An Approach to Sustainability on a Small Island

Many people have heard of Bahrain, but even after recent events, may still struggle to locate the island on the map.  It is a very small country, with a population of 1.7million and is located between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.  A 30 minute drive across the causeway takes you into Saudi, whilst a 50 minute flight would find you in Dubai.  The people of Bahrain are fiercely proud of their culture and tradition and are incredibly warm and friendly to the many expats who call this place their home.  During my time here, I have seen changes take place over night and I have seen change stagnate and falter - either is eminently possible here.

When it comes to teaching our students about sustainability and the importance of looking after our environment it can constantly feel like an uphill battle.  Government policy, whilst well intentioned, doesn’t always achieve the changes in daily life that the ardent environmentalists are seeking and the one off events and celebration days seem forgotten about the following day.  So how do you achieve genuine connections and real life progress - is there a simple solution?

If there is, we certainly haven’t found it, but rather than keep trudging forward repeating the same apparently futile actions, we have tried to galvanise our secret powers - the students, teachers and communities of the schools here in Bahrain.  Surely if we can get a shared direction and focus amongst these establishments then we can have some real movement, after all, we represent thousands of families with parents involved at all levels of government and business. When hasn’t a bit of child pester power been effective?

Back in 2023, I established the first Bahrain Eco-Summit for Schools, which was attended by 200 students representing 15 schools, the Supreme Council for the Environment and a number of environmental organisations operating in Bahrain.  This has been held annually at different schools and is now recognised as the flagship sustainability event of the year for schools.

On the back of this event, the Bahrain Schools Sustainability Partnership was established in 2024 with the goals of sharing good practice in education, supporting local environmental groups and collaborating on sustainable changes that can be implemented here in Bahrain.  Whilst this group is run by volunteers from different schools, it has gained significant interest across the island and the Middle East and now has a membership approaching 30 schools.  Passionate teachers and industry representatives meet every half term to shape the direction of the group and identify events and campaigns that we can support.  This may be in the form of beach cleans, recycling campaigns, sustainability competitions or similar, but all have a student driven approach.

Is this the solution, the catalyst for genuine sustainable change here in Bahrain…well time will tell with that.  We certainly have a long way to go, but at least it feels like we are all involved in a shared approach that has flourished despite apparent competition between schools or established rivalries.  There is work to be done on creating a platform to promote regular and meaningful communication and collaboration between students at different schools.  We need to work harder at having a clear calendar, so that schools can plan and incorporate events into their year ahead and we need organisations to reach out to us with greater frequency…but that is in the future and hopefully that future is positive and greener.  Around the Middle East, there are some fantastic initiatives and organisations tackling climate change in innovative and passionate ways: what are you doing?  What works in your region? Reach out and share because we won’t solve these problems in isolation, only through genuine collaboration and openness to work together.

By Mark Jones

Sustainability Leads at St Christopher’s Junior School and Founder of the Bahrain Schools Sustainability Partnership 

If you are interested in connecting with or knowing more about the Bahrain Schools Sustainability Partnership, please contact [email protected]–chris.net