Climate-friendly school

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A climate-friendly school, or eco-school,

The scientific consensus on the warming of the climate system and growing public concern about its effects, as well as the increased international commitments by countries to reduce global emissions, has accelerated investment into climate-friendly technologies in recent years.^[2][4]

Climate-friendly initiatives

International initiatives such as the

The education for sustainable development (ESD) was developed through broad consultations with stakeholders from 2016 to 2018 with the aim of contributing to the achievement of 17 sustainable development goals. The United Nations introduced a "whole-school" approach, surrounding a situation where students learn about climate change is further improved by formal and informal messages promoted by the school's values and actions. The "whole-school" approach to climate change means that an educational institution encourages action for reducing climate change in every aspect of school life.^[6] This includes school governance, teaching content and methodology, campus and facilities management as well as cooperation with partners and the broader communities. This actively involves all internal and external school stakeholders, namely students, teachers, principals, school staff at all levels and the wider school community such as families and community members in reflecting and acting on climate change is key to a whole-school approach.^[7]

Eco-schools

The

As an experimental school, the Athens-Gennadeio in Greece was encouraged to introduce innovative programmes.^[9] In 2013, the school introduced systems into biology and chemistry courses for 157 senior secondary students. In this systems unit, students worked in groups to investigate climate change, virus transmission, and ecosystem dynamics with the help of computer simulations. Through their investigations, students discovered the properties of complex systems, such as positive and negative feedback loops. A group of students measured the energy sustainability of the school building, to find its weaknesses and construct an action plan to improve it.^[7]

Lebanon

The Al-Kawthar Secondary School in Beirut, Lebanon works to raise awareness of climate change within their school. So far, 2,421 students, 310 teachers, and 110 families have been involved in projects including tree-planting, making handicrafts from recycled materials, visiting national forests, recycling, and conserving water. The school also hosted film nights and workshops where students, families and teachers suggested ways to save the planet. Following the ISO-26000 guidelines for socially responsible institutions, the school has committed to a continuous process of improvement. At the beginning of the school year, the environmental committee develops an action plan based on what was learned and achieved the previous year. The committee keeps a record of their activities, so the school can identify high-impact activities and activities that could be scaled up. Teachers and students deepen their learning by sharing their experiences with other schools in Lebanon and around the world.^[7]

Côte d’Ivoire

In

In Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, the Colégio Israelita Brasileiro A. Liessen's environment team has developed initiatives to teach janitors, teachers, students and engineers about sustainable practices in experiential, non-formal learning activities. The team built a green roof, solar ovens, bamboo bicycle racks and planted spices, flowers, and meditation gardens that could be converted into biodiesel cooking oils. The team has also offered trainings for school community members in order to secure buy-ins for the projects. For example, training on waste sorting and cooking oil collection was offered to employees and a gardening workshop was organized for student volunteers, so they could assist maintenance staff in caring for the expanding school gardens.^[7]

Japan

The Nagoya International School in Japan is committed to developing a school culture of sustainability, as expressed in their school mission statement. The institution aims to “nurture in its students the capacity to objectively define what is truly needed in the global society, to take action on their own, and to become active agents for sustainable development.”^[7]

See also

• UNESCO ASPnet
• Education for sustainable development
• Global Citizenship Education
• Climate Change Education (CCE)

Sources

 This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0 (license statement/permission). Text taken from Getting Climate Ready: A Guide for Schools on Climate Action​, 5, 7-8, 10, 15, 18-19, Gibb, Natalie, UNESCO. UNESCO.

References