On 19^th December there was a beautiful New Year exhibition in the Slovenian Pomurje region with the participation of several Eco-Schools. At the same time, students from 59 Slovenian Eco-Schools took part in a competition to design a product on eco-themes (biodiversity, waste, and water) and New Year motifs. The best 15 students received precious awards and recognition.
   
For more information: Ms Nada Pavšer (nada.pavser@guest.arnes.si), DOVES - Društvo za Okoljevarstveno Vzgojo v Sloveniji (Slovenia)

   
The 2003 Eco-Schools International Conference and meeting of Programme Coordinators was held between December 4 and 6 in Dublin, Ireland. The event was the most international yet, with Programme Coordinators from 22 of the 28 countries where Eco-Schools programmes are either being run or piloted - delegates came from as far away as Russia and Portugal, Norway and South Africa, Iceland and Chile. This year’s annual event was held with the kind support of the Irish Ministry of Environment, and was hosted by An Taisce, FEE Member for Ireland, which runs the very successful Green Schools (Eco- Schools in Ireland) programme in that country. This annual event is a great opportunity not only to set the work agenda for the international programme, but also to liaise with other programme coordinators, share and learn project experiences, set up side projects, display resources, etc. - one of the many benefits of the Eco-Schools international network. Following visits by delegates to selected Irish Green Schools, the more formal event started with a conference where leading academics from Dublin, a representative of the Minister of Environment, the Chairperson from An Taisce, FEE Executive Board Member and Eco-Schools international coordinator took the floor. Also, the Director of UNEP’s Division of Environmental Policy Implementation spoke about UNEP’s role in environment and sustainable development issues globally, the support to the programme, and launched the "Water World" book (see last month’s newsletter). Workshops were held with the international programme delegates and participants, such as from Municipalities. Among the topics were: - Developments in Eco-Schools Methodology; - Eco-Schools as a precursor to Local Agenda 21; - International or Regional Events and Competitions. Some of the proposed recommendations from these workshops are already underway, such as the setting up of the International Eco-Code competition (in this newsletter) and plans for a major Eco-Schools multi-sector conference event later in the year, in celebration of the programme’s 10th year anniversary. In the finest Irish tradition, the hosts kindly took delegates for a tour of Dublin, including the Guinness museum, and treated all to a wonderful evening of good food, live traditional Irish music and lots of dancing. A formidable event, professionally and socially.

   
In Lithuania Eco-Schools pilot project is stated by Lithuanian Green Movement. It is the oldest and the largest non governmental environmental organization in Lithuania. Lithuanian Green Movement started to work with Fee three years ago. There are already two successfully implemented Fee programmes in Lithuania: Blue Flag and Green Key. Lithuania is in the beginning with Eco-Schools programme. Over 60 Schools from all Lithuania showed a wish to become an Eco-School. Established Eco-Schools committee will choose about 10 different schools for the pilot project.
   
For more information: Ms Irma Astrauskaite (eco-schools@zalieji.lt), Lithuanian Green Movement (Lithuania)

   
On the 21^st of November an award ceremony of the Eco-Schools Programme was held for the region of Varna, one of the biggest regions in Bulgaria. The ceremony and the meeting of the Eco-Schools was part of the programme of the National Tourism Fair. Four schools were awarded with the Green Flag, and seven were re-awarded. One of the new awardees was "Karin Dom," a center for children with special needs (email: karindom@bta.bg). The social workers, teachers and students from the center were inspired by the ideas of the Eco-Schools Programme, and have worked for three years to earn the Green Flag. This is the first special-needs school that has been awarded in Bulgaria. The children and the teachers are interested in collaborating with other centers for children with special needs.
   
For more information: Ms Petya Yordanova (petya_j@yahoo.com), Bulgarian Blue Flag Movement (Bulgaria)

   
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.
   
