As a response to needs identified at the Earth Summit of 1992 the concept of eco-schools has been developed as a democratic and participatory programme allowing pupils to experience active citizenship in school.

The Agenda for the 21st century on sustainable development adopted at the UN Conference on Environment and Development at Rio de Janeiro in 1992 outlines the role of education in achieving sustainable development. Agenda 21 recognises the need for concerted local action aimed at solving global environmental problems.

At last year's Johannesburg world conference on sustainable development it was clear that much still needed to be done to entrench environmental education in both formal and non-formal systems of education around the world. Eco-schools are proving to be an ideal way to implement Local Agenda 21 in the school and its neighbouring community.

Global thinking combined with local action prescribed by Agenda 21 is brought directly into schools as parents, local authorities, businesses and the wider community are involved in the eco-schools process. Already a success throughout Europe, the Eco-Schools programme is a valuable opportunity for all regions addressing environmental education and motivating community development.

A pilot project was launched in June to set up the first six Maltese schools in the network. At a seminar opened by Minister Louis Galea in January a further push was made to launch eco-schools on a nationwide scale.

Life is a chain. There is no action or thing without a consequence on other actions or things. Living on an island we often have to fight against a sense of "it can't happen here." In his opening speech Dr Galea spoke of the sophisticated economic environment we are now entering.

Malta is emerging from the economy of developing countries and moving from an industrial era technology toward small and medium sized enterprises. Investors will no longer come here because of large factories, cheap labour and lax regulations where they can pollute as much as they like. They will be more interested in the quality of water we can offer and our environmental regulations.

It is now more important than ever for teachers to be able to instill an entrepreneurial sense in students from an early age. Minister Galea emphasised the importance of the link between schools, local councils and the community promoted within the Eco-schools programme.

Dr Joseph Mangani of the Education Division noted that the development of the child should be holistic, with an equal focus on doing, skills and attitudes.

Nature Trust president Vince Attard, who chaired the seminar, spoke on the idea of eco-schools as something much wider than what we think of the environment.

Democracy in the classroom

In an eco-school the education process is steered toward enabling students to learn to take decisions and come up with their own ideas about how the environment can be improved. Once they start by addressing problems within their own school grounds the solutions can spread outward to benefit the whole community.

Nature Trust first started discussions in 2001 with the Federation for Environmental Education, an international body with an action programme in marine tourism, forestry and the media in addition to the schools project. The FEE had already turned its sights on bringing EU candidate countries into the fold and responded positively to the initial contact. At first this was aimed at bringing the Blue Flag scheme to our islands for certification of beaches and marinas which qualify with high environmental quality and safety standards. The Blue Flag is an exclusive eco-label awarded to almost 2,900 beaches and marinas in 24 countries across Europe and South Africa in 2003.

Nature Trust is discussing the introduction of the Blue Flag award scheme with the Malta Tourism Authority. Last week a representative from FEE and Nature Trust president Vince Attard, the Malta FEE co-ordinator, met with the Minister for Rural Affairs and Environment in a bid to launch Blue Flag in Malta next October.

The MTA contact person is Mario Attard who is heading the Blue Flag initiative for Malta beaches.

The partnership between FEE and United Nations Environment Programme provides important technical and institutional capacity to facilitate the introduction of the eco-schools programme in other regions, particularly in developing countries and those with economies in transition.

One thing led to another and the contact expanded to the introduction of six eco-schools as a pilot project through the collaboration of Dr Paul Pace as national co-ordinator with Environment Minister George Pullicino.

Following an approved audit carried out by the FEE on Nature Trust to ensure it is a serious and competent organisation, the project can now move forward with the launch of the Green Flag award scheme for all schools wishing to take part.

The easy-to-use eco-schools Website (www.eco-schools. org) encourages students, teachers and other school staff to use their new environmental knowledge in the everyday life of the school. The site also has links to centres on children's welfare, policies and rights. Eco-schools around the world have posted their "Bright Ideas" on the Website which also offers practical "Green Tips" to schools.

An improved school environment is one of the first benefits schools taking part in the project will experience. Students and staff can work together on such issues as reducing litter and waste and running the school in an environmentally conscious way.

Involving local authorities, organisations and businesses results in a more integrated community. These often have expertise to share in many areas of environmental management and may be willing to offer their co-operation in the eco-schools initiative.

Another advantage is the empowerment of students who find that through the democratic process involved in eco-schools they can take control of their own environment. Schoolchildren learn how to take the necessary decisions which will bring about an improved environment both in their homes and at school.

