Improving Waste Management Education in Schools in Moldova : Sustainable waste management in schools related to societal and organizational barriers

Abstract: Poor waste management is a major issue in Moldova today, why work has been made in several areas to resolve waste problems. Still, there is no organized form of sustainable waste management. In case of implementation of such a system, the citizens must know how to use the system and be aware of the consequences that are caused by poor waste management. As a part of this, waste management education in schools has an important role. Therefore this study seeks the relation between waste management and waste management education in schools in Chisinau and also how the conditions in society affect the waste management and waste management education. Based on this, some efforts regarding how waste management in schools can become more sustainable are described.Literature studies showed that an integrative whole-school approach regarding sustainability is a good approach for encouraging action competence in environmental problems, including waste management issues. In order to study the current conditions regarding waste management education and school waste management, four schools in Chisinau were visited where observations and interviews were made. Interviews were also made with some relevant authorities and organizations to complement collected information from school visits. Field studies showed that even though environmental education in Moldova to some extent has been implemented with an interdisciplinary strategy, there are several barriers that affect the effectiveness of this strategy. In addition, waste related problems were blamed on society rather than an insufficient waste management education in schools.The conclusion of the study is that a whole-school concept may be implemented in schools in Chisinau in order to make school waste management more sustainable. This way waste management is taught informally as part of the school environment. To implement this concept, internal and external effortswithin the areas school organization, equipment and education are suggested. A more extensive approach on educational improvements necessary for the concept’s effectiveness will be described in another study on the same topic performed by Julia Skagerberg.