For more information: Mr Jorge Navacerrada (adeac.feee@teleline.es), ADEAC - Asociación de Educación Ambiental y del Consumidor (Spain)

   
We would like to announce a new, unique booklet on water for children! The booklet, "Water World - Children's Voices" is produced by UNEP in close collaboration with the Eco-Schools International Coordination. "Water World" clearly represents a new creative approach to teaching children about urgent environmental issues, in this case Water. It could be used as part of the study literature in schools or as additional material for children to read at home.
The book is written in the form of a story. The narrator, Nthabi, is a 14-year old Kenyan girl living in a village where she has to walk down to the common stream for the family's water supply. Together with her friends from all over the world, Nthabi describes her own experiences and presents basic facts and challenges related to water. The information is provided in an exciting, non-formal, children-friendly yet educational way. To further add interest to the book, the story brings together beautiful drawings, poems and essays from children around the world - all, of course, on the theme of water. Water World is now undergoing the final layout phase in Portugal and will be out in print in early December this year, to be presented at the Annual International Eco-Schools meeting, this year in Dublin, Ireland.
   
To know more about this book and find out how to get your own copy or a larger number of copies to your school, please contact: United Nations Environment Programme akpezi.ogbuigwe@unep.org OR Eco-Schools International Coordination waterworld@eco-schools.org

   
Volvo is asking young people who have created action plans to help their environment to send in their project summaries for the chance to:
1) Win international recognition for their environmental work at school or in the community.
2) Tell the United Nations Environment Programme how young people can act to help the environment.
3) Represent their country at an all expenses paid trip to the Volvo Young Environmentalist's conference in 2004.
4) Win one of the top prizes of US $10000, $6000 or $4000 to help their project.
You can enter any practical action plan aims to improve the environment in schools or local communities in one of the following categories - biodiversity, water, energy, transport waste and consumption. All you need to do is provide a summary of the project that includes your school contact details, the name of up to 5 young people who are responsible for initiating the project and the following information:
1) An overall project summary (maximum 50 words)
2) The need for your project (maximum 130 words)
3) The research you did (maximum 180 words)
4) The action plan you decided upon (maximum 180 words)
5) Signs of success (maximum 130 words)
This summary can be sent to webmaster@volvoadventure.org. Alternatively you can go to www.volvoadventure.org and download the entry form, a French and Spanish language version is also available from the web site. If you choose to enter online there is also a facility for you to give extra information such as supplementary downloadable documents (PDFs or Word) and pictures. All entries will be considered if they are undertaken by teams of up to five young people aged 10 to 17 and have evidence of a practical action plan. The best action plan authors from each country will be asked to represent their country at an all expenses paid international conference in Sweden. All you have to do is decide how you want to enter.

   
The "Green Schools Seminar" will be held in the city of Lund, Sweden, on 2 December and is organised by the International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics (IIIEE) of Lund University. This event will bring representatives from various countries in Europe as well as China to discuss the issue of Environmental Education in Sustainable Development, the Young Masters Programme (YMP) in China developed by IIIEE, and the prospect for cooperation between Chinese and European "Green" schools. Green Schools is the name for Eco-Schools in Sweden and some other countries. In addition to key speakers from the IIIEE, Lund University and the YMP programme, the Vice President of FEE and Eco-Schools International Coordinator, as well as representatives of Municipal specialists in environmental affairs, the seminar counts on a strong delegation of representatives from China. Participants represent the Centre for Environmental Education and Communications (CEEC) of the Chinese State Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), several Provincial Environmental Protection Administrations, County Governors, and Teachers and Principals from various elementary and middle schools. The Chinese Green Schools programme, modelled around the European Eco-Schools programme, today involves about 13,000 schools in China. There is much interest in fostering ties between schools in China and European countries. This seminar will look at the potential and opportunities for supporting these ties. During their trip to Europe, the Chinese delegation will visit Green Schools (Eco- Schools) in Sweden, Denmark and Germany.
   
For more information on the IIIEE, including the Young Masters Programme, visit www.iiiee.lu.se
Mr Per-Olov Ottosson (peo.ottosson@hsr.se), The Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation (Sweden)

