Projects

		Enviroschools Imagine a generation of innovative and motivated young people, who instinctively think and act sustainably. What would they be doing? What decisions would they make? The Enviroschools Foundation is committed to empowering young people to contribute to a sustainable world.

Enviroschools is a nationwide sustainable schools programme run by The Enviroschools Foundation in collaboration with 50 national and regional agencies. The programme began as a small community partnership in Hamilton and is now active in over 330 schools (13% of New Zealand schools) and growing every year.
The formal education sector has a large contribution to make to sustainability. Enviroschools offers children and young people a chance to be actively engaged in decision-making and action from their own unique perspectives.
An action learning process encourages students to enquire, investigate, practice cooperative decision-making, action, reflection and evaluation. This learning process can be employed with any issue and therefore assists students to engage in learning that is relevant to their area. Students are not only actively involved through school projects but may take these processes into their adult lives where they can become actively involved in their communities.

A whole school approach integrates key areas of school life:

• Physical Surroundings - Ecological and participatory design
• Operational Practices - Sustainable conservation practices in the day-to-day running of the school
• Organisational Principles - Participatory and democratic school management
• A Living Curriculum - Integrating the hidden and informal curriculum of different areas of school life to enrich the formal curriculum

Sharing knowledge is crucial part of the process - each year regional and national Enviroschools events give students, teachers and community organisations an opportunity share experiences and learn from each other.
A diverse range of schools have taken up the Enviroschools Programme - from decile one to ten, rural and urban, mainstream and kura kaupapa Maori. Originally developed with primary and intermediate schools the programme now includes kindergartens and secondary schools.

Recent evaluations report a range of beneficial outcomes to students and many other members of their community: