THE
KEEP
SWEDEN
TIDY
FOUNDATION
SCHOOL AND PRESCHOOL
Communicating
Environmental
Actions to Children
and Youth
English Summary
The project Communicating
Environmental Actions to Children
and Youth is partly financed by
the EU fund LIFE+
2009–2011
school and preschool – the keep sweden tidy foundation 1
Give Children and Youth
the Tools to Create and
Live in a Sustainable World!
PHOTO: MAGNUS NORRMAN
we are happy to now, after three years, be able to show our results from the project that
we have carried out with the help of regional coordinators throughout the country. As Project Manager, I would like to thank everyone that has made it possible for us to meet such
an incredible number of teachers, headmasters, and others working within the school and
preschool sector. It is a privilege to meet so many dedicated people, and so many who are
willing to change their lifestyle to give our children a good future. We, who have been working
in the project, will remember all the people who have made this project possible.
“Looking back I can
see that we have taken
on the challenge with
brilliant results, and
that the project has
created hope for our
common future.”
lina lundström, project manager,
the keep sweden tidy foundation
the keep sweden tidy foundation is a non-profit organization and has been between the
years 2009–2011 carried out the project “Communicating Environmental Actions to Children
and Youth” (Com-U). The aim of the Com-U project is to give as many children and youth
as possible the tools, knowledge and courage to work for a sustainable world, where there
are enough resources for everybody, today and in the future.
By using the EU environmental policy and the Swedish national environmental objectives
as starting points, the project has received both national and international support, consisting
both of knowledge and inspiration, as well as financing.
the highly set goals and the high ambitions have been an incentive and a challenge for
the Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation and all the people involved in the project. Looking back
I can see that we have taken on the challenge with brilliant results, and that the project has
created hope for our shared future.
so thank you to all of you who have participated in the Com-U project. Without all the
creative, inspiring and competent teachers, co-workers and educational representatives in the
municipalities all around Sweden, we would never have reached as far as we have.
EDITORIAL STAFF
The Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation is an opinion forming organization, working to reduce individual littering, promoting recycling and raising environmental awareness. The work is pursued by campaigns and projects, as well as by environmental educations and eco-labeling.
This is an English summary from an education project, partly financed by the EU fund Life+.
Editors: Lina Lundström and Petra Holgersson. Writers : Eléonore Elfström Fauré, Katarina Hellberg, Lina Lundström,
Lisa Adelsköld, Ola Jacobsen, Petra Holgersson. Featured on the cover: Anna-Karin Karlsson. Photo: Ola Jacobsen. Graphic design:
Susanna Bäckman, Tidningsmakarna and Maria Gustavsson, The Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation Print: DanagårdLitho. Paper: Insert 115g
CyclusPrint, cover 300g Cocoon offset. Contact: the Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation, Box 4155, 102 64 Stockholm, Sweden, [email protected],
www.hsr.se, phone: + 46 8 505 263 00.
2 the keep sweden tidy foundation – school and preschool
“There is so much
happening with
planet earth. It is
important to start
working already
with the youngest
children.”
20
8
10
12
22
22 The Eco-Schools programme “It is not tricky
or difficult at all
to work with the
Eco-Schools programme.”
4
Facts
Inspiration
4
What has happened within the Com-U project?
10 The municipality of Jönköping 6
The Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation throughout Sweden!
12 Things that are already being 7
Political contact person for Eco-Schools – an honorary task!
14 Complementing their own objec-
7
This is going on in the world.
16 Education has speeded up the 8
This is how we reach national and international objectives through the Eco-Schools
programme.
invests in the environment
done in Sundsvall.
tives – Eco-Schools in Enköping
work in Edvalla.
18 The Eco-Schools programme in the Upper Secondary School Frans Suell in Malmö.
24 Environmental cycles and
chewing gum cultivation in Hägersten.
26 The Lightning Patrol spreads competence to act.
Your Guide to Energy & Climate.
makes the objectives concrete in Arentorp.
27 Nature Schools, our invaluable 20 In Vaxholm, litter is being trans-
formed into art.
partners.