   
There are over 27 000 schools in South Africa, nearly 12 million schoolchildren and over 35000 teachers. Now there are over 100 Eco-Schools registered and about 40 green flags flying in South Africa! The first 14 green flags were awarded to a group of schools in Cintsa (a rural area near East London in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa). There were about 500 people packed into a big tent in the school grounds near the beautiful garden the school has developed and which helps to feed both the school children and the local community. This garden was one of the school's Eco-School projects. It was a grand affair with speeches from every Department (Education, Environmental Affairs & Tourism, Water Affairs & Forestry, Agriculture) and of course some beautiful traditional dancing and singing. It made the front page of the newspaper and prime time on national morning TV!! A further 11 schools were awarded flags in Durban on 20 November and 7 schools received their flags in Cape Town on 21 November. Several more schools will receive flags by the end of the year bringing the total number of awarded flags to about 40 for 2003. WESSA's Treasure Beach Environmental Education Centre will also receive a flag for the efforts they make at their Centre to be an example to the schools that visit. They have focused on special environmental days, an indigenous garden at the Centre and a recycling programme. One of the teachers commented: "Suddenly everyone feels responsible and wants to be involved" and another one "This programme has focused our thoughts and initiatives… we know that overcoming the inertia of old habits will require much energy and persistence but we have made a start" and one more from a principal: "The Eco-School idea has brought a new and meaningful focus into our school… the children and staff have been caught up by the enthusiasm and a new dimension has been added to the school day."
In South Africa the Wildlife & Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA) manage the Eco-Schools programme in partnership with the Department of Education. Funding has been sourced from a large packaging company (Nampak) through WWF-SA. South Africa's school curriculum has recently been thoroughly revised and Eco-Schools programme aims to support schools with implementing this new curriculum by developing lesson plans with an environmental focus. "The Department of Education is happy to partner the Wildlife & Environment Society of South Africa to promote Eco-Schools as the initiative is taking heed of the need to deliver on the new curriculum" was the message from Education Minister Kader Asmal. There is interest in the Eco-Schools programme from many countries in the southern and eastern African region. Eco-Schools - South Africa is based in the WESSA offices which are also home to the Southern African Development Co-operation (SADC) Regional Environmental Education Centre. Many course participants visit the Centre and are interested to learn more about the Eco-School programme. In particular interest has been shown from Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Zambia and the Seychelles. Funding from Danida enables the national Eco-Schools co-ordinator to support interest expressed by these countries.
   
For more information: Ms Kim Ward (kim@futurenet.co.za), WESSA - Wildlife & Environment Society of South Africa

   
November 19, 2003 schoolchildren in Goeree Overflakkee (which is situated in the south-western part of The Netherlands) switched on the brand new photovoltaic (PV) systems of the elementary schools 'De Bron' and 'De Molenvliet'. The PV systems were donated by the Eneco Energy organisation to commemorate the first two schools in The Netherlands signing up to the Eco-Schools programme. On the same day these pupils cleaned up the schoolyard. Afterwards they moved on to tidy up the surrounding neighbourhood, led by aldermen representing the environmental and educational departments of the local council. A strong signal to all who care….! Both schools have worked hard all year on environmental education and sustainability. They are using energy saving lamps and take care to handle waste wisely. But such measures really took on effect after pupils proposed some agreements of their own. They consented to turning out lights, turning off faucets and shutting the swing doors. An important part of the programme is a professional environmental quick scan by the Collusie Foundation, that really helps schools on their way. As a result, both schools now have a dedicated policy on environmental education and sustainability down in a plan of action and school guides. Both schools will be supported in their efforts to maintain the Eco-School certificate and obtain the Green Flag next Year. FEE Netherlands has assigned SME, Foundation for Environmental Education, to implement the Eco-Schools program in The Netherlands. Financial support was provided by the province of South-Holland and the ministry of environment (Vrom). We are happy that, a year after the start of the pilot, there are results to be shown. And there is more. Up till now more than 50 city councils throughout the country expressed their firm interest in the program. So we expect a substantial growth in participating schools in 2004.
   
For more information: Mr Hans Smit (smit@sme.nl), SME MilieuAdviseurs (Netherlands)

   
"Eko Bazar 2003" was held from 22 to 26 October, during the Nature and Health fair in Ljubljana, Slovenia. This year's exposition's title was Eko Bazar 2003 - International Year of Freshwater in schools. The main objective of Eko Bazar was to display and exchange eco-values between members of pupils, students, teachers, professors and general public. By putting schools' ecological, cultural, scientific, and sportive activities on display, they were able to demonstrate these features to national and international public, and therefore contribute to the school's educational work. On the 19^th of November the first workshop for eco-kindergartens was held in Slovenia, in preparation of the work programme for preschools’ children. In the North of Slovenia, on the Pomurje region took place the fist Eco-Schools conference this school year, on the 21^st of November. Eco-Schools presented their work and had the opportunity to exchange ideas.
   
