Raising the next generation of eco-warriors to change the world

Frugi partners with Keep Britain Tidy’s Eco-Schools programme to help fund up to 150 UK schools to achieve a Green Flag certification

Press release from Eco-Schools England

2 July 2020 - Frugi, the leading ethical and organic children’s clothing company, is proud to announce a partnership with Eco-Schools as part of their Little Clothes BIG Change charity initiative. Each year Frugi donates 1% of turnover to charity and has so far donated £600,000 over the past 16 years to help children and environmental non-profit organisations.

Frugi’s ambition is ‘to help raise the next generation of eco-warriors to change the world’, which makes the Eco-Schools programme, the largest educational programme in the world, the ideal partner.   

With a goal to empower young people to take environmental actions to get their whole school and community involved, schools follow a Seven Step programme that culminates in achieving an international Eco-Schools Green Flag certification.

Frugi/Eco-School Partnership

Frugi is committed to funding the Eco-Schools Green Flag fees for up to 150 UK schools from Early Years Foundation (3-5), Primary Schools (5-11) all the way through to Secondary and Further Education (12-18) and is the first company to sponsor schools for all age groups. 

To kick off the partnership, Frugi is sponsoring a ’10-day challenge’ as part of the hugely successful #EcoSchoolsAtHome campaign which was launched during the Covid-19 lockdown. Each day Frugi and Eco-Schools will launch a new challenge around one of the Eco-Schools topics: Biodiversity, Energy, Global Citizenship, Healthy Living, Litter, Marine, School Grounds, Transport, Waste and Water. The challenges are being supported by a raft of environmental influencers, including household names such as Rowing Champion Helen Glover, Robert Douglas from This Father Life, TV Presenter Radzi Chinyanganya and young cycling guru Ruby Isaacs.  Frugi will also be running various competitions for pupils to win organic t-shirt and sock bundles, water-bottles, back-packs, and other ethically made goodies, during the week.

“Benefiting children, communities, and our environment, Eco-Schools share the same goals, ambitions, and ethos of Frugi.  That’s why we are so proud and excited to be part of this collective global effort to support the education of children on sustainable and environmental issues and to help them to change our world for the better,” says Hugo Adams, CEO of Frugi.

National Eco-Schools Manager Lee Wray-Davies says, “No school in England has to be an Eco-School, and yet 20,100 Eco-Coordinators have given their valuable time (some for over 20 years) to manage and run the programme in their schools, on top of the additional pressures and responsibilities they face within an ever-changing education sector. The maturity and determination of their students to make an environmental difference is a testimony to these inspiring individuals and the Eco-Schools programme. We are the largest educational programme on the planet and with the support of wonderful organisations such as Frugi; helping us to create innovative projects and financially support schools, I don’t doubt we will continue to be for another generation.”

What is Eco-Schools?

Eco-Schools was introduced in 1994 in England as a response to the 1992 UN Rio Earth Summit. It now runs across 67 countries with more than 1,000 English schools proudly flying the internationally recognised Green Flag Award.  It is operated globally by the Foundation for Environmental Education and is managed in England by Keep Britain Tidy.

Keep Britain Tidy is a charity and it is free to register on the Eco-Schools programme. Once registered, schools gain access to free Eco-Schools resources that help them meet the international Seven Step criteria. A fee of £200 (+VAT) is charged to cover the cost of an assessor visit once the programme has been completed and the Green Flag/certification schools received. 

How Does It work?

Spanning 67 countries worldwide, the Eco-School’s programme gives pupils the freedom to decide one of ten Eco-Schools topics they want to work on. Once they have chosen the topics, they are free to decide what actions they want to take and how they are going to involve their school and community. The whole process takes around one academic year until they become a proud Green Flag owner and fully established Eco-School.

The Eco-Schools programme consists of three structural elements, including the Seven Step Framework, the Eco-Schools Topics and assessment for the international Green Flag award. To be successful the programme requires support from school leaders and active involvement from staff, as well as a long-term commitment and the willingness to involve students in decision-making. The Eco-Schools Seven Steps methodology is a series of carefully engineered measures to help schools maximise the success of their Eco-School ambitions.

Why is it worthwhile?

The Eco-Schools programme is an ideal way for schools to embark on a meaningful path towards improving the environment in both the school and the local community while at the same time having a life-long positive impact on the lives of young people and their families.

When a child gets actively involved with Eco-Schools, they enhance their development and are encouraged to use their imagination and voice in a safe, non-judgemental environment. They become minute makers, organisers, planners, and influencers. Eco-Schools has the power to transform pupils into forward thinking, challenge solving, decision making adults of the future.  This not only benefits so many children’s lives, but it helps raise environmental change-makers of the future.

As well as the benefits to pupils, individual schools’ benefit from reducing their environmental impact. Eco-Schools consume less water and energy and produce less waste – in turn saving money that can be allocated elsewhere in the school.

Find out more about the Eco-Schools programme and register for free on their website:
https://www.eco-schools.org.uk/

About Frugi

Frugi was founded in 2004 by Kurt & Lucy Jewson after they struggled to find clothes to fit over cloth nappies. 16 years later, Frugi is the UK’s leading ethical and organic children’s clothing brand available to buy online from welovefrugi.com and over 500 retailers globally in 30 countries. The full range includes tiny baby to ten years with a stylish twinning, maternity, and breastfeeding range for Grown-Ups, as well as bedding and accessories.

