Image via Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful

305 schools across NI will be awarded prestigious Eco-Schools Green Flags this year, bringing the total number of schools flying Green Flags up to 563, or just over 50% of all schools in Northern Ireland.

Eco-Schools is an international programme, managed locally by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful. Eco-Schools is run in 79 countries through Foundation for Environmental Education. Of these 79 countries, Northern Ireland is only the second country to achieve this impressive milestone.

Charlene McKeown, Environmental Education Manager at Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful said:

“Reaching 50% of schools flying a Green Flag is a huge milestone for environmental education and is a testament to the hard work of pupils, teachers and wider school communities across Northern Ireland.

We all know that our education system is under pressure with tight budgets and limited resources. That is why it is so heartening to see so many schools investing time and effort into this programme- it’s is a clear indicator that schools see the value of environmental education. I hope over the coming years we can go further in developing this part of our curriculum.”

Schools will collect their Green Flags at a series of awards ceremonies this month- the culmination of 2 years of hard work for winning schools.

Achieving a Green Flag requires schools to participate in a challenging seven stage programme, beginning with the establishment of a pupil-led Eco-Committee, and leading to the development of a school Eco-Code. Along the way the Eco-Committee must carry out a full environmental review of their school, develop a detailed action plan and monitor its implementation. Schools fly their flags for two years before they must reapply.

Read the full press release here:

Read more