For more information: Ms Nada Pavšer (nada.pavser@guest.arnes.si), DOVES - Društvo za Okoljevarstveno Vzgojo v Sloveniji

   
Schools and nurseries registered with Eco Schools in Scotland now have a new exciting handbook to help them progress towards their Green Flag awards. Funded by the Scottish Executive Education Department, the handbook has developed from the current UK material to, amongst other things, expand on the topic of biodiversity, develop a thread of global citizenship throughout whilst contain a wealth of good practice examples from schools throughout Scotland who have already gained Green Flag status. It was developed over a number of months and was written and produced by a collaborative process with contributions from many individuals and organisations covering all seven of the core UK Eco Schools topics. The handbook was launched by Mr Michael McMahon MSP on Friday 24 October 2003 at Keir Hardie Memorial Primary School in North Lanarkshire (Keir Hardie were recently awarded their third Green Flag, becoming one of only six schools in Scotland to hold such an award). During the launch the pupils at the school and invited guests heard kind words of support from Charles Gray, Education Convenor and Ellen Doherty, Education Officer, both from North Lanarkshire Council. In her speech, Mrs McClean, Head Teacher of the school told everybody gathered what it really is to be an Eco School. Very interesting and excellent to hear how well Eco Schools help to develop the ethos of a school for the better. To finish things off, everyone was then treated to a rendition of a poem 'Messy Mike and Tidy Tim' followed by the Keir Hardie Eco Schools Rap. As a mark of thanks to the school, Eco Schools Scotland presented them with a native Rowan tree, which was planted in the school grounds.    
   
For more information: Ms Kate Campbell (kate.campbell@encams.org), Keep Scotland Beautiful (Scotland - UK)

   
During a press conference on the 21 October 2003 in the Hellenic Bank Training center in Nicosia the achievements of Eco-Schools were presented. The award Ceremony for the two competitions that were organized during the previous academic year took place after the conference.
Eco-Code Poster Competition: Schools had been requested to design their Eco-Code into a poster and the winning entry was that of Alambra Primary school. Their poster will be printed courtesy of the Hellenic Bank and largely circulated.
Drawing Competition: Eco-School pupils were provided by Hellenic Bank with time-plans which were returned at the end of the school year with a drawing on the back side inspired by the environment.
1^st Prize: Trip to EuroDisneyland for two persons - Antonis Antoniou -IV Paralimni
2^nd Prize: CYP 100 - Ariadne Papademetriou - IV Paralimni
3^rd Prize: CYP 50 - Maria Karaiskaki - Agios Ioannis Larnaka Primary school
Xmas Trees from recycled Materials: Last year the Eco- Schools of Nicosia created a Xmas Tree from recycled Materials that they donated to the Municipality of Nicosia. This year, similar trees will be created in Nicosia, Limassol, Paphos and Larnaka and they will be donated to the Municipalities to remind the public to reduce the amount of garbage by reducing consumption and recycle. The events will be sponsored by Hellenic Bank.
   
For more information: Dr Michael Ierides (cymepa@cytanet.com.cy), CYMEPA - Cyprus Marine Environment Protection Association

   
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.
   
For more information: Mr Jorge Navacerrada (adeac.feee@teleline.es), ADEAC - Asociación de Educación Ambiental y del Consumidor (Spain)

   
The international meeting of Eco-Schools National Programme Managers will this year take place in Dublin, Ireland, and is expected to bring together the most programme Representatives ever. The annual meeting is co-organised by the Eco-Schools International Coordination and An Taisce - National Trust for Ireland (FEE Member for Ireland), which is hosting the event in Dublin with the kind support of the Irish Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government.
In addition to addressing formal issues on the development of the programme, the meetings provide the opportunity for delegates to share experiences, discuss common projects, organise regional events, etc. It is an integral part of the networking activities of the Eco-Schools programme. This year, programme representatives from as many as 27 countries may participate, as well as special invited guests.
In Ireland, Eco-Schools is known as "Green Schools", and is among the largest programmes in the network, with about 1500 participating schools, almost 300 of which have been awarded the Green Flag.
For more information on An Taisce and the Eco-Schools programme in Ireland (Green Schools), visit www.antaisce.org
For a list of the FEE Member organisations implementing the Eco-Schools programme in different countries, visit the Eco-Schools international website, www.eco-schools.org

