Community actions
Take action
Taking action, together
Twelve actions that can be carried out with few resources, at school, in the neighbourhood, on the hill or at the parish. Each sheet sets out the aim, the equipment, the steps, the expected results and simple monitoring indicators.
🧹Action 1 — Plastic waste collection
Aim
To reduce plastic waste in a defined place (school, market, neighbourhood) and take it to a collection or recovery point.
Equipment needed
Gloves, strong or reusable bags, high-visibility vests, soap and water, a gathering point agreed in advance.
Practical steps
- Choose the place and date with local leaders (school head, neighbourhood or hill chief).
- Identify in advance where the waste will go: communal collection point, collector or recovery facility, located on the ground before the action.
- Mobilise the participants and divide the area between small groups.
- Collect, separating plastics from other waste where possible.
- Weigh or estimate the quantities collected and record the result.
- Wash hands, thank the participants and share the results.
Expected results
A visibly cleaner site, participants who understand sorting, quantities of plastic kept out of the natural environment.
Simple monitoring indicators
Number of participants · estimated quantity collected (bags or kg) · where the waste actually went · number of collections in the year.
🚿Action 2 — Clearing the drainage channels
Aim
To prevent flooding and standing water by clearing the drainage channels before and during the rainy season.
Equipment needed
Shovels, hoes, rakes, gloves, boots if possible, wheelbarrow or bags, high-visibility vests near roads.
Practical steps
- Identify the blocked stretches with local leaders and agree a day (before the heavy rains).
- Make the work area safe, especially along roads.
- Remove waste, mud and vegetation; set plastics aside for the collection chain.
- Take what is removed to an authorised place — never into the river or onto the public road.
- Talk with residents: a clear channel protects everyone's homes.
- Record the stretches cleared and report to the commune any points needing heavier work.
Expected results
Better drainage of rainwater, less standing water (so fewer mosquitoes), residents informed.
Simple monitoring indicators
Length cleared (metres) · number of participants · critical points reported to the commune.
🌳Action 3 — Tree planting
Aim
To restore plant cover, protect soils against erosion and create shade around schools, churches and community spaces.
Equipment needed
Seedlings suited to the site (local species or those recommended by the forestry services), hoes, stakes, watering cans, mulch, protection against livestock.
Practical steps
- Choose the site and obtain the agreement of the owner or the responsible authority.
- Ask the agricultural or forestry services for advice on species and timing (start of the rainy season).
- Dig the holes a few days in advance.
- Plant, mulch, water and protect the seedlings if livestock passes through.
- Give each tree a « sponsor » (pupil, family, club member) responsible for looking after it.
- Organise regular follow-up: watering in the dry season, replacing seedlings that die.
Expected results
Trees alive and cared for over time — the aim is not the number planted, but the number still alive after a year.
Simple monitoring indicators
Seedlings planted · survival rate at 6 and 12 months · number of active « sponsors ».
🌱Action 4 — Starting an environmental club
Aim
To form a standing group of pupils or young people who learn, act and raise awareness throughout the year.
Equipment needed
A meeting place, a club notebook, the agreement of the school head, the start-up guide (Resources page).
Practical steps
- Present the plan to the school head and identify an adult supervisor.
- Call for members and hold an information meeting.
- Elect the club committee and set simple rules.
- Draw up a realistic annual action plan (template on the Clubs page).
- Register the club on the platform through the online form.
- Start with a first activity that is visible and easy to join.
Expected results
A structured club, recognised in its school, working to an action plan.
Simple monitoring indicators
Active members · meetings held · activities carried out against the action plan.
🚪Action 5 — Door-to-door awareness raising
Aim
To bring simple environmental messages directly to the households of a neighbourhood or a hill.
Equipment needed
Key messages agreed in advance, leaflets to leave with households, badges for the volunteers, a tally sheet.
Practical steps
- Choose one concrete theme per campaign (sorting, protecting a spring, preparing for the rains…).