Eco-Schools on You Tube.
“During the course of the project, we have visited 209 out of totally 290 municipalities”
pages 6–7
school and preschool – the keep sweden tidy foundation 3
Communicating environmental actions to children and youth
– three years of communication
Between 2009 and 2011, the Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation has carried out the project
Communicating Environmental Actions to Children and Youth, aiming to give children and
youth the tools and the competence to act upon the challenges facing humanity, regarding
environment and sustainability.
TEXT LINA LUNDSTRÖM PHOTO BJÖRN TESCH/BIGFISH
the objective has been to reach 260.000
children and youths through the project.
With the results at hand, we realize that
we have done even better, having reached
340.000 children and youths. The Keep
Sweden Tidy Foundation has chosen to
educate teachers, who, in their turn, bring
the knowledge and the inspiration from
the courses held by the foundation to
the children and the pupils. During the
project the Foundation has been using
the Eco-Schools programme as a tool to
implement the EU environmental policy
in the schools and preschools. Within the
project, we have cooperated with Nature
Schools throughout the country. The
project is partly financed by the EU fund
Life+. During the course of the project,
the Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation has
met with many different actors: teachers,
headmasters, preschool managers, development managers, environmental coordinators, Agenda 21-coordinators, managing directors from the private school and
preschool sector, as well as other actors
from the education sector, both national
and international.
The Keep Sweden Foundation has been
able to carry out the project within the
budget of 2.5 million Euros. The largest
cost has been external assistance from
the Nature Schools and other consultants. The project has been financed by
the Life+ fund with 50 percent.
The purpose of the courses has been to
give representatives from schools and preschools the inspiration and support they
need to be able to introduce and run the
environmental and sustainability work at
their schools or preschools. These courses
have also been attended by headmasters
and preschool managers, as well as municipal coordinators.
In the long run, the courses are to give
children and youth qualifications to take
on the challenges described in the EU environmental policy. This should be carried
out by using the steering documents of
school and preschool and by using the
Eco-Schools certification administrated
in Sweden by The Keep Sweden Tidy
Foundation.
Courses and seminars
Regional coordination
EU environmental policy course – Step 1
By providing further education courses to
more than 2.000 schools and preschools,
the Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation has
reached thousands of teachers and representatives from these sectors.
Conferences
During the three years of the project, the
Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation has, as
mentioned earlier, cooperated with Nature Schools around the country (see page
27). Thanks to the Nature Schools, which
EU environmental policy course – Step 2
At the next step, the Keep Sweden Tidy
Foundation met with all the personnel of
a certain school or preschool for an inspirational meeting. Through these inspirational meetings, the regional coordinators
and the Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation
have met more than 14.000 teachers from
more than 1.000 schools and preschools.
The objective of the meetings has been
to give schools and preschools the tools
to work with environmental and sustainability issues. The coursed have been designed for all the personnel at schools and
preschools.
4 the keep sweden tidy foundation – school and preschool/facts
have worked as regional coordinators, the
project has been able to support schools
and preschools throughout the country.
This has made it possible for us to achieve
our goals, and also to become an agent
active all over the country. The cooperation with the Nature Schools has been an
essential factor for a successful project.
The Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation has
arranged five conferences for the regional
coordinators during the project.
Regional Coordinator Network Meetings
In all, the regional coordinators (the Nature Schools) have arranged 100 network
meetings during the course of the project.
The objective of the network meetings has
been to get schools and preschools in one
region to interact and to exchange ideas.
The meetings have been appreciated and
fully booked throughout the country. The
Nature Schools that we have cooperated
with have had a good network already
before the start of the project. This has facilitated the organization of the network
meetings.
During the network meetings, the participating schools and preschools have
presented their activities, and how they
have gone about their work in the EcoSchools programme. They have also
shared good examples and ideas.
Information Material
Films
To reach out through as many channels as
possible, we have created three films. The
films have been put out on YouTube (www.
youtube.com/hallsverigerent), and have
been shown at courses and conferences.
Read more about the films on page 27.
The Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation has
reached 340.000 children through the project.
grade class at the Rockneby school in
Kalmar winner of the competition. Read
more about the competition “We Care”
on page 19.
Newsletter times 3
The Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation has
sent out three different newsletters, four
times a year. One of the newsletters has
been sent to international stakeholders,
another to our national coordinators, and
the last one to our network of schools and
preschools in Sweden.
The purpose of the international newsletter has been to inform about the project
and the progress of it, in order to give other EU-countries the possibility to use the
experiences made. The newsletter to the
national coordinators has supported them
in their work of educating and inspiring
schools and preschools. The newsletter
for schools and preschools working with
the Eco-Schools programme has supported and inspired them to proceed in their
environmental and sustainability work.
Material
During the course of the project, the Keep
Sweden Tidy Foundation has developed
three materials that support teachers
when working with environmental and
sustainability issues.
• Energy and climate – an educational material in sustainable development for schools year 6–9.
An interdisciplinary educational material for teachers, with an abundant
graphic material. The material is divided in three sections: Interest rousers, Climate, and Energy. There are also
value exercises giving teachers great opportunities to work successfully with
sustainable development. Some of the
exercises can be used for examination.
The material is developed together
with the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (Naturvårdsverket).
• Guide for working with climate and
engery. For compulsory school, year
1–6. Read more about the guide on
page 26.
• Jigsaw puzzle – a material about local
surroundings for preschools. Read more
about the jigsaw puzzle on page 26.
The web
To get a good distribution of the information material, the competitions, the films
etcetera, that are part of the project, it
has been essential to use our website. The
Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation has chosen
to put out all the material and information from the project on the website, since,
according to a survey performed during
the course of the project, the teachers feel
this facilitates their work.
Competitions
During the project, we have held two
competitions, with the aid of Wettex
(manufacturer of biodegradable dish
cloths) and Länsförsäkringar Skaraborg
(Swedish insurance company).
To create commitment for the Baltic
Sea, the Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation arranged a school competition called “What
goes on under the surface”. School classes
examined the environment of the Baltic
Sea, and came up with creative ways
of sharing their experiences with other
schools.
More than 50 contributions were sent
in. After considering, the jury, consisting
of the Swedish Environmental Protection
Agency, Wettex, and the Keep Sweden
Tidy Foundation pronounced the fourth
Seminars and Conferences
An important component to make the
project successful is the fact that we have
been constantly updated with what is going on in schools and preschools throughout Sweden. Another component is that
Com-U has received help and inspiration
from other networks and projects run by
other actors.
To get a good overview of what is going
on with the environmental and sustainability work in schools and preschools,
we have, among other things, participated
in around 30 conferences and seminars.
International Com-U conference
To be able to further share the Com-Uproject with national and international
actors, an international conference with
around 80 participants was arranged. The
purpose of the conference was to introduce the Com-U project so other countries and operators could translate the
project and use it in their own countries.
At the conference, it was also discussed
what future cooperation might look like
and whether there are possibilities of cofinancing future projects. a
school and preschool/facts – the keep sweden tidy foundation 5
Keep Sweden Tidy
all over Sweden!
During the three years of the
project, the Keep Sweden Tidy
Foundation has held courses in
209 out of 290 municipalities in
Sweden. This has been possible
thanks to the foundation’s
cooperation with regional
coordinators, such as Nature
Schools, throughout the country.
The regional coordinators have
been essential to achieve the
goals of the Com-U project.
For an index of
the municipalities
where the project
has carried out
education– visit
­www.hsr.se/skola.
Page 12–13.
Page 20–21.
TEXT LINA LUNDSTRÖM
ILLUSTRATION MARIA GUSTAVSSON
Page 24–25.
Page 18–19.
29.000
Tierp: Education
speeded up the
environmental work
on the preschool
Enbacken, page
16–17.
is the number of teachers/
school personnel/ officials / politicians educated within
the project.
9.497
is the number of subscribers of the newsletter to the national
network of schools and preschools.
Malmö: The Frans
Suell upper secondary school cooks
sustainable food and
exchanges clothes,
page 22–23.