   
The Environmental Performance Indicator project (EPI, for short) is now being tested and piloted and will soon be available for all schools who wish to use it. EPI is an on-line project which will soon be accessible through the Eco-Schools website. The objective of the project is to allow schools from any country to enter data about their environmental performance and monitor their progress, as well as compare it to schools from other countries. At this stage, the project deals with schools’ energy and water consumption.
The EPI project, which has been in development for some time but is now about to be launched, provides a systematic and organised way for schools to register their consumption of electricity and water over time. Results can then be viewed in graphs on-line over the internet, or downloaded for classroom projects and reporting. Also, the project allows for benchmarking with other countries, i.e. comparing each school’s results with those of schools in other countries. During October/November, the online project will be tried in a few countries by selected schools, which will report back on their experience and make any recommendations. In addition to providing schools with a useful tool to register and monitor their consumptions and analyse results as part of their environmental management plans, it also provides some indications as to the cumulative effect of all schools’ efforts in being more conscientious about their consumption of energy and water. The EPI project was developed specifically for Eco-Schools through the Partnership with Bureau Veritas (for more information, see past editions of this newsletter or the Eco-Schools website). In future, the project may be expanded to address other environmental parameters.

   
This year the Institute of Political Ecology (IEP) was accepted as member of the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE). This step will allow us to implement the environmental programmes that FEE promotes. During this first year we will work to develop the Blue Flag Campaign and Eco-Schools. The implementation of Eco-Schools in Chile is carried out in the context of the project of Local Sustainability Certification (LSC) which IEP is developing in some communes of the country. This project looks to motivate the creation of Local Agenda 21. Also the work will be done with the Chilean government, which, this year, has begun a pilot program to certify Environmental Education in schools, based on the experience of FEE’s Eco-Schools programme. Our objective is to unify both programmes in such way that those schools that fulfil the requirements of the government program and those characteristic of Eco-schools can obtain the Green Flag, recognition that will allow them to participate in this Net of Sustainable Schools and to develop their potential next to schools of other continents. In Chile there are around 11.000 schools, located in rural and urban areas, of public, private and shared administration. There are more than 1.300 schools in the government’s pilot project plan at the moment; many of these will be the first candidates to obtain Eco-Schools Green Flags, during the year 2004, after our summer vacation.
   
For more information: Ms Paola Giancaspero (certificacion@iepe.org), Institute of Political Ecology (Chile)

   
On September 30, at the Cultural Centre Olga Cadaval in Sintra, 209 Eco-Schools from 88 different municipalities were awarded with green flags. In 2002/2003, 338 schools and 118 municipalities were actively involved in the programme in Portugal. This clearly demonstrates the increasing recognition of Eco-Schools at national level and the commitment of schools and local authorities towards environmental education and sustainable development. Municipalities are invited to establish a partnership with ABAE / FEE Portugal in order to promote the programme and support schools in its implementation. As an incentive to their commitment, ABAE decided this year to attribute stars to the municipalities: one for each 3 awarded Eco-Schools.
   
For more information: Ms Margarida Gomes (ecoescolas@abae.pt), ABAE - Associação Bandeira Azul da Europa (Portugal)

