Makassed Center for Developmant and Environment has been established in 1992 to achieve the following goals: To launch environmental awareness campaigns among the local communities. To encourage community participation in upgrading the environmental situation through environmental projects. To coordinate on the local and international levels in order to exchange experience, information, and programs regarding environmental issues.

The most important achievements of MCDE since its initiation is the launching of several environmental projects and programs; most importantly:

I- Paper Sorting and Recycling Project
Launched in 1996 whereby the paper is sorted in each classroom, gathered in each location, and sent to the recycling factory on a monthly basis.
It is important to mention that each tree provides the oxygen need for 3 people daily.
Recycling each ton of paper preserves 17 trees.

Project Achievements
- The implementation of the project started in 1996 in 3 schools out of 10 Makassed schools in Beirut, namely Ali Bin-Abi Taleb Elementary School, Abd AlKadr Kabbany High School, and Ali Bin-Abi Taleb High School.
- Next year, the project covered all Makassed schools in Beirut (10 schools), addressing around 10,000 students in addition to their teachers and administration.
- In spring of year 2000, all Makassed offices and departments were included except the hospital, thus, covering around 2500 employees.
- With the beginning of school year 2001-2002, and with the cooperation of Sukleen Company, the concept of the project was enlarged to cover total sorting of solid waste in Makassed schools in Beirut. Sukleen Company provided sorting bins to each school, where the sorted waste would be gathered waiting for pickup on weekly basis.
The launching of the project was coupled with awareness campaigns and lectures to students, employees, administration, and garbage collectors in each school. Continuous follow-up, evaluation questionnaires, and awareness reminders on regular basis supported the project. In addition to the above, annual educational activities paralleled the project, either individually such as a club for manual paper recycling in Ali Bin-Abi Taleb High School, or on a group basis such as The Paper Fair in 1998.
There is plan to duplicate this project in the near future in Makassed schools outside Beirut also (around 38 schools scattered in the Lebanese territory).

Top

1. Women Participation in Urban Management Program
2. Awareness and Advocacy Program
3. Environmental Youth Voluntary Program
4. Children Nursery Program

Women Participation in Urban Management Program
The best solution to properly manage the increasing solid waste problem is through: launching mass awareness campaigns about environmental problems to increase the citizen's responsibility towards their environment and its limited resources. Thus, concentrating on the concept of sorting the solid waste for recycling purposes, and educating people on the reduce and reuse techniques.
Based on these concepts, Makassed Center for Development and Environment (MCDE) -with a financial assistance from the Urban Management Program-launched a pioneering project in Beirut-Tarik El Jadida area- directed to the civil society, and especially women. This area was chosen as an example of poor, densely populated districts characterized with clear environmental problems.

The idea of the program was clarified based on the results of two scientific studies, namely:
- A scientific study about household solid waste problem in Lebanon (its amount, seasonal and geographical fluctuations, content percentage…). The environmental engineering department in the American University of Beirut during the years 94-96 did this study.
- A socio-economic study for the feasibility of the project in Tarik El-Jadida area, and the ability of the residents to participate in its activities. The study was implemented by Maa-Data Institution for Research during year 1996.
The idea of the program is suggesting a partial solution for household solid waste problem in Tarik El-Jadida highly condensed district (approximately 3000 residents, out of which 700-1000 are women). This is done through reusing the sorted waste as raw material in producing beautiful marketable artistic products. Therefore, the program would help in reducing the solid waste problem on one hand, and increase the income of women thus upgrading their economic status from the other hand.

