EcoSchools aims at mobilizing the whole school to empower students to adopt an active role in environmental decision-making and action in their school and in their community. Schools that have successfully achieved this goal are awarded a Green Flag - a prestigious eco-label testifying the school’s commitment to fostering sustainable lifestyles.

The Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA), in collaboration with the Ministry for Rural Affairs and the Environment and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Employment, launched a project to pilot the programme in Malta in October 29th, 2002. After the success of the pilot project, Nature Trust (Malta) representing FEE (Malta) decided to co-ordinate the initiative, known in Malta by the name of EkoSkola.

Why should your school participate in EkoSkola?

EkoSkola is an opportunity to improve the quality of life of your school community by:

• democratising the process of decision making,

• setting relevant targets for the improvement of the school’s environment,

• designing and implementing a plan, in line with the school’s resources, to achieve these targets,

• integrating curriculum work with the day-to-day realities of the school community,

• exploring ways of fostering team work within your school as well as the community in which it is housed, and

• networking and sharing experiences and expertise with other local and foreign schools.
  
   

  How does EkoSkola function?

EkoSkola seeks to develop environmental responsibility by adopting a whole school approach in the design, implementation and monitoring of a School Environmental Policy that is intimately integrated into the School’s Development Plan. The ultimate goal is to infuse, through deliberate choices, sustainable lifestyles into the school’s day-to-day functioning so that this environmental ethic gradually becomes an integral part of the school’s ethos. When a school gives evidence that it has achieved this goal, it is awarded the EkoSkola award – the Green Flag. Essential requirements for participation in EkoSkola:

The head of school should agree with the implementation of the programme.   There should be a positive disposition towards actively involving pupils in the decision making, implementation and monitoring phases of the programme.   The staff and the school community should be actively involved in the programme.   There should be a willingness to engage in long-term plans for the improvement of the school.