The long way and work done in the International Eco-Schools Network during the past 10 years has had a fruitful outcome: more than 400 people from 30 different countries have met in the 2005 International Eco-Schools Conference, that took place in Pozuelo de Alarcón (Madrid) and Valsaín (Segovia), from April 21st to 23th in order to share their experiences and celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the launching of the Eco-Schools Programme. This event has been organized jointly by the International Eco-Schools Coordination and ADEAC (FEE-Spain), and supported by Spanish Ministry of Education and Science, Spanish Ministry of Environment, Region of Madrid (Department of Education), and Pozuelo de Alarcón Town Hall. Associated projects such as the International Comp awards were supported by the Portuguese Institute of the Environment, British Council, UNEP and Earthprint.com, among other International sponsors.

   
The Conference has combined different groups of participants: 1 teacher and 1 pupil from each Eco-School in Primary and Secondary, which was finalist in the International Eco-code Competition (20 countries), Local Authorities and National Eco-Schools Coordinators. Due to the environmental consciousness of the organization to seize this opportunity, the programme was very tight. In any case, all these material and immaterial efforts and costs, as well as the ecological footprint would not be reasonable if the benefits of the event, would not be only worthy in the present, but also if they are extended in space and prolonged over time. It goes even beyond the balance we obtain of "Climate Care" for the international flights (offsetting all the CO2 for the participants' air travel).
   
There have been many activities: Spanish Eco-Schools visits, environmental and cultural visits, International Eco-Code Competition Award Ceremony, Spanish Green Flags Award Ceremony, International Eco-Schools Exhibition, conferences, working groups, games, intercultural coexistence spaces, etc. All the activities tried to be adapted to each kind of target group: primary and secondary students, kindergarten, primary, secondary and special education teachers; local authorities who support local sustainable development programmes, such as Local Agenda 21 in connection with Eco-Schools;and National Eco-Schools Coordinators.
   
Therefore, to look for the sustainability of the event and the balance of the ecological footprint, some criteria have been taken into account, such as choosing some suppliers with ecological, social and economical criteria. In this sense, the folders of the event were supplied by a local integration enterprise in recycled and recyclable material, some of the meals were elaborated by "Going up to the South" Cooperative with ecological and/or Fair Trade ingredients, etc. Moreover, a new idea was proposed in the Conference: the "Madrid Declaration of Eco-Schools", which would join together many efforts. It would be a participative process during the next school year for the International Eco-Schools network, based on the finalist Eco-codes, the workshops conclusions of the Conference, the Earth Charter and the UNESCO Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014). The launching of the "Linking and Itinerary Project" must also contribute to this ecological and social profitability, facilitating exchanges and cooperative benefits within the Eco-Schools network.
   
Finally, the Conference has promoted bilateral exchanges, such as South Africa-Spain teachers exchange project, Portugal, Morocco, etc. It has been very fruitful to improve the relationship between Eco-Schools Programme and international organisms, like UNEP or Toyota Europe (Department of Corporate Social Responsibility). So, the Conference has not ended, but only has begun. It is now our task to make the difference!

(May 2005)

   
The Eco-Schools programme was started by FEE in 1994 with the support of the European Commission (DG Environment). At the time, a few national FEE Member organisations worked to establish a simple, participatory methodology to involve schools and their communities to participate in an environmental management system, and developed the Green Flag as a certification for good work in meeting determined criteria. Today, Eco-Schools has many different languages and flavours - it is in pilot or full implementation in 28 countries and about 13,000 schools across 3 continents.
   
The Eco-Schools Annual General Meeting of national programme coordinators will this year meet in Pozuelo and Segóvia, near Madrid, Spain, April 22-23. But this year, there will also be an international seminar with teachers and students from about 20 countries participating in a seminar organised for the 22nd April. Delegates are representatives of the national award-winning schools in the international Eco-Code competition (see our website for more information). The overall winners (schools from Portugal, Bulgaria, Romania, Ireland and Scotland) will be awarded their special prizes. The seminar and workshops will cover three areas of significance to Eco-Schools: Climate Change / Local Agenda 21 and Community Development / Decade for Education for Sustainable Development. Special guest speakers will be invited to share their knowledge on the subjects and demonstrate some of the initiatives that are available and in which Eco-Schools can take part. Also, some special projects will be announced and launched, such as the Eco-Schools international school linking project.
   