1. Environmental awareness campaign about household solid waste problem (from house to house). Special posters and brochures carrying the proverb " preserve your old items, to sustain your new ones" were prepared by MCDE for the awareness campaign. The brochure explained the solid waste problem and the suggested solution through the 3R concept: reduce the amount of produced waste, reuse the waste before throwing it, and ultimately recycle it. The awareness campaign covered a pilot area around the center- 500 houses in 29 buildings, where 275 houses participate in sorting. These houses were covered during 20 days with the help of volunteers from the Makassed Civil Defense. It should be noted also that a lot of textile factories and shops were covered in this awareness campaign also.
2. Collection of the sorted solid waste from the participating houses twice monthly by a worker allocated from the program.
3. Storage of the sorted solid waste in the center, for later use in the artistic environmentally friendly handcrafts or recycle in recycling factories.
4. Use of the sorted waste as raw material for training women on the techniques of environmentally friendly handcrafts. The center offers 6 specialties up till now, which are:
   1. Patchwork from small new textile pieces.
   2. Weaving on the loom from large old used textile pieces.
   3. Painting techniques especially on glassware.
   4. Production of newspaper containers by transforming the newspaper into its woody origin.
   5. Collective art where different decorative products are produced using versified raw material.
   6. Mosaic technique using crushed ceramic tiles.
      The project has organized 9 training courses up till now, serving 564 women from the different specialties; whereby 274 ladies graduated perfecting the artistic techniques.
      These courses are free of charge and trains women on the techniques of reusing the sorted material in producing useful beautiful artistic products. Each training course extends for 10 weeks; two sessions weekly for each artistic specialty. Thus, the program offers these courses 4 times annually serving around 360 women (90 women per course).
      
5. To fulfill the goal of empowerment of women, and to support the graduating women in the production of environmentally friendly handcrafts, a productive atelier was launched by the project, providing every possible support for the productive women: material, instruments, …. in addition to marketing support through:
   - Organizing internal exhibitions
   - Participating in external ones.

Awareness and Advocacy Program
Tarik El-Jadida Urban Development Center has launched in 1999 an awareness program for women in the area. It covers social, health, and environmental subjects selected based on their needs and request, and presented by specialists in their field.

Environmental Youth Voluntary Program
This program depends on a group of volunteers - mostly residing in the area - who are interested in environmental activities for their district. Thus, their role is to identify the district's environmental problems, plan relevant projects, and implement them.

Children Nursery Program
The children nursery provides day-care for children from age 40 days to 4 years, supervised by educational specialists, and nurses, and supported by regular visits from a pediatrician and medical insurance against accidents. The nursery is divided into several sections based on the children age group, where by each group receives the relevant educational and recreational activities.

Future Outlooks and Plans
In spite of all the above described accomplishments, the project has a lot of future plans such as: increase and diversify the artistic specialties offered, improve the awareness program and the coverage of its subjects, increase the geographic coverage of the project in Tarik El-Jadida district with the coordination of the NGOs and CBOs in the area, replication of the project's experience in other Lebanese areas, providing Liaison routes with micro-credit programs to support the women in reaching financial independency, enhancing the marketing of the produced artistic goods through fixed marketting centers.

Top

III- School Environmental Clubs

School Environmental Clubs in Makassed Schools-Education about Environment and for its Sake; accompanied with Capacity Building Projects addressed to the Teachers coordinating the clubs, and annual educational activities to the Students
Environmental education is a process that offers information, concepts, and skills in an objective way, accompanied with extra curricular activities in order to achieve the change in attitude and actions toward environment, and the encouragement of civic society participation in finding the appropriate solutions to environmental problems; thus, attaining environmental education (Learning through Action).
Environmental education addresses all categories of the society to reach the needed change. But, according to the proverb "Learning young is similar to engraving in stone", therefore, addressing youth affects their choices and attitudes positively -especially that they represent the most affected group- and affect their parents in an indirect way also.
Why school environmental clubs?
The environmental club consists of a group of people meeting voluntarily to learn about environment, and the appropriate ways for its protection. It is well known internationally, that the best educational experience is through adopting practical and extra curricular activities in the teaching process, since it:

1. Attracts their attention more, makes them nearer to reality and environment, and to the scientific information.
2. deepens their contact with nature, introduces them to the natural resources in their country, and increases their awareness of its importance to their quality of life.
   
3. increases their awareness about environmental problems; local, and international.
4. trains them on the skills of group work, and the respect for other's opinion.
   
5. Gives them the practical experience in studying their environment and its problems, thus, encouraging the environmentally friendly activities.
   
