Monaco Telecom has renewed its support of an initiative with the Prince’s Foundation and Terrae to establish organic vegetable gardens in the Principality’s schools.

For the third year, Monaco Telecom is co-funding the project, this year donating €12,118, a direct result of savings the company incurred over the last year by eliminating paper invoices to customers and going digital.

Martin Peronnet, Managing Director of Monaco Telecom, handed over the cheque to the Foundation’s Vice-President and Managing Director Olivier Wenden, as well as Cécile Mouly, Head of Educational and Extracurricular Projects at the Department of National Education, Youth and Sports (DENJS) and Jessica Sbaraglia, Founder of Terrae.

“For the third year, we are continuing our support for the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation by donating all the sums collected for printing paper invoices. I am delighted that this year our commitment is materialised by a project anchored in Monaco and dedicated to educational action aimed at the youngest,” said Peronnet in his speech.

Monaco Telecom has long been interested in getting involved in establishing organic vegetable gardens at Monaco schools. The programme, which was started by Terrae, provides many educational activities related to the environment and development of urban organic vegetable gardens.

“We are delighted that Monaco Telecom has chosen to support this project, which is not only about education for healthier food, but also about a desire to establish a new relationship with nature from an early age,” said Olivier Wenden. “We thank them for getting involved with us to promote sustainable development through concrete actions.”

This year’s donation will directly affect the École des Révoires, which will benefit from a new garden “very soon”. The garden will be installed on the roof of the school and will be one of the largest, as it will be divided into large terraces.

The ttransversal pedagogy method will be employed so older students who learnt from the Terrae team will in turn pass on their knowledge to the younger pupils.

Jessica Sbaraglia sees this intergenerational step as hugely important, saying, “A vegetable garden in a school is an ecological echo. It educates children of all ages who leave with their tomato plant, which will pass into the hands of the parents, then will be planted in the grandparents’ garden, but which, in the end, will be eaten by the children.”

As for the children, they will have the opportunity to really get their hands dirty, interact with nature and discover where it is that the food in the supermarket actually comes from. An education on healthy, balanced eating and food choices will also be part of the programme.

The project, which began in Autumn 2020, has already set up vegetable patches in six local establishments, including the Prince Albert II Leisure Centre, l’école du Parc, l’école de Fontvieille, le Lycée Technique et Hôtelier de Monaco and l’école de la Condamine. More than 2,000 students per year are already gardening and harvesting their own produce.

Photo: Vice-President and Managing Director of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation Olivier Wenden, Founder of Terrae Jessica Sbaraglia, Managing Director of Monaco Telecom Martin Peronnet, and Cécile Mouly, Head of DENJS educational and extracurricular projects, by L. Arneodo / Prince Albert Foundation.