Global Action Days November 2015

It’s that time of the year again. Time to act and help the environment! The Global Action Days is a campaign by the Foundation for Environmental Education to activate students and teachers to lead the change for a more sustainable world by getting involved in fun-filled, informative, activities.

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Participating in constructive, meaningful actions helps young people to see the point of being involved, and aids their understanding of what they can do themselves to help the environment.

It’s all very simple. Plan your action, document the action by taking pictures, making a video or writing an article, register your school online and SHARE with the rest of the world on our Global Action Days Facebook group in the week of 9-15 November 2015.

Remember to ask your schools to include your country name or some other code in their posts, so you can then find everything happening in your country when using the search field!

The chosen theme for Global Days of Action 2015 is Climate Change because of the Climate Conference known as COP21 which takes place in Paris later this year. The conference is about all governments agreeing to a deal to significantly reduce man-made Climate Change. As Climate Change is such a huge topic, FEE believes it is the ideal theme to focus on in 2015. 

All information on how to join this action can be found on www.ecoschools.global/global-action-days

#globalactiondays #FEE #EcoSchools

Eco-Schools Awards and Climate March in Latvia

On 25 September, with the start of a new school year, the annual Eco-Schools awards ceremony took place in Riga, Latvia. This was an event of celebrating achievements,  exchanging experiences, acknowledging best practices and taking part in a joint action.

114 educational institutions - including pre-schools, primary, secondary, high-schools and even two universities (Liepaja University and Vidzeme University), received the Green Flag award. Another 47 schools, which are on their way to the highest award, received the Eco-Schools diploma.

After the opening words from the Eco-Schools jury, FEE Latvia and UNESCO Latvia, Eco-school representatives shared stories about their most successful campaigns and events from the previous year.  Liepaja University’s Eco Committee had bicycle stands installed and marked all the light switches in the University to help save energy. There was a festival for exploring and learning about the biggest river in Latvia – Daugavatogether with other Eco-Schools which was organised by the Eco Committee of Aizkraukle Gymnasium. Teachers from the primary school CreKids explained how they set up a healthy lifestyle and nature exploration summer camp for kids

The event ended with participants walking together in a Climate March with flags and posters they had created together, to the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development.

The goal of the action was to remind the general public and the authorities about the shared responsibility of combating climate change in regard to the UN Climate Change Conference taking place this year in December, in Paris (COP21). At the end of the march, participants arrived at the ministry and put together a creative installation of painted rocks, making it into a slogan which calls for action. They were greeted by the Minister for Environmental Protection and Regional Development, Kaspars Gerhards, who expressed his gratitude and support to the Eco-Schools students and teachers, and acknowledged the importance of improving the environment.

FEE joins Global Alliance of higher education sustainability networks in Open Letter to Cop 21 Ministers

The collective voice of the world’s universities, colleges and students will be heard at COP21 when the United Nations Climate Change Conference takes place in Paris, France during the first week of December.

A global alliance of tertiary and higher education sustainability networks today jointly issued an Open Letter urging Ministers and Governments to acknowledge and strengthen the research and education role that universities and colleges play in addressing climate change. With networks on every continent pledging signatures, the global alliance already represents more than 3000 universities and colleges worldwide.

The Open Letter celebrates and confirms the critical role universities and colleges play in finding and implementing solutions towards climate change mitigation and adaptation and places it in the context of addressing wider issues of sustainability, including social and economic policies and practices.

Addressed to COP21 Ministers and Governments the letter also calls for more specific measures to be taken such as showcasing universities and colleges as living laboratories for climate change adaptation and mitigation, increasing support for trans-disciplinary learning, teaching and research approaches, and using university and college campuses and operations as a leverage agent to accelerate the transition to clean energy sources.

The Open Letter from the global alliance will be handed to COP21 General Secretary Pierre Henri Guignard on 14 October at the UNESCO Headquarters during the Higher Education for Climate Change Action Event. The event is hosted by The Higher Education Sustainability Initiative- HESI which was created by a consortium of UN entities UNESCO, UN-DESA, UNEP, Global Compact and UNU.

If you represent a university or college sustainability related network and wish to become a signatory to the Open Letter, please email john.north@grli.org or ipatton@eauc.org.uk before 9 October.

We hope you will join us in the effort and look forward to your response. You can view the letter here.

Eco-Schools in Northern Ireland Celebrate 20 Years at a Special Event

Eco-Schools Northern Ireland hosted a special event to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Eco-Schools programme in March 2015. Over 2000 school pupils, teachers and guests gathered to enjoy speeches, presentations, workshops, exhibits and awards.

The event organised by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, the environmental charity that operates the Eco-Schools Programme in Northern Ireland, was created to thank pupils and teachers for their unwavering dedication and to provide a forum to inspire new ideas. 

Northern Ireland Eco-Schools have a number of reasons to celebrate. They were one of the first countries in the world to join the programme, and the first country to award a Green Flag, to Downpatrick Nursery School in 1994. In recent years the programme has been going from strength to strength and in 2015 Eco-Schools Northern Ireland were proud to announce that 100% of their schools are now part of the Eco-Schools programme and working their way towards Green Flag excellence.