Designed in Cornwall, Frugi are daft about clever details and famous for vibrant prints, fun appliqués, and super comfy designs. The range is made from supremely soft, premium organic cotton or recycled materials. Frugi are proud to be certified by the Soil Association and Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) receiving the highest level of certification in the world of leading textile processing standards. Every year 1% of turnover is donated to charity through the Frugi Little Clothes, Big Change initiative.  

Frugi is the trading name of Cut4Cloth Ltd registered in England, company number 05011885. The registered office is Wheal Vrose Business Park, Helston, Cornwall TR13 0FG.

Media Inquiries: Samantha Dark, PR Manager at Frugi, sam.dark@welovefrugi.com

Eco-Schools Social Return on Investment

As long as the world is still struggling to achieve universal access for all children into quality primary and secondary education, programmes for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) will be sidelined. But what if these ESD initiatives held answers which could help reverse some of the complex and contextual issues which are preventing progress in education quality, or access for children into education?

This study builds on earlier evidence showing improved enrolment and decreased dropout in primary schools operating rights-based Education for Sustainable Development programme ‘Eco-Schools’ in East Africa. This study aims to qualify enrolment, dropout and academic performance statistics by providing a detailed but holistic account of the processes responsible for the change in six successful Eco-Schools in Uganda and Tanzania. Find the report here.

GCS Wild Flight Launched with two Eco-Schools in South Africa

The 13th of March has proven to be a very important day for the Amur Falcon in South Africa in 2019 and 2020.

In 2019, the 13th of March was marked as the start of a big rescue and rehabilitation operation of the Amur Falcon after a terrible hailstorm injured more than 1 000 of them in the Midlands area of Kwazulu Natal (KZN), South Africa.

On the 13th of March 2020, the WESSA Eco-Schools programme launched a project to learn more about and initiate ways to protect these migratory birds, Amur Falcon, when they are in South Africa. This project is called the Global Citizenship for Sustainability’s Wild Flight and is in partnership with Eco-Schools in India (Centre for Environmental Education) and Mongolia (FEE Mongolia).    

Two of the WESSA Eco-Schools, Treverton Preparatory School and College and King’s School, in the KZN Midlands area were selected to take part in this project because they are located close to a few roosting sites of the Amur Falcon. Along with WESSA, these two schools have formed a task team on learning and sharing important facts and stories about the Amur Falcon.

At the launch of the project in South Africa, Cindy-Lee Cloete (WESSA Eco-Schools) facilitated a process of organizing creative ideas for action conservation projects on the Amur Falcon in South Africa, and specifically the Midlands area in KZN. Kristi Garland from BirdLife South Africa gave the task team a good overview of the Amur Falcon in South Africa and also made a generous donation of 7 binoculars and 7 bird identification guides to the project.

As the South African Amur Falcon team, we are very excited to work with the Indian and Mongolian task teams to learn more about how schools from different countries can work together to advance sustainability.

PRESS RELEASE: International Schools Association joins the Eco-Schools network

PRESS RELEASE

International Schools Association joins the Eco-Schools network

Contact: Nicole Andreou, International Eco-Schools Coordinator nicole@fee.global

On 25 February 2020, the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) and the International Schools Association (ISA) entered a MOU with the aspiration to achieve shared goals within the field of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD).

The Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) developed the Eco-Schools programme in 1992 and launched it globally in 1994, as a response to the needs identified at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. Since then, the Eco-Schools programme has evolved and retained global reach, becoming an acclaimed international model for Environmental Education and sustainability. Eco-Schools supports the Agenda 2030 and the ESD principles by using a holistic whole-institution approach with its Seven-Step methodology and by building meaningful partnerships.

Global Citizenship, a key outcome of Education for Sustainable Development, is a key value that a learner has to have, along with carrying the sustainability perspective to their future workspace. By definition, International schools have a responsibility to develop this as a core value in their students. I am happy that ISA has adopted this as a core strategy and is joining the Eco-Schools programme.

-        Pramod Kumar Sharma, Senior Director of Education, Foundation for Environmental Education

Within this framework, FEE has partnered with ISA, a well-recognised player in promoting and supporting Education for Sustainability. ISA, founded in 1951, is a prominent organisation in the world of international education and is dedicated to consulting and guiding educators in this area. The ISA Education for Sustainability Curricular Framework for K-12 guides the teaching and learning methods that motivate and empower learners to change their behaviour and take action for sustainable development.

We intend to benefit our two separate school communities in the best possible way. We have chosen carefully to partner to mutually benefit each other, knowingly  surrounding  ourselves with partners who share the same passion for teaching and learning and passing onto the next generation important values such as international understanding and sustainability.  

-        John Lees, Chairman of the Board, International Schools Association    

The partnership promotes collaboration, acknowledgement and mutual appreciation of the two organisations under a mutually beneficial cooperation agreement. Both organisations are recognised by UNESCO and are dedicated to jointly advance ESD today to better the environment of tomorrow.

Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) www.fee.global

International Schools Association (ISA) www.isaschools.org/

Nicole Andreou, International Eco-Schools Coordinator, Selected as EE 30 Under 30 Changemaker Grantee

Nicole Andreou was chosen for her work to develop EE professional development opportunities

Washington, D.C., United States, March 9, 2020 – Nicole Andreou, International Eco-Schools Coordinator at the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), was selected as an EE 30 Under 30 Changemaker grantee by the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE). She will join a cohort of thirteen leaders from eight countries, receiving small grants and technical support to implement environmental education projects that build low-carbon economies, create resilient communities, and protect and restore ecosystems.

