The "Eco-Schools Itinerary and Linking Project" is now available at www.eco-schools.net
   

The new Eco-Schools Linking and Itinerary System is now online and ready for action! A search engine will help schools find a match and start "linking". All Eco-Schools are invited to register and contribute, taking this chance to share their strengths, learn from the achievements of others and connect with other schools.
   
The Linking and Itinerary system offers the possibility to meet a community of schools from all over the world, where teachers and students show their work and share it with others online. It aims at providing an "Itinerary" where schools can visit each other virtually, and understand their characteristics within their regional contexts, motivating young people to learn about each other and their culture.
Through a search engine, the "Linking" can also be used to identify Eco-Schools with similar interests, within their own community or in another continent, to exchange ideas, work together on projects, establish “twin schools”, or just make new friends and pen-pals.
Although the search engine can be used by anyone, there are many benefits for registered schools: they become part of the Eco-Schools Linking database, the only ones which can actually create their own school file; they can find a partner school on the search engine; they can establish contact with the partner(s) found. In a word, they become part of the Linking community!

Why should a school get involved and register?
Getting involved can bring many benefits for schools:
- allow students and teachers to reach countries from all over the World and explore what otherwise would not be possible
- exchange project and education ideas with other schools, enriching teaching experiences, comparing and applying different approaches
- present your school environmental educational example to the local community and many other schools at international level
- enhance the knowledge of foreign languages and cultural awareness
- increase the awareness of a particular issue by cooperating with another school on a full scale basis...

How can an Eco-School register on the Linking system?
The first step to participate in the linking system is the pre-registration at www.eco-schools.net Click on 'school pre-registration' and fill in the contact information fields. Your school information will then be validated by the Eco-Schools National Coordinator, who will contact you providing a username and password to login into the system. Once you receive this data, you can log in and complete your school registration form. Some information will be asked for, including school details, experience in the Eco-Schools Programme, Linking preferences, and your region 'Itinerary'. You can also upload pictures of your school.

Where and how can schools find partners for Linking?
Using the search engine, you can refine the search by including specific parameters, like country, language, age of students, focus themes, school projects, etc. The system will propose a list of schools matching your preferences. Once schools are found on the system, they can contact each other; and when they are sure they share the same interests they may decide to get in touch. The usefulness and fun of this project depends on each school´s imagination, motivation and interest.

What can Eco-Schools do in a linking project?
Before registering in this project, it is a good idea to first discuss and identify (within the Eco-Committee) the aims and objectives of linking with other schools. It is up to each school to consider good ideas for making their link with other schools useful and exciting. The Linking and Itinerary system provides a mechanism for putting schools in contact with each other, based on information they provide about themselves and their interests; but the success of the Linking is up to the schools themselves. Below are only a few examples of what schools can do:
- work with other schools in your community to solve a problem
- find out what environmental challenges other schools are facing, and how they are solving them
- find out information about environment issues in other regions of the world; what is being done, and how can you help
- work together on specific projects, perhaps on a international basis
- establish teacher/students exchanges
- simply make friends with young people and teachers in your own country or in other parts of the world, etc!