Key speakers opened the event: Mark H Durkan, Minister of the Environment; Ian Humphreys, CEO of Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful; and Daniel Schaffer, CEO of the Foundation for Environmental Education, all congratulated Northern Ireland Eco-Schools on reaching this landmark moment and encouraged pupils to look to the future and continue to make Northern Ireland and the World a greener, cleaner place.

Eco-Schools were delighted to be joined at the celebration by Daniel Schaffer, CEO of the Foundation for Environmental Education and Bríd Conneely, International Eco-Schools Director. There were also guest Eco-Schools representatives from Scotland and the Republic of Ireland and pupils from the Republic of Ireland Eco-Schools attending.

Northern Ireland are now looking forward to hosting the Eco-Schools National Operators Meeting in November 2015 which will see representatives from FEE and the 59 Eco-Schools countries worldwide come to Northern Ireland to share good practice and discuss the on-going development of Eco-Schools for the benefit of young people and our environment globally. As the host nation Northern Ireland is eager to provide visitors with a rich and welcoming cultural experience and will showcase some of the great work being implemented in Northern Ireland’s schools.

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A World First for Cork University Hospital as it Raises the Green Flag

On 8 April 2015, Cork University Hospital celebrated becoming the first hospital in the world to be awarded the prestigious Green Flag by An Taisce’s Green Campus programme on behalf of the international Foundation for Environmental Education. The flag was raised by Minister for State Kathleen Lynch, Department of Health. The Foundation for Environmental Education was represented by Mr José Archer, President of ABAE-FEE Portugal.

Key achievements in 2013 and 2014 for the CUH Green-Campus team include:

  • Reductions in waste of 11% despite an overall 10% increase in hospital activity in that period. This includes a 205 tonne reduction in waste going to landfill, a 21 tonne decrease in clinical waste and a 77 tonne increase in recycling.
  • 860 MWhr decrease in gas consumption
  • 1,185 MWhr decrease in electricity consumption
  • 785 tonne decrease in CO2

Patricia Oliver, Director of the An Taisce Education Unit, commended CUH on their efforts towards achieving the flag, citing the commitment of staff and students to the programme as well as crucial long term support from hospital management. Ms Oliver added: “A Sustainable Healthcare Environment Steering Group within CUH leads the direction of the hospital in reducingenergy, water and waste disposal costs. There is a strong feeling of togetherness and team work as everybody is moving towards making sustainable practices the norm and the way things are done across the CUH campus.

CUH’s CEO Mr. Tony McNamara said, “By creating a healthier environment for patients, staff and visitors, we are taking an important step in achieving the best outcomes for our patients and supporting community health.”

In 2010, University College Cork were pioneers in gaining the world’s first Green Flag for a third level education institute, an award that has been renewed on an annual basis ever since. As an acute teaching hospital and an academic partner with a Green Flag university, CUH were eligible to work towards gaining Green Flag certification and shared many environmental based projects with their UCC colleagues. CUH joins An Taisce’s national network of 21 third level Green-Campus colleges, ten of which have been awarded a Green Flag including:

  • UCC
  • Trinity College
  • DCU
  • Dundalk IT
  • GMIT Mayo
  • GMIT Letterfrack
  • Ballsbridge CFE
  • Coláiste Dhúlaigh Coolock
  • Pearse College

 

Green Key and Eco-Schools partner up for the World Days of Action

FEE Portugal launched a challenge for the Portuguese Green Key Hotels to take part in the Eco-Schools World Days of Action.

 

At the annual Eco-Schools Teacher seminar (23-24-25 January) in Janeiro, Portugal, three teachers were awarded with a voucher of 1-2 nights at a Green Key Hotel for the work they have been doing to make their school more sustainable. FEE Portugal launched the idea of a prize to the Green Key hotels, and it was taken up by a large group of hotels wanting, not only to offer that prize, but also willing to take part in the WDA.  It was generally very positively accepted, and the hotels will also now be involving guests and staff with the schools activities from 20 - 24 April. The goal of the prize is to keep motivating the teachers that are leading really good projects in schools.

The World Days of Action is a project implemented among Eco-Schools by FEE International, the biggest ESD (Education for Sustainable Development) programme in the world, and it is being highlighted in Portugal through a partnership between schools and hotels, who are joining forces to work towards more and better sustainability and social responsibility.

Stay tuned to see the actions at the next WDA and find out who wins the next couple of nights generously offered by the following hotels: Herdade do Vau, Real Abadia, Hilton, Neya, Melo e Alvim, Tradicampo, Pestana, Porto Novo, Hotel Orca Praia, and Vila Baleira.

Eco-Schools South-Africa wins United Nations Award

A joint water project initiated by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) and WESSA Eco-Schools has won a United Nations-Water “Water for Life” Best Practices Award.

The annual “Water for Life” Best Practices Award aims to acknowledge and promote efforts to meet international commitments made on water and related issues by 2015. The award recognises outstanding projects that are working to ensure sustainable long-term management of water resources and to help achieve the water and sanitation targets of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation.  The theme of the awards for this year was “Water and Sustainable Development”.  


The DWS/WESSA Eco-Schools Water Project was awarded in the category “Best participatory, communication, awareness-raising and education practices” and shares the award with Project India.

Congratulations to Eco-Schools South-Africa!!