Nicole’s grant project will provide EE professional development opportunities for National Operators of the Foundation for Environmental Education’s Eco-Schools programme across 68 countries.

“This project involves different aspects of learning and transferring knowledge that ultimately help build my capacity as an educator and will support many in the FEE network with the right knowledge, tools and skills to implement work with environmental education more effectively,” said Nicole Andreou. Her project will be implemented in collaboration with experts within the global FEE network.

“Wells Fargo understands the urgency of accelerating a just transition to a low-carbon economy and helping communities become more resilient to the impacts of climate change – that’s why we collaborated with NAAEE to support these inspiring Changemakers. Through their passion, innovation, and perseverance, these young leaders are helping to shape the communities of the future,” says CaSondra Devine, Enterprise Sustainability Leader at Wells Fargo.  

EE 30 Under 30 Changemaker grantees will lead their projects over the course of 10 months, and in addition to seed funding will receive professional development support, including the opportunity to present about their work at NAAEE’s 49th international conference in Tucson, AZ, in October 2020.

Says Judy Braus, Executive Director of NAAEE, “Our EE 30 Under 30 Changemaker grantees exemplify the very best in environmental education and inspire us to think boldly about how we can tackle the tough issues we face. NAAEE is so proud to collaborate with Wells Fargo on this initiative, and to be able to provide these leaders with the support they need to shape healthier and more sustainable communities.”

In 2019, Nicole Andreou was recognized through NAAEE’s global EE 30 Under 30 program, which annually recognizes exemplary leaders under the age of 30 who are harnessing the power of education to create a more sustainable future. To learn more, visit naaee.org/ee30under30.

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About NAAEE

For nearly five decades, the North American Association for Environmental Education has led efforts to use the power of education to advance environmental literacy and civic engagement and create a more equitable and sustainable future. NAAEE supports a network of more than 20,000 educators and 56 state, regional and provincial affiliate organizations working in environmental education in more than 30 countries. 

Contact Name: Nina Hamilton | Contact Email: nina@naaee.org | Contact Phone: (202) 419-0412

New Litter Less Campaign video released

Our Litter Less Campaign spot has just been released! See the short video below.

The Litter Less Campaign is a joint initiative of the Mars Wrigley Foundation and Foundation for Environmental Education. Since its launch in 2011, the Litter Less Campaign has educated over three million students around the world about the challenges of litter and waste in their communities and empowered them to become leaders driving sustainability and positive behavioural change.

To learn more about the campaign, visit the websites of Eco-Schools and Young Reporters for the Environment.

Eco-Schools´ students in Mexico show Global Citizenship

Green Oaks College, located in Mexican Veracruz State, is working to obtain already its third Green Flag.

This academic year is the Eco-School running again the Global Citizen theme, which includes various activities and mini-projects promoting the values of solidarity and sustainability.

The Global Citizen theme is operated at the Green Oaks College through The Commission for Support for the Community, which is in place since 2011 and involves the students, teachers, parents in giving direction to the collective actions. The aim is to raise the students to become committed citizens within their society, ensuring that the new generations develop a strong social consciousness, support the most needed and promote students' participation in social life, policymaking, economy and culture of Mexico.

One of the activities organized was the visit of Green Oaks College students in “Boquenitos” Kinder Garden in January 2020. During their visit, students of secondary school spend their day and played with the children from this center.  Through social service, the students are to become more sensitive to social issues and strengthen their values such as tolerance, empathy, respect and social inclusion. The activity was also designed to ferment the social service spirit in them and help them understand and be grateful for what they own in their lives.

Green Oaks College, under the Global Citizen theme, organizes among other activities also the annual clothes collection, a Thanksgiving or a Green Night, all aiming to sensitize the students to social issues and bringing a benefit for the community. As another example could serve the Green Paw Project, which took for its goal that the “Bocana community” will become the first one without stray animals.

We at Eco-Schools are happy to see such initiatives and wish Green Oaks College and its students all the best luck!

GCS Wild Flight launched in India at the 13th COP of the CMS

Credits Derek Keats fromJohannesburg, South Africa

GCS Wild Flight – Connecting Eco-Schools on the flight path of Amur Falcon (Mongolia, India and South Africa) launched at the 13th COP of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS)

Six Eco-Schools in the three countries along the Amur Falcon´s migratory route will collaborate and learn about sustainability challenges.

““The project will provide a more “holistic” approach to an understanding about migration in the context of both ecosystems and how it impacts society in terms of sustainable livelihoods.” ”

— Chong ShimrayDepartment of Education in Science and Mathematics, National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), New Delhi

Foundation for Environmental Education’s members implementing Eco-Schools in India, Mongolia and Siuth Africa are collaborating on the innovative project. The initiative is being led by the Centre for Environment Education in partnership with the Information and Training Centre for Nature and Environment in Mongolia and Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA) in South Africa. The pilot initiative “GCS Wild Flight” with the focus on the Amur Falcon was launched at the 13th COP of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) organized by UN Environment, which was held 15-22nd of February in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India.