The event is organised by the Eco-Schools International Coordination together with ADEAC/FEE Spain, with the support of various organisations. There will be a full report on the event in the next newsletter and on the website.
   
Minding our footstep: In order to reduce the impact of CO2 emissions on climate change from all the air travel of our seminar participants, the air travel CO2 emissions of this event will be offset by Climate Care.

(February 2005)

   
The last edition of "Eco-buses" took place in Leganés, Madrid this month. In these Eco-buses, more than 90 people visited some Eco-Schools and other interesting facilities, from the environmental point of view. The Eco-Bus is mainly addressed to the coordinator teachers in the Eco-School and to the whole Environmental Committee (pupils, parents, not educational staff...). Any person who wants to know or to help to spread the experiences that Eco-Schools contribute with to Environmental Education and Sustainable Development is also very welcomed. The aim is to show "in situ" how a specific Eco-School develops the Programme in their installations, to share it with the Local Eco-Schools Network and to learn and to adapt the best practices, when possible, and finally enjoy the visit and the shared time among all the participants.
  

In the first Eco-bus (5th May 2004) we could have a look to: a solar thermal installation of 100 m² of panels destined to demonstration in the University Carlos III of Leganés; I.E.S. Isaac Albéniz; and I.E.S. M ª Zambrano. In the second Eco-bus (19th May 2004) we visited: C.P. Antonio Machado; C.P. Trabenco; an exhibition of toys made with recycled wastes and materials in the Children School City (CEMU); and C.P. Andrés Segovia. These Eco-buses are a very motivating and encouraging moments for all the participants, because they help us to feel that there are many people working for a better world, and that: ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE! In addition, many new eco-relationships began between people that didn't knew each other before, and you never know where they may lead… : )

(May 2004)

   
Last April 23, 2004, Day of the Book in Spain, we received in Madrid a group of 26 teachers from Iceland. They came from Manabrekka, a Kindergarten Eco-School located in an Icelandic municipality with a great biodiversity in birds. The group of eco-teachers visited three Kindergarten Eco-Schools in Madrid. In first place, they visited the "EEI Las Doradas" in Madrid city. Both remaining Eco-Schools belong to the municipality of Leganés, Madrid, and their names are "EEI Verbena" and "EEI Lope de Vega". From our point of view it was not only a visit, but there was an interaction among the teachers from Iceland and Spain, since they exchanged a lot of information and good ideas. During the whole day we breathed a constructive and participative environment. And it became palpable the Eco-Schools International Network. We hope you had a good return trip!

(April 2004)

II Eco-Schools Meeting in the Region of Madrid

   
Our memory is still fresh and our heart is still warm, too… since the II Eco-Schools Meeting in the Region of Madrid. The II Eco-Schools Meeting took place from 17th to 18th April 2004, in the same municipality of last year, called Rascafría. The Meeting was full of great moments and experiences, which we are now going to summarize. Twenty four (24) school centres have participated in the Meeting, nineteen (19) from the Region of Madrid and five (5) in representation of other Spanish geographical regions, such as Andalusia, Basque Country and Murcia. The types of school centres participating were diverse: 1 kindergarten, 16 primary schools and 7 secondary schools. We were 120 participants in all, approximately 70 pupils and 50 adults (local authorities' representatives, teachers, ADEAC' staff, and Tiago Fernandes, from the Eco-Schools International Coordination.
   