- Give the volunteers a short briefing: the message, listening, respect for people.
- Inform the neighbourhood or hill chief before going round.
- Visit households in pairs: listen, talk, leave the leaflet.
- Record the number of households visited and the questions raised.
- Review as a team and pass recurring concerns to local officials.
Expected results
Households informed through a contact that is direct and respectful, and local concerns passed upward.
Simple monitoring indicators
Households visited · volunteers mobilised · main questions collected (summary).
🏫Action 6 — Green day at school
Aim
To give a whole school day to the environment: learning, action and celebration.
Equipment needed
A programme approved by the school head, equipment according to the activities, materials from the library, simple sound system if available.
Practical steps
- Form an organising committee (school head, teachers, club, pupils).
- Choose a date — for example around an international day (5 June: environment; 22 March: water; 21 March: forests).
- Plan the day: learning in the morning, collective action next, a closing report-back.
- Share out the roles and prepare the equipment.
- Run the day and document it (photos with consent, counts).
- Publish a report on the News page and thank the participants.
Expected results
The whole school community mobilised, concrete actions carried out, fresh momentum for the club.
Simple monitoring indicators
Pupils and teachers taking part · activities carried out · what the day produced (trees, areas cleaned, exhibitions).
🏡Action 7 — Greening and caring for the school yard
Aim
To improve the yard for the long term: shade trees, a live hedge, a small teaching garden, clean and shaded corners.
Equipment needed
Shade seedlings and hedge plants, hoes, watering cans, mulch, markers for the areas, the school head's agreement.
Practical steps
- Map the yard with the pupils: sunny areas, walkways, corners worth improving.
- Decide together what to do (shade, hedge, garden), with the school head's agreement.
- Plant at the start of the rainy season and set up the teaching garden.
- Give upkeep to the classes in rotation, with a watering rota.
- Review after a year: survival of the plants, use of the spaces, how pupils feel about it.
Expected results
A cooler, greener, more pleasant yard, and a living support for learning.
Simple monitoring indicators
Area improved · plants alive after a year · classes involved in upkeep.
🗂️Action 8 — Setting up waste sorting at school or at the office
Aim
To put in place a simple, lasting sorting system that everyone understands and uses.
Equipment needed
Separate, clearly marked containers (organic / plastics / other), sorting posters, a composting point, the agreement of the management.
Practical steps
- Estimate the waste produced and find out where each stream can go among the facilities present in the commune.
- Put the marked containers in the same place, with an explanatory poster above them.
- Give pupils or staff a short briefing on how to sort.
- Organise composting of organic waste and regular removal of the other streams.
- Follow up and correct: sorting that is misunderstood is put right by teaching, not by punishment.
Expected results
Waste separated at source, less volume going to the dump, a habit established.
Simple monitoring indicators
Separated streams actually recovered · reduction in unsorted volume · the habit holding over time.
💦Action 9 — Protecting a spring or a riverbank
Aim
To protect a water point from pollution and erosion through simple works and regular upkeep.
Equipment needed
Suitable bank plants, planting tools, materials to mark the perimeter; advice from the competent services is recommended.
Practical steps
- Identify the water point and obtain the agreement of the authorities and of local residents.
- Clean the surroundings and remove waste without destabilising the bank.
- Mark out a protection perimeter: no waste, no latrines in the immediate surroundings. The distances to respect are those set by the commune's hygiene and health services: ask for them before the action.
- Plant the bank with suitable species to hold the soil and filter the water.
- Hand follow-up to a local committee and schedule regular upkeep.
Expected results
Better protected water, stabilised banks, residents who take responsibility.
Simple monitoring indicators
Length of bank protected · bank plants alive · waste present (falling) at each check.
🏆Action 10 — Inter-school or inter-club competition
Aim
To spur commitment through friendly competition between schools or clubs on an environmental challenge.
