Advantages of Eco-Schools for Schools & Students
Advantages for Schools
The Eco-Schools programme provides a simple framework
to help make sustainability an integral part of school life.
The programme is designed to help make every school sustainable and to bring about behaviour change in young people and those connected to them so that good habits learned in schools are followed through into homes and communities. The Eco-Schools programme delivers:
Any school can join the Eco-Schools programme, whether they are a preschool, primary school, secondary school, or a school with special status or special needs. Once registered, a school follows a simple Seven-Step process, which systematically weaves sustainability principles within its management policy, helping it to address a variety of issues related to sustainable living.
The Seven-Step framework sees students as the driving force behind Eco-Schools – they form and lead an Eco Committee and help to carry out an Environmental Review to assess the environmental performance of the school. In conjunction with the rest of the school and the wider community, it is the students that decide the environmental issues they want to address and how they are going to do it in an Action Plan.
Measuring and monitoring progress by using the Action Plan is an integral part of the Eco-Schools programme, providing schools with all the evidence they need to showcase their environmental success. In fact, Eco-Schools can fit into virtually all aspects of the curriculum and help to make learning, both inside and outside the classroom, fun and engaging.
- An improved school environmental impact
- Involvement with the local community, other schools and organisations
- Financial savings
- International connections
- The embedding of sustainable development principles into the curriculum
- The capacity to nurture and support intrinsic values (care, empathy, creativity, compassion)
- Improved wellbeing of children and staff
- A sense of pride in the school among staff and students
Advantages for Students
Eco-Schools is an international initiative designed to encourage
whole-school action on sustainable development issues.
It is an environmental management tool, a learning resource and a recognised award scheme. It inspires and empowers young people to take action towards an economically, socially and environmentally just world by:
Eco-Schools provides a framework for learning and action which affords a wealth of opportunities for linking Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) with the everyday curricular work undertaken by schools.
It supports the implementation and achievement of SDG 4 – Quality Education, by helping develop the knowledge and skills to promote ESD and sustainable lifestyles.
- Creating leaders of change in their communities
- Empowering future decision-makers
- Widening their learning beyond the classroom
- Helping them develop responsible attitudes and commitment
- Increasing their levels of confidence and motivation
- Increasing their participation in environmental actions
- Improving their skills and knowledge in all subject areas, including teamwork
- Improving their mental and physical wellbeing