Enköping: With support by the Eco-Schools
programme, Härnevi
Preschool reaches the
goals of the curriculum,
page 14–15.
86.070
is the number of unique visitors to the school and preschool pages of the Keep Sweden
Tidy Foundation website.
Page 10–11.
1.130
6 the keep sweden tidy foundation – school and preschool/facts
•
Municipalities visited and educated within the project.
new schools and preschools in the Eco-Schools network.
Being a Political Contact Person is an Honorary Task
Schools and preschools working with the Eco-Schools
programme choose a political
contact person in the municipality, who will support and
acknowledge the environmental
and sustainability work of the
school or preschool. The political contact person is a link between the school or preschool
and the municipality, ensuring
that the different actors can
communicate and empower
each other. The municipality
learns from the school or preschool and vice versa.
TEXT KATARINA HELLBERG
Sverker Ottosson, the
political contact person
in Sundsvall:
“Being a political contact
person gives you inspiration, and new perspectives on life and problem
solving. In my opinion, the concept is spot
on,” says Sverker Ottosson, municipal
commissioner for the Swedish Green
Party, and chairman of the Committee of
Infrastructure and Service of the Municipal
Council.
The Eco-Schools programme ensures
that at an early age, and in a playful way,
children will learn about the environment
and understand their own role in an ecological and social context.”
“When you are in a decision-making
position, it is important to have a bearing
on reality, and to have those important
contacts. As a political contact person I
get to know what our children and youths
find important and what they want to
change, and what daily life is like.”
Rosa Lundmark, the
political contact person in Vantör:
“The concept of political
contact persons within the
Eco-Schools programme
is special, because it
is such a positive task. Usually, being a
politician means that people often contact
you when they are dissatisfied and want to
complain about things. In that respect, this
assignment is unique.”
Those are the words of Rosa Lundmark,
member of the board of the Left Party of
Sweden in Vantör, and vice president of the
City District Committee of Enskede-ÅrstaVantör in the City of Stockholm.
“I see this as an honorary task in my work
as a politician,” says Rosa.
“It is good for schools and preschools to
be in contact with the politicians. We have
a big department with quite a distance between the officials and the people who really
work out there on the floor. We get so many
papers to plow through, and this is a way
for me to meet the children and the teachers and see a whole new side of things.” a
International outlook
In Sweden there are more than 3.000
schools and preschools working thematically with the environment and sustainability through the Eco-Schools programme. All these activities are supported
by international directives and legislation.
In December of 2002, the General Assembly of the United Nations decided to proclaim
a decade of education – 2005–2014 – for
sustainable development, with UNESCO
as responsible organization. The year before
that, and in the beginning of the decade, the
government chose to put in big recourses for
schools to invest in research, education and
further education about sustainable development. More and more schools and preschools
joined the Eco-Schools programme, the certification program administrated in Sweden
by the Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation. At
the same time, the Swedish National Agency
for Education was commissioned to initiate
the Sustainable School Award. In November
2010, the Ministers for Education of the EU
gathered and agreed on the importance of
sustainable development in schools, and that
appropriate measures would be taken.
In 2001, the EU environmental policy
was launched. It states that EU politics
and legislation must better reflect environmental and sustainability issues, the public shall be informed and included and environmental concern will be taken when
planning for cities and development. The
environmental policy divides environmental
and sustainability questions in four different
fields: Climate Change, Nature and Biodiversity, Environment and Health, and Natural
Resources and Waste. The policy suggests actions such as developing a strategy for sustainable use of natural resources, increasing the
efficiency in use of natural resources, improving systems of waste management etcetera. In
the EU environmental policy, the EU suggests
a broad consultation with the governments
of the candidate countries about sustainable
development, as well as a close cooperation
with Non-Governmental Organizations and
companies in these countries. Measures taken
to ensure the implementation of the international environmental agreements are strongly
encouraged.
Grön Flagg (Green Flag) is the Swedish
name for the Eco-Schools programme, and
with the Eco-Schools programme you can bee
awarded the Green Flag. Eco-Schools is run
by the international organization Foundation
for Environmental Education (FEE).
