By: Dr. Mohd Noor Hisham Mohd Nadzir, Muhammad Hanif Haswan Masreh, Munira Mohd Nawawi, Najwa Asyiqin Hashim, Nur Hasya Amran & Muhammad Adam Hazieq Mohd Roslan
SERDANG, June 28 – The Biology Student Club (KMB) from the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), has taken the initiative to organise the BioGreen Week 3.0 2022 programme to increase participants’ awareness of the importance of environmental care by learning and practising it in the new norms.
The programme was held online for a week from May 16, 2022, until May 22, 2022, through various social media platforms, and it managed to gather 2,617 student participants from UPM, public and private higher education institutes and other institutions.
Over 200 schools participated, with the highest number of entries for primary schools were from SK Desa Putra, SK Seri Makmur and SJK (T) Masai primary schools, while SMK Majidi Baru, SMK Tan Sri Mohamed Rahmat and Sekolah Menengah Sains Sultan Iskandar had the most numbers of participants for secondary schools.
The programme also received participants from Greencity International College, Genius College @ Pintar Negara, Sultan Abdul Hamid College and Yayasan Saad College, Melaka.
In this session, five activities were held, namely "Let's Tapow Day", "Trash to Treasure", "Greenovative Day", "Nature Word Search Challenge", and "Earth Day"
Programme advisor, Dr. Mohd Noor Hisham Mohd Nadzir, said the BioGreen Week 3.0 2022 programme had a different theme compared to last year, which is "Reuse The Past, Recycle The Present, Save The Future", with the aim to encourage students to adopt a greener lifestyle by applying more attractive and practical methods as well as keeping in line with the new norms.
“This programme proves that cultivating a love for the environment early is essential, so that more people will be aware of the importance of a greener earth for future generations.
"Besides, the programme also enables us to hone other skills, such as digital skills, social, creativity and others as an added value to the participants for the future," he said.
He added that the programme is one of UPM's initiatives, especially from the Department of Biology, to produce students who are capable, responsible, knowledgeable, and able to think critically and competitively in the future.
In addition, this programme was a joint effort with KIMIA Malaysia and the Ministry of Science, Technology & Innovation (MOSTI) in conjunction with the National Science Week 2022, which was conducted online through Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.
The programme also received sponsorship and support from the Faculty of Science, UPM, and KIMIA Malaysia. On top of that, the programme’s advisor, Dr Mohd Noor Hisham Mohd Nadzir, also provided additional allocation as an external sponsor.
The programme’s director, Muhammad Hanif Haswan, hoped it could be a platform to increase new knowledge and improve students' soft skills and be an open space to highlight their talents in various fields, such as photography and videography, writing, drawing, speaking and innovation.
"By using social media as a platform for activities, I hope it can make people aware of green practices as every human being has the responsibility to play an essential role in making the earth a safe place to live in," he said. - UPM