The Meeting began on Saturday with an introductory game with Eco-School's Fair Trade T-shirts. Then, the Eco- Schools from Andalusia, Basque Country and Murcia presented their experiences. In the evening, all Eco-Schools prepared an exhibition with their materials and experiences. Meanwhile, we all could enjoy an afternoon snack, consisting of Fair Trade chocolate and ecological bread. At night, we could have a wonderful time with a musical and artistic party, thanks to a storyteller and some jugglers. On Sunday, Tiago Fernandes informed us about the international dimension of the Eco- Schools Programme. Afterwards, we had a meeting with the adult participants, while the pupils enjoyed a botanic itinerary and some games by the surroundings. We had lunch and said goodbye to each other, sure of having shared some wonderful experiences, that we will not forget easily and with the head replete with new, encouraging and suggestive ideas. See you in the next one!

   
We are pleased to say that the first teachers training course about Agenda 21 for schools of the Region of Madrid ended on March 27. This course has been organized by Educational Regional Authorities of Madrid and ADEAC-FEE, for kindergarten, primary and secondary level teachers. The course approached the themes Water, Energy and Waste for a total of 40 hours, divided between 15 hours of theory, 20 hours of workshops, and 5 hours for study visits. Three different facilities were visited: a water treatment plant, a photovoltaic and thermal solar installation and an urban solid waste treatment plant.
Sixty teachers from twenty four school centres of the Region of Madrid have participated. The experience has been very positive, and the organization hopes to repeat it again next year.   

(March 2004)

   
The III Andalusian Environmental Education Congress (AEEC) was held in Cordoba from October 23^rd to 25^th, 2003. The three main aims of the AEEC were:
* thinking about the current state of the environmental education in Andalusia and its perspectives of future;
* presenting the Andalusian Strategy of Environmental Education;
* initiating the implementation of the commitments and lines of action proposed by the Andalusian Strategy of Environmental Education.
   
The participation of most of the stakeholders in environmental education, such as: school centres, NGOs, institutions, natural spaces, companies, universities, mass media, municipalities and centres of environmental education, etc. has been very important in this event. Regarding the school centres, two Eco-Schools from Andalusia presented two workshops about their experiences, representing the Spanish Eco-Schools network in Andalusia: CEIP Virgen de la Cabeza (Ronda, Málaga), a primary school, and IES Poeta García Gutiérrez (Chiclana, Cádiz), a secondary level. IES Poeta García Gutiérrez is also participating in the process of the Local Agenda 21 as a member of the Local Environmental Forum. These links between Eco-Schools, environmental education and processes of implementation of Local Agenda 21 are present in Spain, and we are pleased to be able to contribute to this objective, that becomes bigger every day.    
   
   

Renewable Eco-Schools in Leganés, Madrid

   
“Renewable energies”, the main magazine about this issue in Spain, has recently published a 4 pages article, including the special mention in the front page, about the solar photovoltaic installation in seven Eco-Schools from Leganés (Madrid). In this article, the journalist explains the basic points of Eco-Schools Programme and emphasizes the important role that these Eco-schools with solar panels, play in the promotion of this kind of clean energy sources and sustainable development among the young population.   

(December 2003)

   
The II National Congress on Environment for children has been celebrated in Santiago de Compostela, La Coruña from September 29^th to October 3^rd. More than 1.000 children of 44 Primary and Secondary schools from 17 Autonomous Regions form the whole Spain attended the appointment. It was organized by the Galician Regional authorities. The main objective was to promote the participation of the children in the resolution of the environmental problems and their commitment.
   
Four Spanish Eco-Schools were there, among the experiences showed. They could participate learning from other schools, through their papers, some workshops (biodiversity conservation, landscape, etc.) and some didactic visits to the city centre and the National Park of the Atlantic Islands (Cíes Islands). For example, the pupils from CEP Serantes, with their teacher José Manuel Echevarría, from Santurtzi (Vizcaya) shared with the rest of the schools their experience, called "The green patrol". What they valued as the best of the event has been the friendship and contacts with people of other communities, even they missed a bit more time to look for moments for the dialogue among the teachers. In general, the congress was a success, the children enjoyed it a lot and they dream of the next one in Extremadura. They want also to congratulate all the participants for their presentations and, especially, to their team that, in spite of the nerves, did very well.

