"This book has been both insightful and reiterated my concerns about education. It is the first book that intentionally draws together the historic and current green schools experiences of a wide range of countries ... . I believe this is a satisfying and important read for anyone involved in environmental education. It provides a comprehensive yet concise and well-formatted compilation of accounts that will be useful for new and existing educators as well as education policy developers." (Megan Floris, Australian Journal of Environmental Education, February 18, 2022)
Foreword by Series Editors
Acknowledgements
Introduction – Annette Gough, John Chi-kin Lee & Eric Po Keung Tsang
History of green schools’ movements – Annette Gough
Eco Schools as an international network - Foundation of Environmental Education (Nicole Andreou)
Stories of green schools movements from around the world
Australia
Austria
Canada
China
England
France
Germany
Ghana
Hong Kong
India
Israel
Kenya
Mexico and Spain
New Zealand
South Africa
Sweden
Taiwan
Turkey
United States of America
Western Indian Ocean countries (Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Zanzibar)
Reflection – Annette Gough, John Chi-kin Lee & Eric Po Keung Tsang
Indexes
Annette Gough is Professor of Science and Environmental Education in the School of Education and the School of Global, Urban and Social Studies at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia, and previously Head of the School of Education. She has been an adjunct/visiting professor at universities in Canada, South Africa and Hong Kong, and is a Life Fellow of the Australian Association for Environmental Education (since 1992). She has led research and development projects funded by the Australian and Victorian governments and non-government bodies, worked with UNESCO, UNEP and UNESCO-UNEVOC, and has been co-editor of the Australian Journal of Environmental Education. She has over 130 publications (books, chapters and articles and curriculum materials) and is an editorial board member for the Australian Journal of Environmental Education, Environmental Education Research and the Journal of Biological Education. Her research interests span environmental, sustainability and science education, research methodologies, posthuman and gender studies.
John Chi-Kin Lee is the Chair Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, Vice President (Academic) and Provost, Director of the Centre for Religious and Spirituality Education and Co-Director of the Centre for Education in Environmental Sustainability at The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK). He has been appointed as the UNESCO Chair in Regional Education Development and Lifelong Learning at the EdUHK. He has been the Changjiang Scholar Chair Professor conferred by the Ministry of Education, the People's Republic of China. He has served as the Editor-in-Chief of Cogent Education, Editor of International Journal of Children’s Spirituality, Regional Editor (Asia-Pacific) of Educational Research and Evaluation and Executive Editor of Teachers and Teaching as well as advisory editor of Journal of Environmental Education Research (Taiwan). He is also a prolific writer who has edited and written more than 25 books, and published over 100 journal articles and book chapters.
Po Keung Eric Tsang is a Professor, Associate Dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Head of the Department of Science and Environmental Studies, and Associate Director of the UNESCO-UNEVOC Centre at The Education University of Hong Kong. He is an environmental scientist by training, but he also specialises in environmental education research, and was one of the pioneers of the Green School initiative. He has been appointed visiting professor by Northeast Normal University and South China Normal University, and founding director of the Hong Kong and Guangzhou Centre for Environmental and Science Education in South China Normal University. He is active in the community as chairman/ member of numerous high-level government committees, chairman of Green Power, a major NGO in Hong Kong, and member (outreach panel) of the International Year of Global Understanding, launched by the International Geographical Union and UNESCO.
Green Schools Globally brings together stories of the green school movements (Eco Schools, Enviroschools, Green Schools, Sustainable Schools, ResourceSmart Schools etc) in several countries around the world, with a focus on the impact of the movement on the development and implementation of education for sustainable development in each of the countries. In particular, each story explains the history of the movement per country, its current status, achievements, obstacles and broader impact.
Green schools focus on a whole school approach which aims to include everyone (students, teachers and the local community) to improve school environments, including resource usage and the environmental footprint of the school, to motivate students to take on environmental problems and seek resolutions particularly at a local level, but also thinking globally, and to improve students' attitudes and behaviours as part of developing a sustainability mindset. Here are their stories together in one volume for the first time.
A distinctive feature of Green Schools Globally is the diverse array of perspectives that illustrate why it was not easy being green. Readers will appreciate the courage and resilience of the people who have persisted in the ‘stories of vision’ as curriculum demands have increased across vastly differing cultural and education environments. They should also appreciate how well supported these school initiatives are, by decades of scientific and educational research. One might ask, on reading these fascinating tales of green schooling, exactly where responsibilities for our common futures must now reside. - Emeritus Professor Paul Hart, University of Regina, Canada
This Volume brings together a diverse group of dedicated emerging and established scholars and practitioners who are all committed to reorient education towards people and planet. Their collective wisdom has resulted in a rich collage of perspectives and practices from around the world, showing how schools can connect to the grand sustainability challenges of our time, not only by paying attention to key emerging topics, like climate urgency, in the curriculum, but also and, foremost, by connecting to the existential questions young people bring to school, and finding more relational and actionable pedagogies that will help them develop the competencies they need in creating a better tomorrow. - Professor Arjen E.J. Wals, Wageningen University, The Netherlands, UNESCO Chair