The main aim of this project is to try to implement in our different schools the idea and the philosophy of the Agenda 21. The best place to spread and bring into force this idea and the recommendations of the UN must be schools, because education and children are the best way to change the world. We will join a trend - the school and local agenda 21 movement- that have been put into practice in some regions all around the world. The “Agenda 21” is a concept created by the United Nations in the 1990´s with the slogan -“think globally and act locally”. This idea tries to promote sustainable development and environmental protection in our town council, in our region and in our school. Each institution should have an “Agenda 21” to protect environment in a small scale. The European Union has signed recently (March 2013) an agreement in which it is shown the desire to enlarge the awareness of this idea and philosophy. Our task or objective is to create a conscience at both local and school level by implementing a final document of AGENDA 21 for our schools. This document will be a model for other schools and a turning point in the awarenes and active participation in the schools and local communities. The document will be included as a formal and official document in all our schools and it will be integrated with other existing normative, guidelines and rules. All the members of the strategic partnership will join the national ECO-SCHOOL association (some of them already belong to them) and we will carry out different and practical activities related to the items or issues that eco-schools work with: WASTE, LITTER, WATER, ENERGY, BIODIVERSITY, TRANSPORT, SCHOOL GROUNDS, HEALTH AND WELL-BEING AND SUSTANING OUR WORLD. Each one of the partners will lead the task related with these environmental aspects . We have focused in the first 5 issues to design practical activities, but the other remaining items are included in the so called MEDA´s (MAIN ENVIROMENTAL DIRECT ACTION). We will try to solve or improve a specific environmental problem in each community and the students will be an active part and they will prepare propossals and ideas to the councils, they will take part in meetings with local authorithies , etc. All the actions will be done in collaboration with local and academic authorities and will involve all the members of our scnhool: students, parents, staff, managamenet, caretakers, admission office, etc. We will implement online plataforms (BLOG, E-TWINNING, PHP TOOL) to work with, to share information and to produce documents and outputs. We will produce our own eco-audits and we will use those of ECO-SCHOOLS and other organizations involved with LOCAL OR SCHOOL AGENDAS 21 We will have two short term training courses about ECO - SCHOOLS and PHP implementation, because these are two main aspects of our project. We will have several mobility meetings, one in each country. The dissemination and desired impact of our project is very ambitious. We understand this project as an ongoing process that in a continuous and permanent way incorporates and change the philosophy, practices, environmental management and curricula of our schools. We try to be a model to other schools in the town and in the region. We already have the support of the Town Council and Regional authorities. They are looking forward to considering our school as a pioneer centre to the implementation of AGENDA 21 in the schools.
The main aim of this project is to try to implement in our different schools the idea and the philosophy of the Agenda 21. The “Agenda 21” is a concept created by the United Nations in the 1990´s with the slogan -“think globally and act locally”. This idea tries to promote sustainable development and environmental protection in our town council, in our region and in our school. Each institution should have an “Agenda 21” to protect environment in a small scale. In 1992, the Eco-Schools project was developed as a response to needs identified at the United Nations (UN) Conference on Environment and Development. Both programs AGENDA 21 and ECO-SCHOOLS were born at the same time and with the same aims and philosophy. The only difference between an Agenda 21 project and an Eco-School project is mainly the relationship with the local community and with the local administrations. Our School Agenda 21 tries to cooperate and do activities with other schools in the community, to be a model for other schools and to be a part of the local agenda in each community and town. We have tried to follow the aims and methodology of the program - ESD - Education for Sustainable Development lead by the UN - UNESCO is the lead agency for the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014)- and the idea that environmental education requires far-reaching changes in the way education is often practised today. Our Objectives are: 1. Improve the environmental management of our school, decreasing every year the environmental foot print or impact of our school. 2. Elaborate codes of environmental behavior or practices, searching for agreements in the educational community, mainly promoted by the students to be a standard or model to the daily school life and to the rules philosophy of the school in a long term. 3. Make the most of the school as an active agent to spread the culture of sustainability. 4. Consider the environmental contents in the different subjects and levels, Foster these contents and make them more coherent and a cross curriculum element and a main point in tour educational Project. 5. Carry out concrete actions to improve the welfare, living standars, safety and health of our community in relationship with concrete problems detected in our school and surroundings. 6. Foster the participation, involvement and the decisión making of the students about environment such as the ECO – SCHOOL Project advice to. 7. Colaborate in a continuos and effective way with other schools of the town and spread the idea of sustainability, acting together with the council, providing ideas, actions and colaborations in the development of the planning and strategic lines of the LOCAL AGENDA 21. 8. Spread the results, materials, actions and so on carried out in educative fórums ( educative autorities , AGENDA 21 and ECO-ESCUELAS projects, ETC.) We are six participating organizations: Coordinator: IES Andrés de Vandelvira (Baeza- Spain) Partners: Agrupamento de Escolas do Barreiro (Setubal – Portugal), VB Atartuk Primary School -( Anamur -Turkey), First Secondary School of Gerakas (Gerakas – Atiiki – Greece),Sialiu Normundo Valterio Jaunimo Mokykla (Siauliai – Lithuania) and St. Egwins Middle School (Evesham – Great Britain) The 6 schools have different profiles, numbers and educative offers. But all of us are educational centers of General education (secondary level). All the schools have previous experience within green projects. Some of them have been members of the Eco – School network for a long time, and they have got awards and recognition because of their good practices. Apart from the first kick off meeting, we have held five short term training courses about ECO - SCHOOLS and about Education for Sustainable Development and how the schools and the municipalities and city councils collaborate with them. The different schools have developed during the years of the project a variety of actions and activities that involved all the members of the educative community in order to improve the environmental awareness and management of the schools and change the curricula according with the principles of the ECO SCHOOL network and the examples of LOCAL SCHOOL AGENDAS 21. We have developed two main OUTPUTS: an SCHOOL AGENDA 21 DOCUMENT and a ECO AUDIT tool on line. We have achieved a very high impact in our schools. Our schools have changed in a definitive way and we have established the basis to an long term impact in the mentioned aspects (environmental management, environmental awareness and curricula).We have spread the idea and actions of sustainability in our municipalities. The schools of our association, with the support of the City Councils play now a leader role in our towns and municipalities in the spreading of the idea of sustainability and its direct practice in the schools.