From October 2025 to April 2026, the Senegalese NGO Recikit carried out the second phase of the “Acting for Nature Conservation” project, led by Youth Conservation with support from the Fondation Audemars-Watkins and Play for Nature. Around ten schools in Dakar and the Rufisque department ran concrete activities — eco-responsible murals, creative recycling, composting, “waxtane” discussion circles — to shape genuine “Nature Sentinels” among the younger generation.
Several schools, one shared momentum
HLM Grand Yoff 01 and 02 — Creative recycling takes shape in Dakar
In these two schools in the Grand Yoff neighbourhood, students explored recycling in every form: waste-themed murals, hands-on workshops, papier-mâché, decorative object-making, and composting. Participatory exchanges known as “waxtane” — a Wolof term for discussion — helped anchor the messages in a format familiar and lively for children.
Result: 1,025 students reached (442 at HLM Grand Yoff 01, 583 at HLM Grand Yoff 2), with strong teacher participation and the gradual adoption of eco-friendly habits.
Khar Yalla A and B — Students engaged in the “Circle of Solutions”
At this site, the focus was on actively taking ownership of environmental issues: recycling workshops, the “SDG Champions” scheme bringing the Sustainable Development Goals to life, and a “Circle of Solutions” inviting students to think collectively about local responses to environmental challenges.
Result: 860 students reached, with active engagement and genuine ownership of the topics covered.
Tadjabone Centre and Sébikotane High School — Ecological gardening reaches the Rufisque department
In Sébikotane, in the Rufisque department, the project took on a more rural flavour: composting, ecological gardening, and biodiversity awareness, alongside the murals and waxtane sessions already deployed in Dakar. Sébikotane High School, for its part, focused on environmental awareness and the SDG Champions programme.
Result: 263 students trained (120 at Tadjabone Centre, 143 at the high school), gaining practical skills and showing genuine engagement with climate issues.
Saint Jean d’Arc Institution — Storytelling and field visits to anchor the message
This Dakar-based school combined educational murals, recycling, eco-responsible storytelling, and a field visit to a recycling and composting centre — a hands-on immersion that sparked strong student participation.
Result: 229 students reached, with good uptake of the messages conveyed.
Five additional schools — Eco-citizenship spreads across greater Dakar
The project also reached five other schools in the Yoff municipality, the town of Pikine, and the Parcelles Assainies municipality: Cité Diamalaye Elementary School, Pikine Guinaw Rail Apix Elementary School, PA Unité 24 Elementary School, École 4 Yoff, and the Christiane Barbosa YMCA Bourguiba school complex. Awareness sessions, murals, hands-on workshops, recycling, and field visits followed the same model.
Result: 680 students reached, contributing to a wide spread of good practices across the greater Dakar area.
A tally that reaches beyond the classroom
Altogether, the programme trained 4,275 students through its various environmental education and sustainable practice activities, and actively involved 50 teachers (five per school across ten schools), who now ensure the pedagogical continuity of the project going forward.
The project didn’t stop at the classroom door. Four community events brought together 918 participants: International Education Day (391 people), the Responsible Alternatives Carnival (442 people), the Kimpavita Festival (35 people), and a collaboration with the NGO LVIA (50 people). In addition, 300 students took part in field visits — the Plastic Odyssey boat, the CIFAL garden, the Sunu Plastic Odyssey factory, and the Ngom Recycling and Processing plant — to see recycling and waste-recovery chains in action.
On the equipment side, partner schools received substantial material support: 50 bins (10 per school across the 5 target schools) along with cleaning equipment, 100 reusable water bottles (25 per club, for the 5 school clubs created) to reduce plastic waste, and 5 composters installed to help schools process organic waste on site.
A success built on the structuring of the “Nature Sentinels”
Among the standout achievements of this second phase, the creation of five eco-responsible clubs called “Nature Sentinels” is arguably the most structuring result. These clubs give the most engaged students a lasting framework to continue the work beyond Recikit’s one-off interventions, reflecting the NGO’s commitment to handing environmental leadership directly to young people.
This momentum was matched by continuous pedagogical innovation — murals, waxtane sessions, eco-responsible storytelling — and strong mobilisation from school staff, recognised through a national institutional distinction.
Challenges overcome
As with any field intervention of this scale, Recikit had to navigate logistical constraints and limited resources at certain sites, particularly in the Rufisque department, further from the NGO’s Dakar base. The team responded by adapting activities to each school’s realities and strengthening local partnerships, ensuring the programme continued despite the challenges encountered.
Phase 1 to Phase 2: a clear step up
Compared to the first phase run in 2025, this second edition shows clear progress: more structured activities, wider impact thanks to the extension to new schools, the introduction of field visits, and above all the creation of the Nature Sentinels clubs — all signs of successfully building on the initial groundwork.
What’s next? Towards a “Sustainable School” label
Building on these results, Recikit is already preparing what comes next. The NGO is working on the long-term structuring of school clubs and individualised follow-up for engaged students, while relying on youth leadership to embed activities over time. Two strategic initiatives are in the pipeline: the creation of a “Sustainable School” Label, designed to recognise and showcase schools with exemplary ecological practices, and the expansion of the Sustainable Pen Competition (Concours Plume Durable), set to roll out at regional and then national level.
“Through an innovative approach combining education, culture, practice and community engagement, Recikit is actively contributing to shaping a generation of eco-citizens,” the NGO notes in its Phase 2 report — an ambition fully shared with Youth Conservation and its partners.
Want to support initiatives like Recikit’s in Senegal? Discover the full “Acting for Nature Conservation” project and its ten partner NGOs at youth-conservation.org.
If you want to know more about Recikit, you can contact them directly through Facebook.
