Environment education programmes gain ground

The success of the Blue Flag, Green Key and Eco Schools worldwide programmes run by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) was highlighted at its general assembly in Shenzhen, China, last month.

Over 60 member countries participated, including Malta, which was represented by Vince Attard, executive president of Nature Trust (Malta). The latest countries to join are Iran, Ukraine, Kenya and Ghana.

FEE today runs five eco label programmes dealing with sustainable development and environmental education - Eco Schools (in Malta known as Ekoskola), Young Reporters for the Environment (YRE), Learning about Forest (LEAF), Blue Flag for beaches and marinas and Green Key for hotels.

The event was hosted by the Centre for Environmental Education and Communications, supported by the China's Environment Ministry.

In his opening address, FEE president Jan Eriksen said the foundation had become the leading organisation in sustainable development and environmental education, making a change in children and citizens worldwide.

He added it was now up to FEE and its international family to push a bottom-up approach since world leaders failed to reach an agreement at the Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change.

In its report, the foundation said Blue Flag had become the most important and sought eco label in the world among tourists and beach-users. The Blue Flag is a strict eco label with the international jury made up of leading world organisations, including the WHO, the UN and the EU.

Blue Flag is about bathing water quality standards, health and safety on the beach, beach management and information and education on the beach.

The Green Key programme is an eco label for hotels that, run in an environment-friendly manner, involve their staff and guests in the process and operate in a sustainable manner. The programme has now exceeded the EU Flower and the Green Globe eco labels.

Big hotel chains are asking FEE if it can certify their properties, since they are now realising this label is attracting more international visitors. Cyprus reported that it hoped all its top hotels would have the Green Key label before it takes over the EU presidency.

Eco Schools has now reached over nine million schoolchildren worldwide. The programme focuses on empowering children to take the lead in bringing about a change for a better future.

The other two programmes are also achieving success and popularity, with LEAF attracting sponsorship to help plant thousands of trees all over the world in aid of climate change.

The foundation is also looking into other programmes such as Eco Community 21, which has already been successful in countries like Portugal and The Netherlands, and Green Homes.

During the opening event all country representatives, including Mr Attard, planted a tree in the Evergreen resort at Shenzhen as part of the FEE CO2 offset travel campaign.

Nature Trust (Malta) is running three of the five programmes - Ekoskola, YRE and Blue Flag - and hopes to find sponsors to enable it to introduce the other two.