   
The Regional Educational Authorities of Madrid, in close cooperation with ADEAC-FEE, have recently launched an official announcement for all the 1.500 public school centres in the Region of Madrid. Its objective was to select and support school projects linked with Agenda 21 in the Region of Madrid, that promote a more rational water and energy use and a sustainable waste management. The whole project's budget, up to 800.000 €, is the biggest for such a purpose at national level. The participation of the school centres has been voluntary, and they had to focus the main topic of their project, on Water, Energy or Waste Management. All selected schools will be provided with an environmental audit by a specialised organisation. According to the results, a specific action plan for each school centre will be designed in collaboration with them.
   
Different actions and materials will be provided to each school, according to the main theme chosen:
- Water: Eco-audit; repairs and replacement of an average of 60 water points, with a guarantee of a 50% water saving. Demo kit.
- Energy: Eco-audit; repairs, eco-efficient electric appliances and replacement of an average of 200 light points, with a guarantee of a 30% energy saving. Solar photoelectric installation (440 W). Demo kit.
- Waste: Eco-audit, containers, boxes and tanks. Toxic waste collecting and management agreement for two years. Demo kit (compost, recycled paper).
   
The 24 public school centres that presented the best environmental projects in relation to Agenda 21 were selected to develop them in the next two school years. It is very significant that 14 out of these 24 school centres (60%) belong to the Madrid Region's Eco-Schools Network (these only represent 1% of the Madrid Region's school centres).
   
Eco-Schools on National TV program
Two Spanish Eco-Schools explained their experience in a scientific TV Program. On the 22nd of September 2003, an educational/scientific TV program, "The Adventure of Knowledge" showed, at national level, the development of Eco-Schools Programme in two Spanish Eco-Schools from Leganés (Madrid): CEIP Andrés Segovia and IES María Zambrano. Both schools shared their experiences with their environmental committees, as well as some environmental awareness campaigns, the school orchards and vegetable gardens, or the waste management, etc. It lasted about 10 minutes, so we hope this will be a good "publicity" for the diffusion of the Eco-Schools Programme in Spain.

(September 2003)

Eco-Schools at the International Symposium
on "Education and Sustainability" in Almonte

   
An International Symposium on "Education and Sustainability" (ISES) was held in Almonte (Huelva), from the 27th to the 30th of March 2003. The ISES was organised jointly by the University of Huelva, the Foundation Doñana 21, the local authorities of Almonte, the Teacher's Training Center in Bollullos/Valverde, and the educational and environmental Regional Authorities of Andalusia, with the collaboration of ADEAC-FEE Spain.
   
One day out of three was dedicated to the Eco-Schools Programme where all the dimensions of the Programme were present. From the local point of view, the participation of several Spanish Eco-Schools, recently awarded with the Green Flag, was very worthy, as they explained their experiences and best practices. The Mayor of Almonte talked about the Local Agenda 21 and the educational and environmental regional authorities described the cooperation with Eco-Schools in Andalusia. José Sánchez Moro, President of ADEAC, presented the national Eco-Schools dimension; and the International Coordinator, Sérgio Santos, spoke about the international dimension, evolution and perspectives of the Programme. Thanks to his presence, the different possibilities of enhancing the exchanges between Portugal and Spain were also analysed, with a special interest in the World Water Year.
   
On Sunday, due to the nearness of the famous Doñana National Park (a World Heritage Site which is Biosphere Reserve), several participants of the ISES visited some of the Environmental Education and Interpretation Centres. In addition, took place the first meeting among the municipalities which have a strong collaboration with ADEAC, and the launching of the concept of "networking - local Eco-Schools networks". This initiative has a lot of potential advantages, such as exchanges of experiences, good practices, problems and solutions found on the Local Agenda 21, exchanges of pupils and teachers, eco-buses that make a round trip to the environmental committees from one school to another, etc.
I think everybody came back home a bit different from how they had arrived to the ISES - with a higher hope in their task and feeling that another world is possible.