6. Teaches them the skills of logical analysis when faced with problems, and thus, the selection of the best appropriate solution.
   Through this project, school environmental clubs were established in 10 Makassed schools in Beirut, addressing students from different educational grades in each school. These clubs are involved in versified activities during the school year, in addition to the participation in national environmental fairs and contests, and the implementation of environmental fairs and activities - as a group- on annual basis.
   It is planned to transfer the experience of these school environmental clubs to Makassed schools outside Beirut after offering training and capacity building for teachers in these schools.
   

Top

IV- Schools Gardens Project

The increase in building blocks in Beirut City and the random settlements prevent the turnover of air between them. The increase in the number of residents in the city, led to the loss of public gardens and green spaces, which resulted in the condensation of polluted air and the pressure on the city's infrastructure, which can't accommodate that increase in residents.
The last report from the Green Line Organization states that the green space in Beirut is only 0,8 m2/resident while it should not be less than 40 m2.
Based on the above, the goal of the school garden project is to support the schools and encourage them to start a training and productive school garden where the students will be responsible for its implementation and continuous care using the organic planting technique (without the use of chemical fertilizers and toxic pesticides). The students will be involved in this project under the supervision of the coordinator of the environmental club who is trained on the techniques of planting.
This project could be beneficial later on in: providing plants for planting campaigns inside the schools, or coordinating with the municipality of Beirut for future planting and decorating of public gardens in Beirut City.
Project Goals

1. Participate in finding a partial solution for the problem of rare green spaces in Beirut City.
   
2. spread the awareness among the civil society about the importance of planting and green spaces, especially in the cities.
3. Initiate a productive and save hobby for children and teenagers; thus, protecting them from drifting into social problems.
4. Increase the environmental awareness of citizens, by working with the youth category of the society who represents the future generation.
   Teachers from 15 Makassed schools participated in a training workshop about the techniques of planting last spring, and it is expected to initiate the school gardens during this school year 2002-2003.

Top

V- " Water: The Origin of Life"
Awareness Project about Proper Management of Water Resources
The situation of water resources in Lebanon is considered positive compared to other countries in the Middle East area, since Lebanon is characterized with abundant annual rainfall. But, in spite of the abundant annual rain volume, it is expected for Lebanon to suffer from shortage in its available water resources for consumption in the next 10-15 years especially if the adopted human activities continue as they are.
Therefore, with the foreseen shortage in the next fifteen years, and the pollution of the water resources; all this neccessitates the work on awareness campaigns concentrating on the importance of the water resources for the quality of life, and recommending environmentally friendly consumption procedures in all economic sectors of life (In addition to the duty of the government in rehabilitating the water networks and sewerage system).

General Goal
To develop positive attitude and actions towards proper management of water resources by students, teachers, and administration in Makassed Schools in Beirut. This is done through attaining the following objectives:

1. Spread the awareness about the proper and economic ways for water consumption and use, and its importance, and the scientific techniques for water treatment and its ways for implementation.
2. Convince the students about the importance of water resources and its protection for our quality of life; thus, affect their attitude and actions positively.
   Project's Activities and Time Frame

1. Spread the awareness in schools through providing scientific references, lectures, and discussions with students.
2. Announce a contest with the general theme "Water: Origin of life" for school students. This contest is divided into two sections:
     - addressed to elementary students with the theme "ways to conserve water resources" using drawings, educational plays, brochures, theatrical plays, songs, …
     - addressed to intermediate and secondary students with the theme "scientific ways for proper treatment of drinking water, sewage, and sea water" using scientific examples, research projects…
3. Prepare an awareness brochure about "practical ways to preserve water resources", to be distributed during the award festival.
4. Plan and implement a festival at the end of the school year to announce the winners and distribute the awards.

Top

VI- Environment Fairs

Organization of environmental fairs, exhibitions and conferences

- Paper Fair in 1997
- Recycling Exhibition Contest in 1998
- Environment: Art and Crafts Exhibition in 1999
- Craft Products for Mother's and Child's Day in 1999
- Environmental Festival in 1999
- Environmental Fair in 2001
- Yearly Planting Campaigns
- Initiation of Environmental School Clubs 99 - 2000.

Top