TEHRAN –To promote the culture of environmental protection, Tehran University of Medical Sciences has launched a project that focuses on turning dormitories of universities into eco-friendly places.

The initiative commenced on Wednesday in the presence of officials from the Department of Environment (DOE) and the Health Ministry, ISNA reported.

The project seeks to enhance students' participation in fostering a healthier and more sustainable dormitory environment, focusing on waste segregation, water and energy conservation, nature conservation, and reduction of environmental pollution.

It also aims to help preserve natural resources and institutionalize environmentally responsible behaviors among students.

Addressing the event, Hamid Zohrabi, an official with DOE, said that the world today faces triple challenges of pollution, climate change, and biodiversity loss. “In our country, problems such as air, water, and soil pollution, water scarcity, and soil erosion result from unsustainable exploitation of natural resources and deviation from the principles of sustainable development.”

The official went on to say that empirical observations within the domestic context have shown that local communities and non-governmental organizations can yield highly successful outcomes in nature conservation.

Increased public participation and heightened social sense of responsibility in the environment sector will lead to enhanced success in environmental protection, he further noted.

“We are all responsible for environmental protection”

President Masoud Pezeshkian has underlined the shared responsibility of each individual for the protection of the environment, saying, “We all bear the responsibility to care for the environment.”

Referring to Article 50 of the Constitution, which regards the protection of the environment as a public duty, the president said, “We all bear the responsibility to care for the environment,” IRNA reported.

“World Environment Day and Week warn about the present and the future of life on Earth,” he wrote on his X account on the occasion of World Environment Day, observed on June 5 every year, and National Environment Week, being observed from June 6 to 12.

All governments and societies need to prioritize the sustainability of natural infrastructures in any decision and action, he added.

Measures to enhance public participation

The DDOE has taken different steps to promote public participation in environmental protection.

Encouraging eco-friendly students, teaching environmental awareness courses in universities, developing a plan titled “skilled ranger soldier”, and preparing guidelines for environmental protection are among the most important measures.

The DOE has mainly focused on enhancing formal and informal environmental education, developing public participation, utilizing the potential of new technologies, and promoting the culture of environmental protection, IRNA quoted Hadi Kiadaliri, an official with the DOE, as saying.

In the education sector, the DOE has designed a ‘national environmental curriculum’, and the first scientific-educational event based on a book titled ‘Humans and the Environment’ was held for teachers and eleventh-grade students at the national level. During the event, the provincial and national winners were honored, he stated.

A national plan for environmental helpers is being implemented as of the beginning of the current academic year (September 23, 2025). About 20 percent of the elementary students are health ambassadors. Some 25 percent of them will join the national plan over five years. Currently, there are 11,000 environmental helpers at schools across the country. The plan has also empowered 7,258 elementary school principals and 6,051 elementary school health care providers so far, Kiadaliri noted.

Another initiative of the DOE is to offer environmental courses in all universities in the country. It was previously implemented on a pilot basis in 10 selected universities. In addition, the Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) major for the MA degree has been revised.

The DOE has developed two other plans. The first, titled ‘skilled ranger soldier’, aims to employ students in environmental protection stations, and the second one intends to train and empower local communities with the participation of environmental protection students, the official added.

MT/MG