Environmental Education Program
KESAN’s Environmental Education Program (KEEP) encourages informed participation in locally initiated environmental protection and adaptation measures, promotes and preserves Indigenous knowledge, and raises awareness of the environmental threats faced by Karen communities.
The Environmental Education program develops and shares environmental education services and materials to raise awareness among villagers, youth, IDPs, community leaders and CBOs both inside Karen State and along the Thai-Burma border. The KEEP program includes outreach trainings, youth exchanges, the development of an environmental education curriculum, cultural curriculum, and vocational training program.
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Environmental Outreach
To raise environmental awareness among students, communities, and leaders, KESAN provides environmental outreach trainings on a wide range of relevant environmental topics including, unsustainable developments that destroy the environment, climate change adaptation, and approaches to the wellbeing of human beings and nature.
Environmental camp
KESAN’s environmental camp creates a platform where youth, students, community leaders, and elders from different areas come together to share environmental knowledge, Indigenous traditions and cultures that are environmentally friendly, and their visions of future Karen state and how to get there. The goal is to encourage youth to gain a greater understanding about the relationship between humans and nature within their local and cultural context, and for them to engage in environmental conservation in their communities.
Curriculum development
KESAN’s Environmental Education Program (KEEP) works with Karen Education & Culture Department and schools to develop and improve a curriculum that incorporate traditional knowledge and culture of Indigenous Karen people and environmental conservation. Currently, our environmental curriculum and other teaching aids are being used in the schools in the Karen State and Karen refugee camps in Thailand. KESAN is also working with Tha Nu Chet La school to develop a cultural curriculum that celebrates and educates traditional beliefs and practices of Karen peoples.
Environmental toolkits Development
KESAN’s Environmental Education Program develops, publicizes and distributes a variety of environmental education materials such as posters, briefers, videos, and guides to raise awareness among communities, leaders, and CBOs to encourage engagement in environmental conservation.
Latest publication
Cultural Resilience: A Revolutionary Perspective (Photo Essay)
This photo essay book depicts the cultural traditions of Lar Ku Ki Sue – the annual wrist tying ceremony carried out by Karen communities in August. Lar Ku Ki Sue is a part of intergenerational knowledge transmission, strengthening our cultural resilience, and sustaining social cohesion.
Upholding relations with spiritual entities through ceremonies like Lar Ku Ki Sue is an important part of maintaining a reciprocal relationship with the natural environment. This is the bedrock of Indigenous Karen environmental stewardship and Climate Change resilience. To unite against the injustices forced upon us and to reclaim our right to self-determination, we recognize that cultural resilience is just as crucial as armed and political revolutionary efforts. Check out a photo essay book for more information.
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