“The GCS Wildflight initiative goes to the heart of what CMS is all about as it connects schools in different countries over the migratory path of the Amur Falcon”

— Kartikeya Sarabhai, Director of Centre for Environment Education in India

The Amur Falcons are fascinating migratory raptors that make the 22,000 km voyage from breeding grounds in Mongolia, Russia, and China across India to winter in Southern Africa (read more). However, a lot remains to be discovered about this species. GCS Wild Flight initiative aims to address this issue and involve two Eco-Schools each from the three countries in the process of discovering and learning about these interesting birds, their migratory pattern, life cycles, conservation challenges and stories associated with them. This will be all possible also thanks to the E-Twinning using the technology and webinar of the Eco-Schools.

Amur Falcon. Credits: Bernard DUPONT

“Falcon is a traditional and historical symbol of Mongolia. The initiative is a good way to connect with natural and cultural heritage”

— Shinesetseg Erdenebayar, National Operator for Mongolia

The school-communities in the three countries embarked on a common journey of learning, building communication and facilitating exchange. GCS Wild Flight follows the Eco-Schools´ 7 Steps methodology that will enable the students to be involved in the whole process, from exploring issues to finding solutions and taking local action.

Map by Jillian Ditner; source: BirdLife International Data Zone. See larger image.

“We plan to link the schools with an organisation which worked with Amur Falcon last year when a large number of them were affected due to unseasonal hail storm, one of the impacts of climate change. ”

— Cindy-Lee Cloete, Internation Schools Programme Manager for WESSA

Each partner and national operator involved in the project brings specific local knowledge and engages their community. The initiative is also exploring the possibility of further partnerships with wildlife and education experts, who have worked on this species. Each school involved in the programme will make a presentation to other countries through a webinar while the bird is visiting their country.

This exciting project has been already launched in India and Mongolia; South Africa will officially commence on the 13th of March.

“The pilot project will provide us with a template to connect children with issues beyond their countries and develop an understanding that we all live on One Earth.”

— Pramod Kumar Sharma, Senior Director of Education, FEE

2020 Travel Retail Awards will raise funds for Litter Less Campaign projects in India

UPDATE: TRBusiness.com - TFWA has taken the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 TFWA Asia Pacific Conference & Exhibition. Consequently the TRBusiness Travel Retail Awards ceremony will not take place in Singapore on Tuesday 12 May as initially planned, but will be relocated to a venue in London in June. 

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The Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) has been nominated by our valued partner the Mars Wrigley Foundation to be the beneficiary of funds raised during the 2020 Travel Retail Awards. The third edition of the annual awards ceremony, which is organised by TRBusiness, will be held on the 12th of May at The Conrad Hotel in Singapore.

The funds raised at the Travel Retails Awards will be directed towards the Litter Less Campaign, a joint initiative of FEE and the Mars Wrigley Foundation. The Litter Less Campaign educates children and youth on the issues of litter and pollution and gives them the opportunity to engage their local communities in awareness-raising activities. Since its launch in 2011, the Litter Less Campaign has educated over three million students around the world about the challenges of litter and waste in their communities and empowered them to become leaders driving sustainability and positive behaviour change. Phase IV of the Litter Less Campaign was launched in 2019 and will be implemented in 15 countries through two of FEE’s global education programmes, Eco-Schools and Young Reporters for the Environment.

The Travel Retail Awards raise funds through a charity prize raffle of high-value products donated by the event’s sponsors and participants, along with cash donations made throughout the evening. Proceeds raised for the Litter Less Campaign at the May 2020 event will be specifically directed to projects at twelve schools in the region of New Delhi, India. The Litter Less Campaign will engage roughly 6,000 students and reach hundreds of communities in the region, where littering and waste management issues pose a serious challenge.  

“As a business that is all about better moments that make the world smile, Mars Wrigley ITR is proud to partner with TRBusiness to raise awareness and funds for the Litter Less Campaign. FEE’s Litter Less projects drive behaviour change around litter and waste prevention. They will create better communities in India with the support from the travel retail community, and we are very excited about the opportunity to drive impact in this way.”

–Gary Clarke, General Manager, Mars Wrigely ITR

“FEE is privileged for the funding and for the partnership it has been granted by the Mars Wrigley Foundation since 2011. Litter is a form of pollution that poses an increasing global problem but that can be solved by change in individual behaviour. The Litter Less Campaign is an essential part of our ongoing efforts to educate and change the behaviour of children, youth and adults around the world to reduce the negative impacts of litter. Any additional support that can help us in our pursuit to make schools hubs of positive change will be greatly valued and put to good use. We are grateful to be the designated charity of the Travel Retail Awards and thank the travel retail industry for its generous support and cooperation.”

-Daniel Schaffer, CEO, Foundation for Environmental Education

Funds from the 2020 Travel Retail Awards will benefit Litter Less Campaign projects in India

About the Travel Retail Awards

TRBusiness, retail’s leading provider of duty free and travel retail news, launched the first and only consumer-voted awards dedicated to the travel retail industry in 2018. The game-changing initiative and awards event recognises true ingenuity in travel retailing. It awards airports and products following a judging process, which involves expert research and priceless consumer blogger and video blogger feedback to crown the industry’s trailblazers.

About Foundation for Environmental Education

Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) is the world's largest environmental education organisation with members in 77 countries. Through five ground-breaking programmes, FEE empowers people to take meaningful and purposeful action to help create a more sustainable world.

About the Mars Wrigley Foundation

The Mars Wrigley Foundation partners with organizations around the world to help people and communities flourish. Founded in 1987, the Foundation works to provide oral health education and care, improve lives in mint- and cocoa-growing regions, prevent litter and waste, and create vibrant communities.

