Addressing international commitments
   
The Agenda for the 21^st century on sustainable development (Agenda 21), adopted at the UN Conference on Environment and Development (”Earth Summit” at Rio de Janeiro) in 1992, clearly outlines the role of education in achieving sustainable development. Agenda 21 further recognizes the need for differentiated but concerted local action aimed at solving global environmental problems. In 2000, the Millennium Assembly of the United Nations pledged, among other Development Goals, to ensure environmental sustainability, eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, and develop a global partnership for development, with concrete targets. However, at the Johannesburg “Earth Summit” (“Rio+10”), it was clear that much is still to be done in responding to Agenda 21 and that various efforts are required by different organisations, governments and individuals to entrench environmental education in both formal and non-formal systems of education around the world. Eco-Schools, a programme of the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), provides an ideal way to implement Local Agenda 21 in the school and its neighbouring community – a local contribution to a wider goal.
   
   

A flexible framework
   
Initiated in 1995 with support of the European Commission, the Eco-Schools programme offers a flexible approach for schools to implement an environmental management system, based on the models of ISO14001 or EMAS – Eco-Management and Audit Scheme. Initially focussing on themes such as Water, Energy and Waste, other thematic areas of support to schools have been developed in different countries, from Noise, Nature and Biological Diversity to Healthy Living and Transport. The Green Flag certification is awarded to schools which have successfully followed the Eco-Schools methodology, adapting its application to meet their specific needs and achieving their own determined, concrete objectives. With its participatory approach, involving pupils themselves in both activities and decision-making processes, Eco-Schools can be an important instrument for promoting the values of participation and citizenship. Fostering ties with local authorities, organisations, businesses, and indeed pupils´ families, Eco-Schools provides a platform for school-based community development. Under a global partnership to promote the programme as an instrument for sustainable development, in particular in developing regions, the Eco-Schools programme is recognised by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as among its “preferred school-based / children and youth global model programmes for environmental education, management, sustainability and certification at the international level”.
   
  

   
   
   
“All students who participate in this program have a great influence on the others around them. Programs in which young people learn how to behave responsibly towards the environment have multiple effects: beyond knowledge, they provide tremendous possibilities for personal influence on environmental protection, and foster activities within the local community and schools.” - Marija Pejcinovic-Buric, Croatian Assistant to the Minister for European Integration, 2002

From Policy to Practise
  
Eco-Schools was developed as a response to some of the needs identified at the Earth Summit of 1992. It combines a strong formative component with concrete action plans which should result in clear, tangible environmental benefits. The programme provides a mechanism for schools, and indeed the students themselves, to understand the importance of establishing and putting in practise appropriate environmental and sustainability policies for the school but also at personal levels. But governments, at national, regional or local level, have also seen that they can achieve and demonstrate pragmatic results relative to international commitments, such as on Education for Sustainable Development, Global Citizenship and Local Agenda 21, by endorsing and supporting the Eco-Schools programme.
   
   

  
   
   
"Eco-schools are a great way of turning (young people's) commitment to the environment into practical action.” - Jack McConnell, First Minister of Scotland, 2002
   
   
In Scotland, the Eco-Schools programme has been made a performance indicator for the National Priorities in Education.

Eco-Schools and International Perspectives
  
A success throughout Europe, the Eco-Schools programme is seen as an invaluable opportunity for other regions not only as a means of addressing environmental education but also in motivating community development. The Partnership between FEE and UNEP provides important technical and institutional capacity to facilitate the introduction of the Programme in other regions, particularly in developing countries and those with economies in transition. The “Eco-Schools Partnerships in Africa” Workshop held in South Africa in 2002 was instrumental in identifying the potential of the programme for adaptability to regional contexts and needs. While recognizing the participatory environmental management system as a sound and compatible framework, conclusions from the 14 national delegations from Southern and Eastern African countries indicate that the scope of programme “themes” would vary considerably to those in most European countries. In many regions of Africa, Eco-Schools can be an instrument for education on health and sanitation, community-based natural resource management, as well as an incubator for local-level microprojects leading to income generation for the school and training for young people in sustainable, natural-resource based trades.

  
   
   
"Lessons learned from the (Eco-Schools pilot phase in the African region) indicate very strongly that the Eco-Schools programme has the potential to enhance practical capacity building for sustainable development." - Klaus Toepfer, UNEP Executive Director, 2002