Equipment needed
Clear rules, a scoring grid, a jury, symbolic prizes, a calendar; partnerships arranged locally.
Practical steps
- Define the theme and the aim of the competition (cleanliness, replanting, an innovation project...).
- Write simple rules and a transparent scoring grid, known to everyone from the start.
- Launch the competition and support the teams throughout.
- Judge on real evidence (dated photographs, measurements, verifiable counts).
- Celebrate every participant publicly; award symbolic prizes and highlight good ideas worth copying.
Expected results
A spirit of friendly competition, many concrete projects, visibility for environmental education.
Simple monitoring indicators
Schools or clubs taking part · projects completed · verified results of the challenge.
🛠️Action 11 — Reuse and repair workshop
Aim
To extend the life of objects and cut waste by repairing, repurposing and reusing.
Equipment needed
Small tools, clean salvaged materials, a work space, supervision attentive to safety.
Practical steps
- Collect clean reusable objects and materials (containers, textiles, wood...).
- Choose simple, useful things to make: nursery pots, storage, teaching games, display stands.
- Supervise the workshop with safety in mind (sharp tools, posture).
- Display what was made and explain the idea of reuse to visitors.
- Reuse or give away what was produced; measure what was kept out of the waste heap.
Expected results
Less waste, useful objects made at low cost, a culture of reuse.
Simple monitoring indicators
Objects repaired or created · quantity of material reused · people trained in reuse.
📣Action 12 — Community campaign
Aim
To mobilise a neighbourhood, a hill or a parish around a shared environmental goal over several weeks.
Equipment needed
A campaign committee, a calendar of activities, agreed messages, partnerships that are local, means according to the activities.
Practical steps
- Identify with the community a priority problem and a clear, measurable goal.
- Form a representative committee (young people, women, leaders, local authorities).
- Build a calendar combining awareness raising and collective action.
- Open the campaign with a public launch event.
- Follow each activity with the platform's sheets and adjust.
- Close with a public report-back on the results and agree what comes next.
Expected results
A community that takes lasting ownership of an environmental issue, with visible, shared results.
Simple monitoring indicators
Activities carried out · participants · achievement of the original goal · commitments made for what follows.
Safety and respect
The golden rules for every action
Participants' safety
- Gloves whenever waste is handled; wash hands with soap afterwards.
- High-visibility vests or armbands near roads.
- Never handle hazardous waste (syringes, chemicals, split batteries): report it to those in charge.
- Match tasks to age: the youngest carry no heavy loads and stay away from deep drainage channels.
- Drinking water available; a break in the shade in strong heat.
Respect for people and places
- Always inform the local authorities and obtain permission before acting in a public space.
- Photographs only with the consent of the people concerned — parental consent for minors.
- Never tip collected waste into the river or onto unauthorised land.
- Report accurate results: we publish only what has actually been done.
When to act
The environmental calendar
International days are excellent anchors for planning your actions and green days (official United Nations dates):
To these are added national days and local campaigns: each organisation adds them to its own calendar.
Commitment
Committing our parish, hill, community or school
A parish, a hill, a community or a school can join the programme. The form is filled in after the intention has been put to the relevant authority — parish priest, hill chief, community leader or school head — and agreed.
The form requires an account. Create one, it is free, or sign in before opening it.
Recognition
Requesting a certificate of service
You have given service to ACAPE Burundi or to the Génér'Action Verte Imuhira programme — volunteering, facilitation, club focal point, training, a committee — and you need an official certificate. Three conditions: at least one year of active, continuous involvement; at least three successful initiatives or actions, each supported by evidence; the supporting documents attached to the form. Any initiative cited without evidence is not taken into account.
ACAPE Burundi's legal representation examines each request and may ask for further information before deciding. The form requires an account.
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Train on the three e-muhira courses, launch three initiatives checked by the ACAPE team and become an Imuhira Animator, Guardian of Creation. About 11 hours of free online training.
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