A team from UWICER conducted an annual Phenology monitoring and evaluation in 17 schools implementing the HEROES project.

An annual monitoring and evaluation is one of the major activities of HEROE project carried out to assess the impact of project in schools and communities. Among others, monitoring and evaluation reviews the work progress, identify challenges and opportunities of implementing  project activities. During course of assessment, the team evaluates equipment management, protection and management of plants under observation and project related initiatives. In addition, students’ knowledge and observation skills on phenology and climate change are also assessed.

During the visit, the team observed that most of the schools has not just successfully implemented the planned activities, but also initiated additional phenology related activity such as herbarium preparation, phenology exhibition, and phenology talks to their sister schools. Overall, an engagement of students in phenology study has not only helped schools to educate, inspire and empower the younger generation, but also provided an opportunities for students to inculcate a sense of love and appreciation to the environment and biodiversity around them.

Apart from evaluation, the team catered technical services such as troubleshooting of Hobo station, Internet connections, and maintenance of computers. The team also interacted with the phenology students, focal teachers and head of the school management to discuss how best we can ensure the sustainability of phenology project in the school and imbibe sense of ownership for the project.