Savings in the school's energy bills and water consumption are undoubtedly a good reason to join the process. Reducing waste and collecting materials for recycling, can help raise money for the school.

International contacts are promoted by schools creating links with eco-schools in other countries. These links not only give a chance to share environmental information between schools but can also be used as a means for cultural exchange and improving language skills.

Three eco-schools in Spain, Italy and Bulgaria are currently developing a joint project studying the environment financed by the EU Programme Socrates (and Comenius?). The aims of the project are to integrate European educational values in primary school while learning about both nature and the culture of the other two countries. In this way students work to raise environmental awareness. They exchange information and experience about the eco-schools' themes: water, energy, waste and biodiversity.

Seven steps to a better school environment

The core of the eco-schools process is the setting up of a committee to organise school activities. This should be made up of pupils and teachers but also open to school caretakers and parents while inviting representatives of the local council to join in. This lends a sense of democracy and motivates all concerned to resolving initiatives brought forth by the students themselves.

Early in the process it is valuable to carry out an environmental review. Students become involved in a mini state-of-the-environment report, assessing the level of litter on school grounds and checking if there is water or energy wastage at their school.

This information can be used to put forward an action plan. Priority areas are identified and achievable targets and deadlines set for improving environmental performance on specific issues. The whole school can be involved in practical initiatives such as saving water, recycling materials and preventing litter.

Once the action plan is under way the students check to ensure that progress towards targets is followed and that any necessary changes are made to the action plan. If the monitoring and evaluation reveals good progress this is to be celebrated in some way.

Efforts should be made to involve environmental education throughout the curriculum in addition to the more evident areas of study such as science and geography. Classroom study of themes such as energy, water and waste can be undertaken by most students. Where environment and sustainable education is not part of the national curriculum, recommendations are made as to how this can be incorporated.

Eco-schools can involve the wider community through keeping them informed of their activities with classroom displays and press coverage.

Each school produces its own 'eco-code', a statement of values and objectives, outlining what the students are striving to achieve.

Schools should concentrate first on implementing these seven steps to change the school and its environment. Once this is set up they can choose a theme such as water, energy or waste relevant to Local Agenda 21.

Successful schools which can demonstrate that they have achieved two thirds of their targets are awarded the Eco-Schools Green Flag. To qualify for the flag award schools must involve the local council in some capacity and establish links with other schools in different countries.

Last year the eco-schools in Cyprus created a Christmas tree from recycled materials. The trees were donated to the municipality of Nicosia to remind the public to reduce the amount of garbage by reducing consumption and recycling. In an "I Walk to School" campaign parents were invited to walk together with their children to school. A number of problems that do not allow walking to school were brought in evidence, such as the blocking of pavements by cars and heavy schoolbags.

Primary school pupils won the chance to learn about sustainable development by putting up their own wind turbine in Scotland's Shetland Isles.

They won a World Wildlife Fund competition on green energy and received £15,000 to construct their own wind turbine.

After hearing how sea currents bring the litter ashore on beaches and coastline, students and teachers in Sweden held a workshop on what they could do to reduce marine litter both internationally and nationally. The municipality of Sotenäs participated with a talk about its role in beach clean-ups.

In Sweden the Ministry of the Environment reports on the number of schools awarded with the Eco-Schools Green Flag along with EMAS and ISO 14001 certifications as indicators of trends towards a more sustainable society.

In Bulgaria the first special-needs school has been awarded the Green Flag. The children and the teachers are interested in collaborating with other centres for children with special needs.

A pilot project was started in Lithuania after 60 schools showed an interest. The Lithuanian Green Movement started three years ago and has already successfully implemented other FEE programmes. One of these is the Green Keys for environmental quality standards at campsites.

Other FEE Programmes include LEAF (Learning about Forests) and Young Reporters for the Environment. YRE, aimed at secondary school students is an international network of teachers and pupils, represented in 17 countries. They produce articles and photographs for the local press about environmental issues. Some of them undertake journalistic investigations at a national level, others produce information with international content.

Today's youth are tomorrow's decision-makers. The eco-schools process encourages them to learn about their rights and responsibilities, become more involved in their community, debate environmental issues at school and participate in the political process for a better future - one which they can create themselves.

Governments at both local and national level are discovering that they can achieve and demonstrate results relative to international commitments by endorsing and supporting the eco-schools programme.

The Maltese schools participating so far are the Government primary schools in St Julian's, Fgura, Siggiewi and Xaghra, St Joseph's Primary School in Blata l-Bajda and St Edward's College.