   
Around 80 schools and kindergartens have been awarded the certificate and flag at the end this school-year, involving more than 14.000 pupils. The campaign is growing very fast, and the estimated number by the end of this calendar year is around 130! The national programme manager in Norway, Mr. Jan Brataas, said that the standard project documentation received is excellent. FEE Norway co-operates with the Ministry of Education's program "Network for Environmental Education" having developed an enormous number of activities or projects, including related literature, all available on the Internet.
Good news for the Eco-Schools campaign in Norway is that FEE Norway has signed an agreement with Enova SF, a governmental company promoting new-renewable energy. During the next months FEE Norway will develop and promote projects' proposals related to energy. Consequently, energy will be placed in focus during this school-year. Many schools are already involved in energy projects, and we trust that the Eco-Schools linking system will soon be taken in effect also by Norwegian schools searching for co-operation with schools in other countries. Another important project theme is "marine litter". As FEE Norway is partner in an EU-financed project named "Save the North Sea", with Keep Sweden Tidy as lead partner, marine litter studies are promoted as a project proposal leading up to Eco-Schools certification. These projects are placed within the category of waste management, and may be combined with other beach and water-related projects. Such projects are very interesting for Norway, with a total coastline of more than 22.000 km. More information, in English, may be found at www.savethenorthsea.com
   
For more information: Mr Jan Brataas (jb@fee.no), Stiftelsen FEE-Norway (Norway)

   
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.
   
For more information: Mr Jorge Navacerrada (adeac.feee@teleline.es), ADEAC - Asociación de Educación Ambiental y del Consumidor (Spain)

   
The project identified as Implementation of an Environmental Management System (EMS) in the University area (Eco-University as the next step of Eco-schools development) was made possible through a grant of the Tempus Programme. It is a three years project which aims at "greening" the educational process (curriculum development). The first step will be to work with teachers improving the curriculum (1st year); subsequently, the project's pilot-phase will involve students to test to the new curriculum (2nd year); the final step will be the internationalisation, calibrating the curriculum to international requirements (Bologna Process), involving other strategic universities for promotion, dissemination (3rd year).
On July 2nd 2003, the workshop 'Eco - System University' aiming at collecting feedbacks on the implementation of the Eco-Schools Programme in the University area, was held in Ravenna, Italy. A SWOT analysis was made in order to elaborate good ideas for the project.
Recently, from September 20 to 30, 2003, several events were organised in St Petersburg by an international team. This 'team' included Olga Madison and Raffaella Riccobene (Eco-Schools National Managers for the Russia Federation and for Italy), Hans Vondrak (project leader of the Swedish Hunters' Association, responsible for the program “Green Lessons”) and Billy Ederloef (LeAF National Manager for Sweden). While visiting the only school in Russia involved in both programmes (Eco-Schools and LeAF), Olga, Raffaella, Hans and Billy attended literature and history lessons about some environmental topics and one eco-council session where they had the possibility to exchange ideas with students and teachers. Thanks to the efforts of Mr. Spirin, Vice rector of International Relations of the State Technological University of Plant Polymers, the team was invited to give information about its activity to Vladimir Sidelnikov, director of the Coordination Center for International Scientific-Technical and Educational Programs. This collaboration is also important for the development of Eco-Schools programme in Russia due to the increase of possibilities for promotion and dissemination of the programme for the educational authorities and school masters. The conference on Friday, the 26th, had a very rich agenda about Eco-Schools, LeAF and Green Lessons programmes: the teachers involved in ES program spoke about their pilot experience. The feedback was positive: more schools expressed interest in joining the ES and LeAF programs; personal contact between actors of ES program in different countries was established; it was interesting to know about ES activities in Italy and program management structure; the preliminary agreement about exchange of letters, drawings among schools in Italy, Russia and Sweden was reached; Olga was invited to make a presentation about ES at three seminars in October; contact persons were defined for each participating region of Russia for further promotion of ES. On Saturday, the team visited the Center for children's and youth tourism of Lomonosov, and presented the programmes briefly. On Tuesday (September 23), Raffaella made a presentation on the project for ES implementation in the University area and its connection with the Environmental Management System. The presentation resulted in raising the interest of TUPP staff to the project and gaining of extra partner - the Leningrad State University (LSU). The administration of TUPP met the team and promised to support the project and contributed with providing official documents for project application writing. The representative of LSU met Raffaella and Olga on Monday (September 29) and contributed to the project application writing.
   