Eco-Schools was initiated in 1992, and
exists in more than 60 countries all
over the world. The representatives
of the different countries meet every year for knowledge exchange.
There are also possibilities for the
schools and preschools linked to
Eco-Schools to benefit from other
projects worldwide, as well as to
participate in shared projects about
different themes, such as Climate and Local
surroundings. This shows that the work with
the Eco-Schools programme, and with the
Com-U project receives support at all levels,
both nationally and internationally. a
school and preschool/facts – the keep sweden tidy foundation 7
This is an example of how schools and preschools, working with the theme of consumption and how their work, within the EcoSchools programme, can be linked to national
and international environmental goals.
A Tool for National and
International Objectives
Working with the Eco-Schools programme, administrated in Sweden by the Keep Sweden
Foundation, makes schools and preschools integrate sustainable development in their own
activities and work with national and international environmental objectives.
TEXT LISA ADELSKÖLD ILLUSTRATION MARIA GUSTAVSSON
8 the keep sweden tidy foundation – school and preschool/facts
schools and preschools have an explicit
assignment to contribute to a sustainable
development. The assignment is expressed
in steering documents such as the Education Act, the Curricula and Syllabi.
Schools and preschools also have a part
in the important work with the national environmental objectives. They set the course
for the adaptations society needs to make
in order to deal with the most important
environmental problems.
Since pollution does not stay within
country borders, and many nature resources are shared, the EU environmental work
has a key role in whether we are to achieve
the Swedish Environmental Quality Objectives. Hence, simultaneously working to
obtain objectives and environmental priorities of the EU environmental policy must
also be prioritized.
there is a lot going on at the same time,
and it requires that headmasters and teachers coordinate and structure the work towards the objectives and guidelines. The
work must also be carried out in a way that
gives children and youth the possibility to
actively participate.
The Eco-Schools programme helps
schools and preschools to integrate sustainable development in their own activities,
and to work actively to achieve Swedish
and international environmental objectives.
In the Eco-Schools programme, schools
and preschools work with six broad
themes. The themes explicitly include both
the EU environmental policy and the Swedish Environmental Quality Objectives.
the eco-schools programme is based on a
thematic way of working and involves the
whole school or preschool, broad themes
such as climate, energy and consumption
and can be incorporated in all subjects.
This interdisciplinary work implies a
greater possibility to obtain the objectives
of the curricula and the syllabi.
To get an insight into the progressing
work with environment and sustainability,
the Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation communicates on a daily basis with a great number
of schools and preschools. During last year,
when focus had been on implementing
the new or modified curricula, we see that
many sectors are using the Eco-Schools
programme more actively in adjusting to
the curricula, and in accounting for quality.
The EU environmental policy also fo-
cuses on making it easier for the citizens
to be more environmentally friendly. However, being aware of the objectives and
guidelines is not enough. Turning knowledge into practical actions requires action
competence. Knowledge combined with
personal motivation and possibility to influence and to act leads to increased action
competence.
The Eco-Schools programme creates
competence to act through an action orientated working method, in which it is central
that youth and children participate, and
have a possibility to influence the work.
Schools and preschools are encouraged to
work concretely with the process. Hence,
the Eco-Schools programme contributes to
schools and preschools being a part of the
solution, and to the implementation of the
Swedish environmental objectives, and the
EU environmental policy.
the keep sweden tidy foundation believes
that children and youth, with positive experiences from environmental and sustainability work, will be inclined to take on the
important questions about the future with
a spirit of optimism and self-esteem. a
Foto: Emma Ingolf www.emmaingolf.se
school and preschool/facts – the keep sweden tidy foundation 9
The Cooperation with
the Keep Sweden Tidy
­Foundation a Success
In 2010, the Municipality of Jönköping learnt through user surveys
addressing parents with children attending school or preschool,
that there was a wish for a more explicit environmental work.