How to reuse pallets as Plant boxes with the eco-school - British international school of Riyadh

Story provided by the British International school Riyadh-  Saudi Arabia

The British International school of Riyadh was confronted to an issue : the school could not commit to an expansion of the existing Eco Garden due to planned redevelopment of the school site.

Every member of the school scratched their heads. The eco-committee after working on an environmental review decided on an action plan, focusing for this academic year on the expansion of the existing
eco-garden. To achieve this objective they all came out with one solution : placing plant boxes at various sites around the school.

The solution found, it was up to the whole school to take part to this fabulous project, a real team work as Ms Helen Olds, Principle of the British International School Riyadh,  commented "Even those who were initially skeptical and reluctant got involved and seemed to have fun. It’s good to get everyone engaged in our eco work."

The Senior Eco-Coordinator liaised with a parent who worked on a large scale farm outside Riyadh for the delivery of approximately 50 used pallets. Upon receipt of the pallets in May 2019, the school maintenance staff disassembled them, ready for the teaching and administrative staff to construct the plant boxes from during INSET training week in August.

The constructed plant boxes were then handed over to the Senior Eco-Committee who decorated them with the odd touch of paints. Therefore, students developed their art and planting skills, while staff applied their construction skills.

By November, the plant boxes were ready to be placed at prearranged locations around the school site. The Primary Eco-Committee then added the plants they had purchased and took on the task of watering the plant boxes for the rest of the academic year.

This complies with  Eco Code motto of this Saudi Arabian  eco-school 'green thinking in a brown desert.'

Keep Britain Tidy celebrates 25 years of Eco-Schools with National Award Ceremony

Author: Nora Schuh

On 12th December 2019, 160 Eco-Schools students, teachers and supporters gathered at the world famous Etihad Stadium in Manchester for Eco-Schools England’s first ever National Award Ceremony. The evening was hosted by Keep Britain Tidy and presided over by famous adventurer, television presenter and author Steve Backshall. Marking 25 years of the Eco-Schools programme in England, the event was a celebration of the amazing work undertaken by a generation of Eco-Schools across the country.

“The purpose of the event was to recognize the hard work and determination of Eco Schools, Eco-Committees, Eco-Coordinators and Green Flag Assessors who have made the programme as successful as it is in England - without them we would not be the largest educational programme. ”

— Lee Wray-Davies, Eco-Schools Manager, England

Sixteen schools and individuals were honoured with awards for excellence in the Eco-Schools programme. Over 70 students aged 6-17 from award-winning schools attended the ceremony, along with their teachers and Eco-Coordinators. A number of local authorities and corporate partners who have supported the programme over the years also joined in the festivities.

The evening culminated with the presentation of the Eco-Schools Lifetime Achievement Award to Cannon Burrows Church of England Primary School. In 1998, Cannon Burrows became the first school in England to earn a Green Flag. The school has since achieved 10 Green Flags and has been frequently recognised for excellence in environmental education. One of the Cannon Burrows teachers in attendance at the award ceremony was also a student on the school’s first Eco-Committee in 1994, proving that Cannon Burrows has been educating young people about the environment for a generation.

All of the awarded schools and individuals have gone above and beyond to achieve Eco-Schools excellence. You can find out more about the award winners here: Award Winner Biographies

All photos by Martin Birchall

The Eco-Schools National Award Ceremony was made possible by the Players of the People’s Postcode Lottery.

Vienna International School Global Action Day

This text was adapted from Vienna International School

In November 2019, Vienna International School (VIS) celebrated two important events: the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and joining many schools around the world to engage in Global Action Day.

Since 2017, VIS has been part of the important mission to take action to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Therefrom, the school has been committed to provide education for sustainable development to the students in their journey to become responsible global citizens who adopt their lifestyles and way of thinking towards building a sustainable planet.

Through education for sustainable development, Vienna International School teaches students about the world and encourages them to become active participants in their communities. VIS believes that learning about the UN goals helps students develop insights into issues around the world and understand the unique challenges facing communities all over the world, and later figure out how they can contribute towards making the world a better place. By learning about the Sustainable Development Goals, it is VIS’ belief that students and teachers will be inspired to take action and make positive changes in big and small ways. At VIS, they already see the effects thereof daily – from high school students raising awareness about climate change to first graders conserving water or planting lavender to encourage pollination. VIS finds that students in any grade level can learn about the SDGs in age-appropriate ways through classroom activities and later apply the learning in ways they find meaningful.

The VIS Global Action Day was a special event for raising awareness and inspiring action towards making a better environment for all. The event was a celebration of the learning that took place across the school about the UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly in the area of the school’s environment. When coming to the school in the morning, the community was welcomed with a very special treat. The Ambassador of Slovenia (Mag. Ksenija Skrilec) and her staff hosted the European Honey Breakfast, an event to raise awareness about the importance of a healthy breakfast for children. As part of the event, staff, students, and parents received an apple, honey sandwiches, and delicious potica – the traditional Slovenian cake while listening to the talented Primary School Orchestra.

Throughout the school day, the students took part in The World’s Largest Lesson and took time to inquire about each of the SDGs to build their knowledge of the goal, the related issues associated with it, and ways they could take action in their own lives to help achieve that goal. Following the Global Action Day, the Grade 5 students staged a series of dramatic climate action shows, to create a variety of riveting theatrical scenes raising collective awareness of how climate change will impact our world and inspire an urgent call to action.