For more information: Ms Raffaella Riccobene (eco-schools@feeitalia.org), FEE Italia (Italy) OR Ms Olga Madison (olgamadison@yahoo.com), Keep St Petersburg Tidy (Russia)

   
Eco-Schools in Turkey have a new series of guide books this year! In addition to the Eco-Schools Project Handbook and the Environmental Review Booklet, Guide Booklets have been produced for the following themes:
* Litter and Waste
* Water
* Energy
* Waste minimisation and Recovery
* Biological Diversity
All but the Biodiversity booklet, which was prepared by an expert on the theme, were adapted from those prepared by the Tidy Britain Group / Encams (FEE UK). The booklets have been prepared and published with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Global Environment Facility / Small Grant Programme (GEF/SGP). This is great news for Turkish Eco-Schools, which will have a new resource for their classrooms and libraries.
   
For more information: Ms Burcu Manav (burcu@turcev.org), Türkiye Çevre Egitim Vakfi (Turkey)

   
HSPN implements 6 Programmes of Environmental Education with over 600 registered schools. 62 schools are participating in the YRE (Young Reporters for the Environment) Project, 100 schools in the LeAF (Learning About Forests), while 222 schools are participating in the national Programmes "Garbage free Nature", "Green Corners of our Neighbourhood" and "Our Friend the Stork". The Eco-Schools Programme reached the number of 202 registered schools this year in Greece. So far 102 "Eco-Schools" have been awarded and many among them have been re-awarded.
In Lavrion - Attiki, 70 km outside of the city of Athens, the local community enjoys economic growth while it is determined to protect the environment through specific actions. It is in this city that on April 12th the National Awards Ceremony for the Greek schools of the Eco-Schools Programme was held, hosted by the 3rd Primary School of Lavrion and our dear friend the Mayor Mr. Dimitris Loukas, a former Head Master of the school. Overall 29 schools were invited to receive their awards for their performance in the Eco-Schools Program over the last two years. The school teams arrived early in the morning and started with the preparation of the billboards with their work: posters, photographs, crafts. The ambiance was warm and friendly and the pupils of the awarded schools were very enthusiastic in their presentations of their work and achievements. After the presentations, our distinguished guests, The Mayor, the Vice Mayor and elected officials of the Municipality of Lavrion, the HSPN Treasurer, and members of the HSPN Board as well as members of the National Steering Committee, invited the teachers and pupils to receive their awards.The school teams proudly displayed their newly obtained Eco-Schools flag before the photo cameras. The event closed with a gourmet lunch offered by the Municipality of Lavrion. When leaving the City of Lavrion after the Awards Ceremony, we all felt quite content after having witnessed the dedication, and the joy of teachers and pupils alike who came from distant parts of Greece to join in this celebration of Eco-Schools and environmental education.
   
For more information: Ms Aliki Vavouris (hspn@hol.gr), HSPN - Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature (Greece)

Once again, BLK-Programme "21" will be organizing an international Summer School near Berlin, in Germany, this August. The title of this year's Summer School is "The Global Aspects of Sustainable Development", and the programme will include seminars on Globalisation, Poverty and Wealth, Biodiversity, Waterworld (in English), Tourism, and Intercultural Competencies. There will be separate seminars for teachers and students. The event will be held in Blossin/Brandenburg, near Berlin, Germany, with about 100 teachers and 100 students expected to participate, mostly from Germany but also from Austria and Switzerland. However, in order to add a more international aspect, the organizers will also invite 6 school teams (teacher and students) from the Eco-schools network to participate and will cover their costs. The event will take place in August, with delegates arriving 3rd and departing 8th. A final programme for the Summer School will be available in January.

For additional information about summer school 2003 (in English) follow this link: Taking a Look at the World

   
More information on BLK-Programme "21" (in German language) from: www.service-umweltbildung.de
For more information, contact: Ms Heidi Consentius (sekretariat@service-umweltbildung.de)

