Since 1992, Eco-Schools has grown into one of the largest school-based Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) programmes in the world. 

Below is a timeline of key milestones in the development of the Eco-Schools programme. 

1992 — Programme Development 

Eco-Schools was developed in response to the call to action made at the United Nations Earth Summit. 

 

1994 — First Countries Join 

Denmark, Germany, Greece and the United Kingdom became the first adopters of Eco-Schools, with support from the European Commission. 

 

1999 — Global Education Recognition 

Eco-Schools received the Worldaware Award for Global Education from the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe and the National Committee for International Cooperation and Sustainable Development (NCDO). 

 

2002 — Partnership with UNEP 

FEE and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) organised a workshop on Eco-Schools partnerships for Africa, expanding the programme’s reach and strengthening equity and inclusivity. 

 

2003 — Education for Sustainable Development Recognition 

UNEP recognised FEE as a model initiative for Education for Sustainable Development. 

 

2004 — 10-Year Milestone 

After a decade of action, Eco-Schools had reached: 

  • Over 4 million students 

  • 200,000 teachers 

  • 12,000 schools 

  • 16,000 training sessions 

  • Nearly 1,700 local authorities 

National Operators were active in implementing the programme locally. 

 

2005 — Environment and Innovation Project 

FEE launched the Environment and Innovation Project with support from Toyota Fund for Europe. 

The first cycle focused on Sustainable Mobility and included participation from Italy, Germany, Spain, England and Northern Ireland. 

 

2007 — Quality, Standardisation and Flexibility Study 

The Eco-Schools International programme study was launched across 15 countries: China, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Malta, Norway, Scotland, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa and Wales. 

 

2008 — Climate Change Campaign and Partnerships 

The second cycle of the Environment and Innovation Project, themed Climate Change: Let's Save Energy!, was launched with support from Toyota. 

A partnership was established with the World Future Council (WFC) to promote and implement the KidsCall campaign, advocating for children’s rights to a just and secure world. 

 

2009 — HSBC Eco-Schools Climate Initiative 

A three-year global project was launched to empower students to contribute to reducing carbon emissions. 

Participating countries included Brazil, China, England, Ireland, Japan, Jordan, Malta, Russia, Slovakia, South Africa, the United States and Wales. 

 

2010 — Litter Less Campaign and UNESCO Partnership 

Eco-Schools and Young Reporters for the Environment received major sponsorship from the Wrigley Company Foundation for a three-year Litter Less Campaign. 

FEE also formalised its relationship with UNESCO. 

 

2011 — Eco-Schools Connect and Global Participation 

Eco-Schools launched Connect to map participating schools and strengthen global networking. 

By the end of the year, more than 11 million students across 52 countries were participating. 

Eco-Schools signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Earth Charter. 

 

2012 — Global Action Days 

Eco-Schools launched the Global Action Days programme. 

 

2013 — World Days of Action 

263 schools and 117,561 teachers and students from 10 countries participated in World Days of Action events. 

 

2014 — Global Expansion 

Eco-Schools launched in India, Ghana and Australia. 

The Litter Less Campaign entered a new three-year cycle involving 22 Eco-Schools countries and 5 Young Reporters for the Environment countries, with a budget of USD 3.7 million. 

 

2015 — Regional and International Expansion 

The Indian Ocean Commission launched Eco-Schools as a regional programme covering Madagascar, Comoros, Mauritius, Rodrigues, Seychelles and Zanzibar. 

FEE also launched Eco-Schools for International Schools, allowing participation in countries without a National Operator. 

 

2016 — Waste-Water-Watts (W3) Pilot 

Eco-Schools entered a pilot year project with the Alcoa Foundation on Waste-Water-Watts (Alcoa W3), a global K–12 environmental literacy initiative focused on Green STEM. 

 

2017 — Record Participation and Twinning 

Eco-Schools reached 19 million students globally. 

Eco-Schools Twinning was launched by the National Operator in England, enabling schools to partner internationally. 

 

2018 — 25th Anniversary 

Eco-Schools celebrated 25 years and committed to expanding from 68 countries to every country in the world. 

 

2020 — #EcoSchoolsStayActive 

The #EcoSchoolsStayActive campaign was launched to support student engagement during COVID-19 lockdowns. 

 

2023 — Co-coordinating the Greening Education Partnership 

FEE joined UNESCO as coordinator the Greening Education Partnership’s Greening Schools pillar – committing to support its members in achieving the ambitious target to Green 50% of the world’s schools by 2030. 

 

2024 — Programme Growth 

After thirty years of programme growth, Eco-Schools International had reached: 

  • Almost 50,000 schools 

  • 183 Higher Education institutions 

  • 75 countries via members and a further 23 countries via international schools