TEXT AND PHOTO OLA JACOBSEN
“therefore, the politicians decided to
focus even more on the environmental
issue. We chose to be a part of the Com-U
project with the Eco-Schools programme
to achieve the environmental objectives of
the community, since it is a reliable tool
which also feels meaningful to work with
both for teachers, children and students,”
says Lars Öster, Traffic and Environmental coordinator at the board of education
in the Municipality of Jönköping.
in order to work efficiently with the
municipal environmental objectives from
preschool to upper secondary school, the
Municipality of Jönköping realized they
needed to think creatively and cooperate
with other actors. They therefore chose to
organize the environmental work centrally, with an official acting as a coordinator.
“I started by scanning the market for
appropriate partners. Now we are working with the Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation, the School of Education and Communication, and the Environmental Office
in Jönköping.”
The first goal is to double the number of
units certified by Eco-Schools, from 10 to
20 between 2010 and 2013, but already
they have gone from 10 to 27.
“It would surprise me if we don’t have
more than 30 before 2013, and exceed the
goal with 100 percent,” says Lars Öster.
To reach the objects of the Com-U project, to give the next generation knowl-
edge, tools and courage to deal with the
big future questions regarding the environment, the Foundation has provided
educational courses for free. How has that
influenced the Municipality of Jönköping?
“A great deal. It has been a generous
offer from the Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation, through the EU fund Life+. We
have not experienced any limitations. The
Foundation has come to us with study
material and dedicated lecturers. It goes
without saying, it is a success factor not
having a brake, being able to focus only
on the accelerator.”
for preschools and schools in the Municipality of Jönköping, the work with
the Com-U project has been somewhat
easier than in other municipalities. Lars
Öster has been the contact person both
for preschools, schools, the Keep Sweden
Tidy Foundation and for the School of
Education and Communication.
“All contacts go through me. I make
all the practical arrangements, and piece
together the entirety, so all others involved
can focus on their own part. It means that
all the actors we work with feel extra safe.
They know that the official in the municipality manages the contacts with the Keep
Sweden Tidy Foundation, and when it is
time for further education, everything is
signed, sealed and delivered. I myself have
felt good support from the Keep Sweden
Tidy Foundation, as they have been a
10 the keep sweden tidy foundation – school and preschool/inspiration
corner stone for making things work
this well. So far, around 250 teachers in
Jönköping have participated in the ComU project managed by the Keep Sweden
Tidy Foundation at the School of Education and Communication.”
What is your advice on how to speed up
the work with the environmental objectives in other municipalities?
“Jönköping went in for this from a user
perspective. It is not a political invention. By
having a smart organization and by choosing the right partners, we have given environmental issues a real boost in the municipality. We have increased the compliance of
the environmental objectives, and we have
been better at satisfying the requests of the
citizens of the municipality.” a
Facts
Name: Lars Öster
Occupation: Traffic and Environmental coordinator, coordinator
of the Eco-Schools programme in
the Municipality of Jönköping.
Lives: In Huskvarna.
“I started by scanning the
market for appropriate
partners. Now we work
with the Keep Sweden
Tidy Foundation.”
lars öster, traffic and environmental coordinator
in the municipality of jönköping
school and preschool/inspiration – the keep sweden tidy foundation 11
Things that are
Already Being Done
In Sundsvall, the teachers are the ones who have gotten the work with the Eco-Schools
programme going in schools and preschools. There is a great commitment to the EcoSchools programme, and to sustainability issues, even though the Childcare and Education
Department has not pursued the issue in the municipality. Many of the teachers have been
inspired and educated by the Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation within the frames of the Com-U
project.
TEXT PETRA HOLGERSSON PHOTO OLA JACOBSEN
In the industrial city of Sundsvall, it was
not that long ago that the morning fog
was filled with pollution. The city has a
long tradition of heavy industry, and in
later years it has worked hard with ecological adaption of the activities. However, the municipality has not chosen to
promote the Eco-Schools programme, or
any other environmental award, in its
schools or preschools.
Still, this has not stopped environmental commitment from flaring up in the
schools and preschools of the municipality. A lot of people from the new generation of the Sundsvall citizens are now
learning plenty about environmental issues, and are themselves working with
issues regarding environmental cycles,
water, and maintenance of the local surroundings. There is no doubt that the
children are participatory. At least not in
the two preschools managed by Agneta
Stenmark.
