Starting a "sustainability school" in our town.

Hi Tahirh,

100 schools throughout Minnesota are part of MN Schools Cutting Carbon program, which gives schools tools, resources, and grant money to work on energy and water projects in their schools. Some schools have built greenhouses in order to reduce energy associated with transporting food while others have implemented energy efficiency practices while others have installed renewable energy. I'd recommend talking with the teachers at Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City High School and Wilmar High School and looking at their school pages to learn what they've done and how they've done it.

Here is the website: http://www.schoolscuttingcarbon.org/schools

Good luck!
Katie

Katie Jones
Green Institute
United States

You may wish to check out the Green School Program in Canada called SEEDS. Here is the link - http://seedsfoundation.ca//index.asp?pid=1


Jim Elliott
Canada

Rhizome Collective in Austin, TX has a lot of experience in urban sustainability, and has even published a book available on their website.
http://www.rhizomecollective.org/

Daniel Manriquez
NOLAWISE program associate
Global Green
United States

Tahirih -
The King County Green Schools in WA may also be helpful.

www.your.kingcounty.gov/solidwaste/greenschools/index.asp

Sharon Hlavka
Green Solutions
United States

Hi, Tahirh,
You might want to also check out the Sustainability Academy at Lawrence Barnes in Burlington, Vermont http://sa.bsdvt.org/ , the nations first K-5 magnet school with a sustainability theme.
Cheers, Tom Hudspeth

Tom Hudspeth
Professor of ENVS and Natural Resources
University of Vermont
United States

Hi Tahirh
We have an "enviroschools" programme in New Zealned, with many sustainable schools around the country. Check out: http://www.enviroschools.org.nz/
In Lincoln, The High school has a silver enviroschools award and the kindergarten the top green-gold award, with the primary school working towards being an enviroschool. We also have a whole community aiming to be more sustainable - Lincoln Envirotown, as well as helping other local communities set up their own groups. Best wishes Sue

sue jarvis
Lincoln Envirotown Trust
New Zealand
www.lincolnenvirotown.org.nz

Thanks!
All great ideas and resources. Any one with ideas for an adult sustainability school. WE want to empower the residents to do more at home and contribute to the community.

tahirih smith
Outreach Coordinator
Sustainable Lawrence
United States

Kia ora Tahirih
The Kaipatiki Project in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand runs workshops for adults including on native gardening, composting, veggie gardening, things our grandparents used to do that need to be retaught and courses for parents on bringing up children in a "green' way - http://www.kaipatiki.org.nz/

Project Lyttelton http://www.lyttelton.net.nz/ have more of a community development angle but they also support sustainability projects - such as a timebank (where time is used as the currency), and a new project that is looking at how to enhance food security in the Lyttelton harbour.

While neither are "schools" as such I'm sure they'll have great ideas on how to empower people and get people more involved in their communities and be more sustainable at home.

Would love to hear more about your project as it develops.

best wishes
Sarah Pritchett

Sarah Pritchett
contractor
New Zealand

Hi Tahirih,
The Waste Wise Schools Program in Western Australia is excellent. It's primary focus is on sustainable waste practices but of course these overlap to other sustainable practices. Their website has lots of resources: http://www.wastewise.wa.gov.au/. Hope you find it useful.
Best wishes,
Ruth

Ruth Levett
Regional Waste Education Coordinator
Rivers Regional Council
Australia

Thanks All:

Great projects going on out there. We hope to get going with a grant this Fall...I'll keep you posted.

tahirih smith
Outreach Coordinator
Sustainable Lawrence
United States

Check out the teacher resources at the HotRock website. These are created for secondary school students, but have been adapted with success for older primary students.

HotRock is a NfP that is guiding, funding and resourcing sustainability education in Australia. Integration of sustainability education into the mainstream curriculum is the focus of their approach.

HotRock is looking for schools overseas that are prioritising action focused sustainability education. It would be wonderful to link these schools up with sustainability-focused schools over here in Western Australia. Students sharing project outcomes across the oceans.

Richard Swan
CEO
HotRock
Australia

The U.S. Green Building Council's Center for Green Schools has many helpful resources on their website. The Center is also partnering with the Green Education Foundation to develop sustainability focused curriculum. Finally, through my research on green school programs, many teachers have also noted the Cloud Institute as providing valuable resources.

http://www.centerforgreenschools.org/home.aspx
http://www.greeneducationfoundation.org/
http://www.cloudinstitute.org/


Stephanie Barr
Green Schools Specialist
Institute for the Built Environment, Colorado State University
United States

Hi,

this may also be of assistance:
http://www.sustainableschools.nsw.edu.au/
Peter

Peter Dixon
Manager Environmental Funding Programs
Office of Environment and Heritage, Department of Premier and Cabinet
Australia