Congratulations to the Green Teams of students, teachers, and parents for putting together this big event to take the school community on a journey from awareness to consciousness about the SDGs and for their endless endeavors towards a more peaceful, healthy and equitable world.

Flea market in Eco-School in Thailand

Story provided by Wanvipa Ratthanapilom, Wat Bangna Nai School

Wat Bangna Nai School held a flea market to prevent waste. There, students set up stations where they sold belongings that they no longer needed, such as clothes and toys, instead of throwing it out.

The Eco Committee found it problematic that many students throw away their personal belongings when they are no longer needed or used, even though they still function. Focusing on the theme of waste management, the Eco Committee decided to arrange a flea market, where the students could sell their personal belongings so they could be reused.

As many of the students come from middle or low incomes families, acquiring new clothes, toys, etc. for one’s children can be a costly matter for a family. A flea market could therefore also be a great opportunity for people to buy cheaper products.

The Eco Committee promoted the activity and the possibility for all students to register as vendors, using all the channels available at the school – school boards, the school radio and by visiting every classroom to spread the message in person. This resulted with 45 students registering as vendors.

After two months of planning, promoting and coordinating, the flea market was held on the 15 August 2019 with approximately 900 students and teachers participating. During the morning, some parents and other community members also visited the flea market.

Overall, the project was a great success, with several expressing the wish for having a flea market again.

“Many students were very excited and came to school early to set up their stalls. There were many affordable items that I would not be able to buy if it was new; Dolls, clothes, stationary and lots of toys, that got a lot of attention and were sold out in no time. Even though we opened the market for a day, many people were so impressed with it that they want us to run it again next year.”

— Veerasak, Eco Committee member from year 9

Eco-School in Colombia against disposable cups!

Story provided by Sandra Romero, Colegio Anglo Colombiano

At Colegio Anglo Colombiano teachers use a staff room, where they can also get a hot beverage, like coffee and tea. When new people start working at the school, they are all given a reusable cup for hot beverages.

At the same time, the school had disposable cups available for staff, so if by any chance one forgot or lost their cup they could still have a drink. The Eco Committee started to follow-up on the consumption of disposable cups and discovered that the staff was using 2600 cups in just a week! This meant that on average a single employee was using about 18 cups in that same period. All this ended up being waste.

The Eco Committee, terrified with this finding, decided to make a campaign to reduce consumption since one of the themes the school focuses on is waste management. They made posters they put in the staff room and circulated awareness infographics through the school screens about the number of cups being used. At the same time Fonanglo, the employee fund of the school, provided personalised thermos for every associate. This allowed the school to provide reusable cups for all the school staff and be able to cut the use of disposable cups.

As of 15 September 2019, there are no disposable cups available in the staff room!

Lucart and Eco-Schools initiates Project Advancing Circular Economy

“Teaching sustainability, circular economy will help to overcome environmental challenges in the future and schools are the perfect starting place to drive changes, improving our future.”

Eco-Schools in Slovenia and Latvia are taking part in a two-year pilot project to prepare the younger generation with the knowledge of the Circular Economy and to empower them to take actions for advancing circular economy.

Eco-Schools Project for Advancing Circular Economy (E-SPACE) is a pilot being initiated in the Eco-Schools of Slovenia and Latvia with support from LUCART Professional.

The circular economy is a new and emerging sustainability perspective. The perspective is built on the natural world where there is no concept of waste and everything is a resource for the next level step in the cycle of dependence.

E-SPACE is an attempt to capture the concepts of circular economy and present it to the stakeholders in the school system for education to develop the literacy that will help in advancing the demand for circular economy.

The main objectives of the project include:

• Develop a curricular framework for school education on circular economy

• Develop exemplary educational kit on circular economy

• Training of teachers on teaching circular economy through the Eco-Schools Seven step framework of project-based learning

• Raise awareness amongst stakeholders on the production cycle, from the raw material to the final product, its use, ways to reuse, reduce, recycle/upcycle – in other words, an understanding of circular economy

“This project as a ‘whole school’ programme promotes critical thinking of how a school can model the concepts and principles of the circular economy to strengthen the literacy toward the vision of a sustainable world.”

FEE Senior Education Director Pramod Kumar Sharma

The pilot will run till the end of March 2021 and after there are plans to extend the E-SPACE to the Eco-Schools network of over 52,000 schools in 67 countries.

“This project is the result of the strong cooperation among Lucart and FEE sharing the same vision in the cultural field. Teachers' guidance is fundamental for young learners to develop their skills and to drive their actions. Teaching sustainability, circular economy will help to overcome environmental challenges in the future and schools are the perfect starting place to drive changes, improving our future.

We, Lucart, try to be among the pioneers with the Natural project, and we are sure that when this process is finalized, our way of living will quickly follow. We want to bring the culture of sustainability into schools since we believe that the development of a sustainable society can only be accomplished if businesses and citizens collaborate actively. We want to inspire new generations in adopting a sustainable lifestyle.“  

Lorenzo Vaira, International Trade Marketing Manager, Lucart

LUCART, a leading company in Europe in the production and development of tissue paper products, air-laid products, MG paper and dispensing solutions, was founded in 1953 by the Pasquini Family. Lucart's production capacity exceeds 395,000 tonnes/year of paper on 12 continuous machines and 65 converting lines. Its consolidated turnover amounts to more than €484 million, with more than 1,500 employees in ten production plants (five in Italy, one in France, one in Hungary and three in Spain) and a logistic center. The company's production activities are distributed over 3 Business Units (Business to Business, Away from Home and Consumer). Lucart Professional is the major brand of Lucart in AFH sector. Lucart Professional offers a new approach to improving business performance without compromising the environment. A combination of cutting-edge technology and real sustainability to deliver profitable and effective solutions whilst reducing the impact on our planet. With Lucart Professional every activity can make a tangible difference through sustainable innovation.

