Eco-Schools 30th anniversary celebrations begin
05 September 2024
A year of celebrations to mark 30 years of environmental education programmes was launched in Stirling today.
We have set three celebration challenges to mark the 30th anniversary of the international Eco-Schools and Young Reporters for the Environment programmes.
The challenges were revealed as part of an online assembly which was aired from Stirling High School on Thursday 5 September with more than 300 young people and educators joining online and in-person, as well as representatives from the Foundation for Environmental Excellence (FEE) and Keep Wales Tidy.
Participants heard from Stirling High School’s Eco-Committee about their actions as part of Eco-Schools, from their first Green Flag in 2006 to their annual give and take fete, regular litter picks and the Young Reporters for the Environment being embedded into their curriculum.
Barry Fisher, our Chief Executive, said: “Through our Climate Action Schools framework we are committed to supporting children, young people and educators to understand climate change and the challenges our environment faces, but also to take positive action and progress Learning for Sustainability.
“For the past 30 years we have celebrated the remarkable achievements of our young people and their commitment to sustainable education.
“We had a wonderful time at Stirling High School to mark the beginning of our celebratory year and I’d like to thank the school for hosting, the Eco-Committee for being such inspiring speakers and everyone who attended online.
“We’re so excited for our year of celebrations and I encourage all schools across the country to get involved and take part in one of the fantastic challenges we’ve set and celebrate their involvement in a global movement.”
Craig Auld, Georgraphy Teacher at Stirling High School, said: “It was an honour for our school to host this fantastic event to begin Keep Scotland Beautiful’s year of celebrations.
“The pupils at Stirling High School, including our Eco-Committee and beyond, are so enthusiastic about positive climate and environmental action, showcased recently by two of our pupils winning the Young Reporters for the Environment competition.
“Eco-Schools has a huge role at Stirling High School and we’re thoroughly looking forward to joining in this year of celebrations.”
Challenges for the year of celebrations include creating a collage of eco activities over the years, designing an Eco-Schools tartan and completing bingo activities throughout the year, with prizes to be awarded in June 2025.
Eco-Schools is the largest sustainable schools programme in the world operated internationally by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) and delivered by Keep Scotland Beautiful. It was launched in the UK four nations, Denmark and Germany in 1994 with Scotland awarding the first Green Flag – the top accolade – to Lunnasting Primary School in Shetland in 1995.
The online assembly can be viewed here and you can visit Celebrate | Keep Scotland Beautiful for more information about the year of celebrations.