“I was attending a EU environmental
policy course held by the Keep Sweden
Tidy Foundation in Gävle, when I suddenly realized something,” says Agneta.
The Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation spoke
about our resources being limited – that
we can’t just keep on taking from nature,
and that there is only one globe. That
went straight into my heart.”
now the work with the Eco-Schools programme is in full swing on both of Agnetas preschools. On the preschool Rönn12 the keep sweden tidy foundation – school and preschool/inspiration
Agneta has a great commitment, and she
is passionate about environment issues,
and for all children’s right to participate.
However, she emphasizes that a lot of what
is demanded in the Eco-Schools program
are things that the preschools are already
working with. A big KRAV-sign crowns the
entrance door of the preschool Humlan,
and the children are served KRAV-food
every day (KRAV is a Swedish association
that develops organic standards, and promotes the KRAV-label for products living
up to the standards.)
Agneta has created a small library for
all children and parents, where you simply
pick out your book, put it in a homemade
tote bag, and make a note in a small notebook of what you have borrowed. This
way all children can have a bedtime story
at home. These are two examples of activities that fit perfectly within the Eco-Schools
programme – activities that already exist
at the preschool.
“It is not tricky or difficult at all to work
with the Eco-Schools programme,” Agneta
says. “We started with the activities we already have, and it has been moving along
from there by itself. We are very proud of
our preschools.”
but why has the municipality not pursued
the issue, when there is obviously such great
interest among the schools and preschools?
“I’m not really sure,” says Lars Karlstrand, former Head of Compulsory School
in the North district, and now, among other
things, responsible for the Student Health
Service on the Education Department.
“We who work at the Childcare and
Education Department have never really
owned the environmental issue. It has never
asserted itself among us. Maybe it’s because
we who work within the department have
been forced to focus on other issues.” a
PHOTO: PETRA HOLGERSSON
backen, the Green Flag has been waving
since 2010, and at the preschool Humlan,
the action plan for the Eco-Schools programme has just been approved.
“We have noticed that there is a huge
craving for a project like this with education and inspirational meetings in the preschools in Sundsvall,” says Agneta. Our
first educational meeting here in Sundsvall gathered 31 teachers, and in the last
few years, several hundreds have attended
courses.”
A lot of work within the Eco-Schools programme is things that we are already doing at
the preschool,” says Ingrid Nordling, teacher at the preschool Rönnbacken in Sundsvall.
Ingrid Inspires Others to Start Working
with the Eco-Schools programme
The Eco-Schools programme
takes up a lot of things that we are
already doing at the preschool. For
me, personally, the tool has meant a
greater consciousness of environmental issues, which in fact is also true for
the whole work group of the preschool. It is pretty awesome when you
think about it, that the little we do can
have such great influence. Those are
the words of Ingrid Nordling, teacher
at the preschool Rönnbacken, who
also lectures about the Eco-Schools
programme on other preschools in the
municipality.
Ingrid learnt about the Com-U
project through the neighboring school
Kyrkskolan F–3. Their work inspired
her and her colleagues.
“We thought that we wanted a green
flag like that too,” Ingrid says. “So we
started doing some research, and applied to the Eco-Schools programme
on the web, and got the work going. It
was a lot of fun, but looking back, the
ambition of the teachers was far too
high, they were speeding to fast.”
An advice from Ingrid is to start from
where you are at present.
“Choose a theme that fits the situation you are in. We were far too ambitious in the beginning and wanted to
do so much, but now we have calmed
down and adjusted to the children and
to our situation.”
Ingrid and her colleagues found the
Com-U project and the offer about
inspirational meetings on the web, and
after the meetings, Ingrid herself has
started inspiring other preschools.
“I think it is good if someone who is
also out on the field informs about the
Eco-Schools programme. A teacher
explaining that it is not complicated at
all. In fact it’s about things we already
do, just in a little more structured way.
That is very appreciated!”
