculture Award 2021
Zoom sponsorship from Potato Productions, Singapore
Garden Spring community garden:
(a) free lease of 1/3 acre of land from Low's family & sponsorship for fencing of the land
(b) free venue for indoor training by Laozi Academy
WWF Sungai Besi Forest Conservation Certification Project (TOR approved, waiting for the release of the fund for SGS)

Pictures:

File Name Caption for picture Photo Credit
Image icon E4CAP IP0 Aug2022.jpg (186.27 KB) E4CAP Introduction to Permaculture Aug-Sept2022 batch Own picture
Image icon E4CAP SGS KimNABNUdaAB 2022.jpg (891.02 KB) Briefing at Garden Spring UCSI Group
Image icon E4CAP IP01 SGS 3Sept2022.jpg (600.5 KB) Group (After planting at Sungai Besi Reserve Forest) Own picture
Image icon E4CAP IP05A SGS 3Sept2022.jpg (632.12 KB) Learning to make hot pile compost Own picture
Image icon E4CAP IP4 Aug2022.jpg (198.89 KB) Group designing edible garden Own picture
Image icon E4CAP IP0 20Aug2022 Zoom1.jpg (193.17 KB) Zoom Intro. to Permaculture Own picture
References and reference materials: 
PDF icon RCE GKL E4CAP2022.pdf
PDF icon Pemetaan Isu Kajian Lapangan Parlimen Cheras 2022.pdf
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
(https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs) and other themes of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
SDG 1 - End poverty in all its forms everywhere 
Indirect
SDG 2 - End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture 
Indirect
SDG 3 - Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages 
Indirect
SDG 4 - Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all 
Direct
SDG 10 - Reduce inequality within and among countries 
Indirect
SDG 11 - Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable 
Indirect
SDG 12 - Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns 
Indirect
SDG 13 - Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts 
Direct
SDG 15 - Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification and halt and reverse land degradation, and halt biodiversity loss 
Direct
SDG 16 - Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels 
Indirect
SDG 17 - Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development 
Indirect
Theme
Disaster Risk Reduction 
Direct
Traditional Knowledge  
Direct
Agriculture 
Direct
Arts 
Indirect
Curriculum Development 
Direct
Ecotourism 
Indirect
Forests/Trees 
Direct
Plants & Animals 
Direct
Waste 
Direct
ESD for 2030-Priority Action Areas
Priority Action Area 1 - Advancing policy 
state: 
Direct
Priority Action Area 2 - Transforming learning and training environments 
state: 
Direct
Priority Action Area 3 - Developing capacities of educators and trainers 
state: 
Direct
Priority Action Area 4 - Mobilizing youth 
state: 
Direct
Priority Action Area 5 - Accelerating sustainable solutions at local level 
state: 
Direct
Update: 
No
I acknowledge the above: 
Yes