   
At the end of July 2002, 268 schools were registered on the programme in Scotland. At the end of July this year, the figure stands at 909. Excellent! This represents 28% of all schools in Scotland. Awards are also booming. 111 schools have now achieved bronze, 38 silver, 58 first Green Flag, 12 second, 6 third and 3 permanent (achieved after gaining fourth Green Flag) awards have been presented to schools. The three permanent awarded schools, Lunnasting Primary, Mossbank Primary and Olnafirth Primary, all from the Shetland Isles, recently attended a Parliamentary Reception at the House of Commons in London where their hard work over the past eight years was recognised by MP’s. Also, during a visit to Scotland, Prince Charles visited Tobermory High School on the Island of Mull. Whilst visiting the school, through his own personal interest, he specifically requested that the children tell him of their work regarding Eco Schools. Fantastic recognition for the schools and the programme as a whole.
We now have three full time members of staff in our team. During the summer holidays each of us have specific projects on the go including developing links with schools in Kenya, possible links with organisations in New Zealand and Australia, working on the Save the North Sea Project and setting up in-house support and information systems for schools as the programme rapidly develops. The Save the North Sea project is a co-operative project between non-profit organisations, companies, political organisations and government agencies who are concerned about the rising levels of marine litter in the North Sea. Ten schools in Shetland, Orkney and on the North Sea coast of the Scottish mainland have been chosen to integrate the SNS ethos into their Eco Schools activities. This work will hopefully start in August after the school holidays.
Our new Scottish handbook is nearly ready. It’s looking good! We have also started to produce a quarterly newsletter (if you wish to be included on our mailing list, e-mail jamie.pearson@encams.org) while our new Scottish video has also been in great demand. Schools achieving bronze or above have also been finding our £250 development grant (made available through the Scottish Executive) helpful for expanding their activities. We now have links with all 32 Local Authorities. Many are exceeding all expectations with registrations and awards. Dumfries & Galloway a prime example with almost 100% of all schools registered on the scheme. Our contact with Non Governmental Organisations is also developing. Many bodies are now contacting us to see how they can help schools! Eco Schools in Scotland truly is at an exciting stage.
   
For more information: Mr Jamie Pearson (jamie.pearson@encams.org), Eco Schools Information Officer - Keep Scotland Beautiful

   
In Turkey, the National Green Flag Award Ceremony was held in June 12^th, 2003, in Bursa, outside of the capital city-Ankara for the first time. Since 30 Eco-schools gained the Green Flag award, the participation to the ceremony was quite high, thus it was enthusiastic. The programme started with the speeches of the governorship authority, Turkish Foundation for Environmental Education General Manager - Mr Erol Güngör and students taking place in the Eco-schools programme. Following the speeches, miscellaneous performance of the students took place. Finally the Green Flag awards and the certificates were delivered, and at the cocktail party representatives of the Eco-schools found the chance of sharing the environmental studies and experiences they have had through the year, while the photographs were being taken.
   
For more information: Ms Burcu Manav (ekookullar@turcev.org), Turkish Eco-Schools Manager, Türkiye Çevre Egitim Vakfi

   
We are happy to let you know that our totally new website is up and running: www.eepf.gr
It contains information on the Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature as well as on all our programs, both national and international (Blue Flag, Eco-Schools, YRE, LeAF, green corners of our neighbourhood, nature without garbage). There are various pages and each programme has its own page. Also, information on all of the above topics is provided in English.
   
For more information: Ms Aliki Vavouris (hspn@hol.gr), Greek Eco-Schools Manager, HSPN - Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature

   
On 28^th May two new schools joined the Eco-Schools programme. In Howick Injoloba Secondary School registered as an Eco-School having raised funds from members of the local community to cover costs to join the programme. Epworth School in Pietermaritzburg also registered with the programme.
When schools register as Eco-Schools they commit themselves to an ongoing process of school improvement and teachers are encouraged to base lessons on environmental themes. Eco-Schools choose at least three projects and record their progress in a portfolio. Portfolios are assessed and successful schools will be awarded with an Eco-School flag.
Injoloba learners are participating in the Mondi WESSA Environmental Quiz as well as the ESKOM Energy & Sustainability programme. The school has already developed an extensive vegetable garden and the learners have collected hundreds of cans for recycling. Epworth is also working on exciting environmental projects which range from maintaining an area of natural vegetation in the school grounds, to replacing exotic trees with indigenous ones, to a general recycling programme including glass, printer cartridges, paper and cans. Epworth have also been long-term participants in the annual Mondi WESSA Enviro-quiz.
Schools wishing to be part of the pilot Eco-Schools programme in South Africa in 2003 have to register by June. Portfolios outlining all work done since the beginning of the year have to be submitted by October 2003. Currently about 50 schools have registered as pilot schools and more are expected to join by the end of Jun