   
ADEAC - FEE Spain (Asociación de Educación Ambiental y del Consumidor - Fundación de Educación Ambiental) in cooperation with the Educational and Environmental Regional Authorities of Madrid and three municipalities (Leganés, Pozuelo de Alarcón and Galapagar), organised 5 conferences on "Agenda 21 and the Education System", from January 21 to February 4, 2003. Teachers, students and representatives from regional authorities exchanged ideas, experiences and strategies on tackling environmental issues in the context of the Spanish educational system. During these conferences, several thematic subjects were debated: Agenda 21 in Madrid, and its repercussions in schools' management; Eco-Schools, the environmental review, and the role of students in the school' improvement; the management of water, energy and waste in Madrid, and the role of schools. The aim of these conferences was to offer, to the 150 people attending them, a high level debate on the educational system repercussions of the Agenda 21 implementation, and to alert the educational community to the importance of the environmental education and management in the achievement of sustainable development.

(January 2003)

Eco-Schools Eco-Committees' Meeting in Rascafria

   
On November 9^th and 10^th in a beautiful place called Rascafria, surrounded by hills covered with Autumn colours, 15 Eco-Schools and almost 100 people have spent two days sharing experiences and learning from each other. It was a great opportunity, on Saturday evening, to see how some children explained to the others how they make soap from used oil, how other children make recycled paper, how some teenagers separate rubbish to recycle and how others compost organic waste, and, even, how more young pupils share their way for saving water and energy in their Eco-Schools. Pupils from 9 to 21 years old told us how they work day-by-day talking to their teachers and classmates about the Eco-Code compromises. Despite sometimes being hard to do, all of them showed great enthusiasm and they are happy as Eco-Committees members. On Saturday night, we all played and sang together and had a lot of fun with some shows that several Eco-Schools had prepared. On Sunday morning, teachers could talk for long about their ideas and solutions to some problems in eco-schools while pupils went for a walk through the forests learning about old traditions in the valley. In the afternoon, we could watch the Scottish Green Schools video and children wrote special letters to other Eco-Schools pupils in the world. So really soon you could receive one! From this page, we also send you and eco-hug!

News from Spain

   
Two Eco-Buses were organised this year. An Eco-Bus is a sightseeing tour around 7 Eco-Schools in Leganes (municipality in Madrid region). Pupils, teachers, parents... have shown what they do at their Eco-School. People from several municipalities have attended at both Eco-Bus in order to exchange their experiences, their best practices to learn how to do different recycling activities and solar systems, participating methods, ecological cultivating experiences, international cooperation projects, and how to keep their daily effort with joy. Some Eco-Schools in different municipalities from Madrid have started with this stimulus.
   
A regional awards’ ceremony has taken place in May 9. Eco-Schools from the Basque Country, a region in Northern Spain, have received the Green Flag, as recognition of all their work during last 3-4 years. The ceremony was celebrated in Felix Samaniego Eco-School in Tolosa, surrounded by beautiful mountains, green scenario for a Green Flag day! Many politicians, journalists, pupils and teachers enjoyed together that day. Later, every Eco-School celebrated their own ceremony to share their happiness with all School community: parents, pupils, teachers, directing and non-teaching staff, and local people from their villages and towns. There were typical music, regional dances, good food and drink for celebrating such good news!

Environmental Committees Meeting in Valsaín

   
On 14^th November 2001, the local educational authorities of Leganés (Madrid) in collaboration with ADEAC (FEE-Spain) organised a meeting among the members (pupils and teachers) of the Environmental Committees of six Eco-Schools in Valsaín (Segovia), where the Environmental Education National Centre is located. The idea of this meeting was to achieve some specific objectives for the Programme: to have contact with rural environments, being protagonist of the activities carried out; to promote the mutual knowledge and socialising among pupils; to visit an environmental interpretation and education centre; and to share the good experiences carried out in each school centre in order to promote the network. The age of the pupils ranged between 9 and 17 years old and the activities were adapted to all of them. First the students played an acquaintance game, followed by a walk along an ecological path in the surroundings, and the presentation of a colour slides film about the seasons. Afterwards, they shared the experiences and good practices of each school centre with the others. Several pupils explained what they had done up to this moment and what they were planning to do for the rest of the year. Everyone felt that the meeting was inspiring and encouraging.