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Beekeeping and fish farming micro-projects

Author: Anna Christine Daa Funder, Foundation for Environmental Education

Story provided by: Elisa Pallangyo, Tanzania Forest Conservation Group

Digalama Primary School in Tanzania is surrounded by Mkingu Nature Reserve, which has a global significance due to its richness in biodiversity and endemic species. However, these are at risk of becoming extinct since the economy of habitats in the communities surrounding the forest is largely dependent on the harvesting of forest resources.

Digalama Primary School is today one among 44 Eco-Schools in Tanzania. Before becoming an Eco-School, it was one of the most underperforming schools in the nation, but in 2018, it managed to increase its performance to 100% due to two projects. In 2016, the school decided to take action by creating sustainable solutions in the school and the village. Following the Seven Steps, it mobilised resources from the community and utilised the support from the Danish Outdoor Council and the Government of Denmark to start up a project. The school managed to get beehives and the revenue from the beekeeping micro-project was reinvested in a second project – a fishing pond.

The projects serve as a teaching and learning support and about 455 students are benefiting from them. They cover curricula content from multiple subjects e.g. ecology, environmental conservation, pollination in biology as well as the topic of measurement in mathematics - by measuring honey in litres and fish in kilograms and grams. Students are now learning both inside and outdoors, and entrepreneurship skills are developed.

“We are involved in each step of the projects. Now I know so many things about bees which I did not know before. Bees are tiny but they are very skillful, they produce honey for us, and we use it for our school meals. Never underestimate the power of a simple, tiny honeybee”

Jazira Shaban, Grade 6 Student, Digalama Primary School

The school has sold 766 litres of honey which has increased the income of the school from 0 to 7.2 million Tanzanian Shillings. 15 community members are replicating the beekeeping and fish farming methodologies in their homes, which has significantly reduced the reliance on forest products which will sustain the Mkingu Reserve ecosystem for years.

The projects have also been supported by the Tanzanian Ministry of Education Science and Technology (MoEST), President's Office Regional Administration and Local Government, District Executive Director as well as UNESCO.

Eco-Schools National Operators Meeting 2019

Back in the Netherlands after 25 years!

Author: Anna Christine Daa Funder

This year’s Eco-Schools National Operators Meeting (NOM) was hosted by Eco-Schools Netherlands at the Green Key awarded bungalow park Landal Reeuwijk from 11-14 November. This NOM was a true homecoming, as the first-ever Eco-Schools meeting was also held in the Netherlands, in the city of The Hague.

The main objectives of the meeting were to celebrate the Eco-Schools 25th Anniversary through campaign ceremonies, look at strategic planning for 2020-2024, strengthen Eco-Schools’ impact at a global scale through campaigns and community engagement, networking and capacity building, exploring opportunities within Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and gaining a better understanding of the FEE EcoCampus programme, its implementation and potential.

The meeting kicked off in the morning of 12 November with an overview of the achievements of 2019, including an appreciation ceremony of the various campaigns, as well as the launch of the 25th-anniversary publication – Changing Together. This was followed by an incredible and highly inspirational keynote speech by Judy Braus from the North American Association of Environmental Education (NAAEE).

Possible approaches towards a greater extent of implementation of Environmental Education in tertiary education were presented by Dorothea Strüber (SDSN), Madhavi Joshi (CEE India), Mazlina Sabtu (WWF Malaysia) and Gosia Luszczek (YRE).

Linda van Meersche (MOS+ Belgium), Wouter de Regt (UNESCO), discussed the Techincal and Vocational Education and Training direction, and how UNESCO can help facilitate the implementation of Eco-Schools in these settings with the experience and material available.  To further inspire attendees to reflect on the matter, the day ended with a field trip to Aeres University of Applied Sciences, a Dutch vocational and technical school as well as to the neighbouring Wageningen University. At Wageningen University the group of Eco-Schools National Operators was greeted by Professor of Social Learning and Sustainable Development & Environmental & Sustainability Education, Arjen Wals, who is not only an expert in the field but also the son of one of the founders of FEE, Harry Wals. Arjen Wals gave a lecture on rethinking teaching and learning in times of climate change, which was followed by a lecture by Raffaele Vignola, PhD on healthy food and the living environment.

On the second day, Pramod Kumar Sharma and Laura Hickey introduced FEE’s 2020-2024 strategic plan focusing on a Climate Emergency Response, and particularly the themes of Climate Change, Loss of Biodiversity and Pollution. The session included reflections on how to plan for the new FEE Global agenda.

An introduction to Sail Training International, FEE’s newest affiliate member implementing Blue Flag for sail training vessels, took place, to present the ways through which Eco-Schools National Operators and Sail Training can collaborate. The session was followed by workshops on teacher training, circular economy and community engagement.

When the group regathered, the new Agree app, developed by dedicated Eco-Schools teachers in Greece, Sweden, France, Hungary and the Netherlands was launched and celebrated.

