1. Project description

ZWM Lesson is Zero Waste Malaysia’s first publication of a series of free educational modules consisting of 60-minutes lesson plans and audio and visual aids catered to students aged 11 to 17 years.

ZWM Lesson consists of 5 modules: “Module 1: What is Waste?”, “Module 2: Where Does Waste Go?”, “Module 3: Types of Waste”, “Module 4: How Much Waste Do We Produce?” and “Module 5: What Can We Do?”. For each of the modules, audio and visual aids in the form of videos and presentation slides are provided to facilitators of the lesson.

This Basic Package (5 lesson plans, videos and presentation slides) will be accessible by the public for free on our website at www.zerowastemalaysia.org. All materials are available in English, Malay, Chinese and Tamil and have been designed in alignment with the Malaysian Secondary School Curriculum Standard (KSSM) either as classroom learning or extra-curricular workshop.

To kick start the utilization of the Basic Package, Zero Waste Malaysia will conduct virtual classrooms for free for a minimum of 300 students. Telegram Messenger and Google Classroom will be the main platforms used to conduct these virtual classes. (Note: A virtual classroom is currently the most feasible learning platform due to the COVID-19 restrictions in Malaysia)

Aside from that, Zero Waste Malaysia will also engage with existing educational learning channels such as SOLS 24/7 and public schools under the Ministry of Education Malaysia to adopt ZWM Lesson into their existing syllabus.

ZWM Lesson supports Zero Waste Malaysia’s overall mission to spread awareness and encourage Malaysians to lead a mindful and sustainable zero-waste lifestyle.

2. Project progress up to now

1 - 30 June:

1. Finalized content for ZWM Lesson Plan's 5 modules including presentation slides and video publication (one example has been attached below)
2. Created introductory video for Korea SHE Foundation
3. 
4. Recruited the rest of the team members, including designer, videographer, project coordinator, etc.
5. Weekly progress check-in on marketing development, content creation, recruitment, etc.
6. Promoted ZWM Lesson Plan during our online sharing at BluHope conference, a British High Commissioner's campaign for World's Ocean Week. Through this engagement, we were able to receive support from the British High Commissioner to obtain endorsement from the Ministry of Education (MOE) Malaysia.
7. 

1 - 30 July:

1. Official launching of ZWM Lesson Plan on https://zerowastemalaysia.org/zwm-lesson/
2. 
3. Opened registration for students to sign up for the Wira Zero Waste Virtual Classroom program, and job applications for facilitators.
4. Featured on the media including by The Edge, Tzu Chi Foundation Malaysia, The Rakyat Post, and BFM.
5. 
6. Received 130 facilitator applications, selected 31 for interviews and offered 18 individuals the position.
7. 
8. Created an Instagram and Facebook filter
9. 
10. Converted and created extra content based on the ZWM Lesson Plan for the Wira Zero Waste virtual classroom. All materials are supported by audio files.
11. 
12. Weekly progress check-in and discussions regarding promotions and marketing, recruitment, content creation, endorsement from MOE, financial budget, project goals and target, etc.

1 - 16 August:

1. Commencement of the Wira Zero Waste virtual class for Cohort 1 (August).
2. Classes run for 5 weeks, with 1 module taught each week. Students are provided Google slides daily which contain narratives in writing and audio, videos and missions for students to complete. The materials will require 30 minutes or less worth of commitment from students to read and answer questions on a daily basis.
3. 
4. All participating students are divided into 4 classes, based on their age range, and added into groups on Telegram Messenger. In the chat groups, students were able to engage with each other and the facilitators.
5. During the weekend, the facilitators conduct an optional virtual call with the students from each class to reflect and discuss on what they have learned during the week.
6. 

Overall Project Team: 54 members consisting of Project Manager, Project Coordinator, Content Developers (Phase 1: ZWM Lesson Plan and Phase 2: Wira Zero Waste), Content Editors, Translators, Designer, Videographer, Voice over Talent, PR and Marketing contributors, Finance Lead, Webpage Developer, UX/UI contributor, Educator Advisors, and Class Facilitators.

3. Project plan forward

Currently, Zero Waste Malaysia is still recruiting for students to participate in Cohort 2 (September) and Cohort 3 (October). Due to the unpredictable pandemic situation, students have recently been asked to return to school after approximately 4 months of studying and learning from home. Schools are rushing syllabuses and giving out a high amount of assignments and home works for students to complete. Thus, we are having trouble in getting more students to voluntarily participate. We are mitigating this problem by putting out more contents and information to be able to increase our reach and helping students to understand that the missions are not difficult and stressful to complete. We are also encouraging the existing participants in Cohort 1 to share with their groups of friends regarding the program. Engagement to obtain endorsement from MOE is still ongoing as well.