“IN TUNE WITH CLIMATE CHANGE” – VISA’S EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVE FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

SITUATION

Generation Z and Alpha are strongly oriented toward sustainable living. However, in Bulgaria, they lack access to practical and credible information on how they can contribute to sustainability efforts. This highlights a growing need for integration of environmental topic within the schools’ curricula to better prepare students to address climate challenges.

Recognizing this gap, Visa partnered with the Teach For Bulgaria Foundation to launch the “In Tune with Climate Change” project during the 2023/2024 academic year, with continuing it into 2024/2025.

This initiative offers a digital platform with resources and training for teachers on how to effectively educate students about sustainability. In addition to teaching climate change topics in the classroom, the program includes student engagement activities and competitions that challenge participants to develop innovative solutions for local environmental issues. Cutting-edge tools, such as interactive eco-playground equipped with NFC tags, further enhance the learning experience.

The project highlights Visa’s commitment to ESG principles, fostering a culture of sustainability and equipping future generations with the practical knowledge and tools needed to tackle global environmental challenges.

GOALS

• Enhancing knowledge and awareness of climate change among junior high and high school students while encouraging them to identify and address local environmental issues.
• Inspiring students to adopt sustainable lifestyle by emphasizing personal responsibility and the impact of individual actions.
• Extending the program’s impact beyond classrooms to families and communities, promoting sustainability as a shared responsibility.
• Reinforcing Visa’s role as a global innovator and responsible corporate citizen beyond its leadership in digital payments.

STRATEGY

• Support the integration of climate education into school curricula through accessible resources and teacher training.
• Inspire students to create and implement local climate solutions via competitions and hands-on activities.
• Foster community engagement through interactive tools and events.

TACTICS

Educational Resources:

Development of digital platform offering education materials for teachers:

• Visa-branded landing page on Prepodavame.bg (education portal of Teach for Bulgaria for Bulgarian teachers)
• Resource materials for teachers of pupils grades 5-12 (11-19 y)
• “Climate Change Lesson” handbook and video courses for teachers

Training initiatives for teachers:

• Training webinar
• Online workshop
• On-spot workshop at the national education conference “Good practices at focus”

Student Engagement:

Check the students’ knowledge and sentiments to the climate change topic and stimulate the interest to receive additional information

• Оnline quiz for pupils on climate change topics. Raffle with Visa awards for the most well-performed students.

Classes at schools that decided to participate in the project

• Teaching of pupils grades 5-12 (11-19 y) in schools all over Bulgaria – 1 academic hour weekly

Competitions:

• National contest for students to propose local eco-solutions, with awards for winning entries.
• National competition for teachers to present innovative projects in eco-education. The winning project was awarded.
• Real-world implementation of winning projects, such as the Green Teen Team initiative in Turgovishte.

Community Engagement:

• Installation of 50 NFC tags at a children’s playground in Sofia, linking to Visa’s eco-education materials.
• Public lecture of Visa representative in Sofia high-school for students 9-11 grades.

Media Communication of Visa and Teach for Bulgaria:

• Press releases: 4 – present the initiative, the main key messages and achieved results
• Advertorials: 5 – dedicated publications about students projects
• Visa Country Manager interview about the project
• Posts in Visa, Teach for Bulgaria and prepodavame.bg SM channels.

RESULTS

• 16,459 visits of teachers on the Visa-branded landing page at prepodavame.bg
• 2,036 teachers’ downloads of the “Climate Change Lesson” handbook
• 355 teachers attended webinar, online and on-spot workshops
• 1,255 students took part in the quiz
• 30,000 students trained nationwide, representing +4% of Bulgaria’s student population
• 73 student teams created projects, with three awarded. One of the winning projects – GТT – GREEN TEEN TEAM – raising environmental awareness, and building eco-habits in the school community is already implemented in the town of Turgovishte.
• 36 teachers participated in the competition to display their successful practices from Bulgarian classrooms within the eco-education project. 3 teachers who’s project won received Visa awards.
• 2.2 million daily visitors reached via online media
• 54 posts generating 86,708 impressions and 3,554 engagements on the social media channels of Teach for Bulgaria and Visa