Since the global FEE and Eco-Schools network get stronger when the member countries and regions in which they are situated gets stronger, the NOs were divided into six regional groups. A closer regional cooperation is not only encouraged by FEE International but is also an initiative with many member countries welcome and are working on.

The sessions were closed with the launch of the Global Forest Fund by Barry McGonigal, an introduction to the latest FEE campaign Children for Children by Gosia Luszczek. Laura Hickey, member of the FEE Board and responsible for Eco-Schools wrapped up the two-day meeting.

On 14 November, Eco-Schools Netherlands offered the opportunity for workshops on the Litter Less Campaign facilitated by Gosia Luszczek and The Great Plant Hunt facilitated by Barry McGonigal. In parallel, participants could visit a marketplace featuring North, Agree: Digital tools for Eco-Schools, NIKON light-on Small, Moyu, Erasmus+ Hob's Adventure and RISO.

New Eco-Schools Children for Children Campaign to Support The Bahamas

It is estimated that 70,000 people, including more than 18,000 children and teachers, have been severely affected by the recent Hurricane Dorian in The Bahamas. Twelve Eco-Schools on two islands, Grand Bahama and Abaco, suffered extensive damage or were destroyed.

To support children from our twelve affected Eco-Schools and to raise educational awareness on the increasing vulnerabilities to natural disasters from climate change, the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) has teamed up with our member in The Bahamas, Bahamas Reef Environmental Education Foundation (BREEF), to launch the Children for Children campaign.

 Individual Eco-Schools from our global network of 51,000 schools in 67 countries will be able to participate in this global campaign, which will help educate students on climate change risk reduction and resilience. Each of the actions taken by these schools will also include a fundraising component so they can make donations to help the recovery efforts of affected Eco-Schools in The Bahamas. Donations from outside of the Eco-Schools network are also welcome.

 “The overall goal is to raise educational awareness on the impacts of climate change and the increasing vulnerabilities to disasters, and at the same time help the schools in The Bahamas buy new equipment and educational materials that will allow students to return to normality as soon as possible,” says FEE’s CEO, Daniel Schaffer.

Since 1981 FEE, through its Eco-Schools, Young Reporters for the Environment, and Learning about Forests programmes, has been educating children, youth and adults to increase awareness and action on creating a more sustainable world. Today, with increasing vulnerabilities to natural disasters from climate change, FEE is in a position to mobilise support for rehabilitation and climate resilience, particularly within the educational infrastructure.

“Though born out of adversity, the Children for Children campaign unites the global Eco-Schools network with the children of The Bahamas not only to show that they care, but to lend their financial support to the ongoing recovery of children affected by Hurricane Dorian. As a low-lying archipelago, The Bahamas is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to the adverse effects of climate change. Nevertheless, climate change affects every one of us on earth and it is up to us all to take action,” says Casuarina McKinney-Lambert, Executive Director of BREEF.

Next summer the campaign will follow up with the progress of how the recovery efforts for the children and schools in The Bahamas is progressing and a final publication on the ‘Climate change risk reduction and resilience education’ will be published.

To find out more about how to donate, school fundraising activities, educational resources and how an Eco-School can register for this campaign, please visit: www.ecoschools.global/childrenforchildren

Bicycle Workshops in Portugal!

At the secondary school of Gafanha da Nazaré there is a bicycle workshop!

This Eco-School is located in Gafanha da Nazaré, one of the cities of Portugal where the bicycle is most used in daily journeys home-work and home-school. According to the national standards the school is the one where more students and school staff use this type of transport on a daily basis.

In the bicycle parking lot there are about 350 bicycles daily (about 50% of the students). With such number of bicycle users it was necessary to find a way to repair their bikes by themselves! And so the project GafeBikeLab came up, which has the support of the City Hall of Ílhavo and in close collaboration with the University of Aveiro, through its Technology Platform for Bicycle and Soft Mobility. The project also found the support of some local companies and several partners of the local educational community.

The GafeBikeLab projet engages a group of 10 students aged 13 to 17, working there almost daily. They are coached and coordinated by a senior teacher, where they often carry out small free repairs on bicycles. In the remaining time they build bikes from used materials that are offered by different people in the community. This project has been successful to engage students with bikes and their benefits.

In 2019, several bicycles were built and all of them have been offered to students in need, so they can use it to go to school. Some have also been offered to the City Hall so that employees can run errands around the city by bike. The GafeBikeLab also aims to support School of Gafanha da Nazaré to educate students, both in terms of formal and informal skills. Students are able to develop projects and activities that involve other community agents, schools, and other institutions in the region. The activities are developed with the collaboration of teachers of various subjects and are scheduled and integrated in the school annual activities plan defined together with the students.

The central theme assumed by the GAFe BikeLab is "safely using bicycles" and therefore several activities are promoted both in school and in the community to raise awareness. Students participate in various bike talks with selected audiences and bicycle showrooms which are held in different spaces in school.

Photo by Caroline Hernandez on Unsplash

Car-Free Day in Budapest!

The Budapest British International School (BBIS) is proud of all the children and their families who left their car at home on the first BBIS No Car Day.

Children came to school by bus, tram, metro, scooter, bike and shared rides using electric cars. Streets were free of traffic and the children arrived at school energised and knowing they are doing their bit for the air in Budapest. The Eco Committee at BBIS Committee decided this needs to be a regular monthly event in BBIS! The Committee children will keep the school community posted in the newsletter and on the new Eco-News display. The Eco-Committee are going to help inform the children, parents and community of BBIS.