TUI Junior Academy Celebrates 10 Years of Environmental Education, Reaching 307,000 Children

The TUI Care Foundation’s Junior Academy Programme is marking its 10th anniversary after providing environmental education to more than 307,000 children across over 1,200 schools worldwide.

Since its launch in 2016, the programme has also trained almost 9,000 teachers and educators, equipping them with resources and practical approaches to introduce environmental and sustainability topics into classrooms.

The milestone comes as the Foundation launches a new TUI Junior Academy in The Gambia, extending its environmental education efforts to another tourism destination and highlighting the growing role of young people in local conservation.

From Classroom Lessons to Environmental Action

The TUI Junior Academy operates across destinations in Africa, the Caribbean, Europe and Asia, with a focus on helping children understand environmental challenges affecting their communities. Rather than limiting sustainability education to classroom-based lessons, the programme combines learning with practical experiences. Students have opportunities to explore forests, wetlands, beaches and marine protected areas while working alongside conservation specialists.

Activities have included biodiversity surveys, tree planting, habitat restoration, wildlife protection and waste-reduction campaigns. Students are also encouraged to develop environmental initiatives within their own schools and communities.

This experiential approach is central to the programme’s model. By allowing children to see environmental challenges first-hand and participate in solutions, the Academy seeks to turn environmental awareness into long-term responsibility.

The Gambia Becomes the Latest TUI Junior Academy Destination

The 10th anniversary coincides with the launch of a new programme in The Gambia, developed in partnership with youth-led environmental organisation Green-Up Gambia. The initiative will reach 300 pupils across 30 schools through environmental bootcamps covering issues including:

• Deforestation
• Sustainable farming
• Waste management
• Climate and environmental protection

Students will also participate in field visits to important natural areas, including Tanji Bird Reserve and Kiang West National Park. Alongside student activities, 30 teachers will receive specialist training to help integrate environmental education into regular lessons. Participating schools will also establish practical initiatives such as school gardens and tree nurseries.

Environmental clubs and peer-learning activities are expected to extend the programme’s reach beyond its direct participants, potentially benefiting around 7,500 additional students.

Building Environmental Leadership Among Young People

The scale of the Junior Academy’s reach illustrates how environmental education can extend beyond individual students. Children who participate in conservation activities can bring what they learn into their homes, schools and communities. In this sense, the programme is not simply focused on teaching environmental facts; it seeks to develop young people who can influence behaviours and encourage community-level action.

Alexander Panczuk, Managing Director of the TUI Care Foundation, said the programme demonstrates the importance of giving children opportunities to experience nature directly and understand the environmental challenges affecting their surroundings.

The Foundation says the achievement of reaching more than 307,000 young people is significant, but the wider impact is reflected in how students share their knowledge with families and contribute to more resilient communities.

Connecting Environmental Education With Sustainable Tourism

The Junior Academy forms part of the TUI Care Foundation’s broader approach to using tourism as a force for positive social and environmental change. Tourism destinations depend heavily on natural resources, ecosystems and local communities. Environmental degradation can therefore affect not only biodiversity but also the long-term sustainability of destinations and the livelihoods connected to tourism.

Educating young people creates a longer-term dimension to conservation efforts. Students who understand the value of forests, marine ecosystems and wildlife can potentially become future conservation professionals, community leaders or advocates for sustainable development.

The expansion into The Gambia is particularly relevant because it combines environmental learning with locally focused projects. Instead of applying a single global model, the programme incorporates issues such as deforestation, sustainable agriculture and waste management that are directly relevant to participating communities.

A Decade of Impact and a New Chapter

The 10th anniversary represents more than a numerical milestone. The programme’s expansion demonstrates how environmental education can be embedded within wider community development and sustainability strategies.

Training nearly 9,000 teachers is especially important because educators can continue delivering sustainability education after individual programme activities have ended. This creates the possibility of a multiplier effect, allowing knowledge and practices to reach students beyond the original programme cohort.

The Gambia initiative builds on this model by combining teacher training, student engagement, field experiences and school-based environmental projects. As the TUI Care Foundation also marks its own 10th anniversary in 2026, the Junior Academy enters its next decade with an increasingly international footprint and a focus on developing the next generation of environmental champions.

Editor’s Note

The most important aspect of the TUI Junior Academy’s 10-year journey is not simply the number of children reached, but the programme’s emphasis on turning environmental education into participation.

Environmental education can often remain theoretical when students learn about climate change, biodiversity or conservation without seeing how these issues affect their own communities. The Junior Academy’s experiential model attempts to close that gap by placing children in forests, wetlands, beaches and protected areas and involving them in tangible conservation activities.

Its teacher-training component is equally significant. Reaching 307,000 children represents considerable scale, but training educators creates a mechanism through which environmental knowledge can continue to circulate within schools after a specific programme ends. The planned work in The Gambia reinforces this model by combining direct student engagement with teacher development and school-level projects.

There is also a broader lesson for sustainable tourism. Destinations cannot rely solely on conservation initiatives aimed at protecting natural resources today; they also need younger generations to understand why those resources matter. Giving children practical responsibility can help connect environmental protection with community identity and the long-term resilience of tourism destinations.

The real measure of the programme’s next decade, therefore, will be whether these young “Eco Champions” continue transforming what they have learned into lasting changes in schools, households and communities.

About the TUI Care Foundation

The TUI Care Foundation supports initiatives that use the potential of tourism to create opportunities and strengthen communities in tourism destinations worldwide. Its work focuses on areas including education and training for young people, protection of natural and marine environments, and sustainable community development.

The independent charitable organisation was founded by TUI and is based in the Netherlands. It works with local and international partners to develop projects intended to create lasting social and environmental impact.

About Green-Up Gambia

Green-Up Gambia is a youth-led environmental organisation founded in 2016 and based in Banjul. Its work focuses on climate action, sustainable development and community-led conservation. Among its initiatives is the One Million Trees Campaign, aligned with the African Union’s Great Green Wall. The organisation says it has planted more than 140,000 trees, restored approximately 28 hectares of degraded land and engaged over 5,000 students through school green clubs and environmental programmes.

Its work combines ecological restoration with community engagement, cultural heritage and social memory.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the TUI Junior Academy?

The TUI Junior Academy is an environmental education programme established by the TUI Care Foundation in 2016. It helps school-aged children learn about environmental challenges through classroom education, outdoor experiences and practical conservation projects.

2. How many children has the TUI Junior Academy reached?

The programme has provided environmental education to more than 307,000 children from over 1,200 schools since 2016.

3. How many teachers have been trained through the programme?

Nearly 9,000 teachers and educators have been trained to deliver environmental and sustainability education.

4. What is the new TUI Junior Academy in The Gambia?

The new programme, delivered with Green-Up Gambia, will directly involve 300 pupils across 30 schools. It will combine environmental bootcamps, field visits, teacher training and school-based projects.

5. Which environmental topics will students in The Gambia study?

Students will explore issues including deforestation, sustainable farming and waste management, alongside broader environmental and conservation themes.

6. How many additional students could benefit from the Gambia project?

Through environmental clubs and peer-learning activities, the initiative is expected to indirectly benefit approximately 7,500 additional students.

7. Why is environmental education important for sustainable tourism?

Tourism destinations depend on healthy ecosystems and resilient communities. Environmental education can help young people understand the value of local natural resources and encourage behaviours that support conservation and sustainable development over the long term.