For Rönnbacken, the Eco-Schools
programme has also led to new yearly
traditions. In spring, we have an environmental week with a litter theme,
and in the autumn we have a harvest
home,” Ingrid says. It is so inspiring
to contribute to making children,
teachers, staff and parents more aware
of our environment. a
school and preschool/inspiration – the keep sweden tidy foundation 13
Facts/Härnevi
Preschool
“It was not very difficult to
join the Eco-Schools programme. Everyone in the staff
understands what we need
to do, so now everybody is
trying to contribute,” says
Vivi-Anne Granlund, teacher
at Härnevi Preschool outside
of Enköping.
14 the
hållkeep
sverige
sweden
rent
tidy
– skola
foundation
and förskola
– school
/inspiration
and preschool/inspiration
Location: Härnevi
Municipality: The Municipality
of Enköping
Number of children/pupils: 20 in
the preschool, and 8 in the afterschool center
Number of years with Eco-Schools: 1
The Eco-Schools
Programme
Complementing Preschools Own Goals
On the plains, just over ten kilometers north of Enköping, in the old Society House between
the fields and the forest, is where Härnevi Preschool is located.
“We have such great environment here – for free. It is so nice. We have to show how to
take good care of what we have around us,” says the teacher Vivi-Anne Granlund.
TEXT AND PHOTO OLA JACOBSEN
härnevi preschool started working
with Eco-Schools theme of Lifestyles and
Health one year ago.
“Through the Com-U project the Keep
Sweden Tidy Foundation offered a free
EU environmental policy course. It turned
out not to be difficult at all. We were
afraid it would mean extra work, but as
it turned out, it was not that difficult to
write this kind of report,” says Vivi-Anne
Granlund.
The Eco-Schools programme report
complemented the goal documents that
the preschools were already working
with. The revised curriculum is also easy
to integrate with the Eco-Schools programme documentation.
even though härnevi preschool has only
worked with the Eco-Schools programme
for one year, there was already a strong
environmental commitment at the preschool.
“The Eco-Schools programme has not
implied such a big difference for the way
we work with the children. The big difference is the way we think and talk about
what we are doing, and that we keep better records of it. We are more aware of
how and why we do what we do. One
of the objectives of the theme Lifestyles
and health is outdoor activities that promote physical activity. At the Preschool,
they already had a lot of physical activity
outdoors, but with the Eco-Schools programme in mind, they have become more
aware of what they do and why.”
“Children need a lot of outdoor physi-
they want to teach the children a healthy
lifestyle.
“We collect the waste under the sink,
and the children helps out filling the compost bin out on the yard. We have had a
see-through compost container too, so
the children could see clearly what the
worms fed from,” says Vivi-Anne Granlund. They will use the soil they produce
in the sowing containers by the swings,
where they cultivate tomatoes, squash,
flowers and parsley.
“This spring we will not have to buy
soil, the children will have made their
own,” says Vivi-Anne Granlund. a
cal activity. They have to build up their
bodies to be able to sit still in school later.
It pushes you a little, having to reflect
‘What are we thinking now then?’. With
the Eco-Schools programme, everything
comes together,” says Vivi-Anne Granlund.
She sees many benefits from spending a
lot of time outdoors with the child group.
The spirit of the group improves by outdoor activities. There are fewer conflicts
when the children have more space.
“The afternoon is a lot calmer if we
have spent the morning outdoors,” says
Vivi-Anne Granlund.
A concrete difference since start of the
work with the theme Lifestyles and health,
within the Eco-Schools programme, is
that the preschool tries to take care of
all catering waste they produce, since
Theme/Lifestyles
and health
Among other things, the schools
are working with: eating habits,
physical activity and relaxation,
indoor environment, friendship.
Through their work schools and
preschools help obtaining: The
Swedish Environmental Quality
Goals: A Good Built Environment, A Non-Toxic Environment,
A Safe Radiation Environment,
Clean Air.
The EU environmental policy:
Environment and Health, Natural
Resources and Waste
school and preschool/inspiration – the keep sweden tidy foundation 15
Com-U Course Speeded up Work with
the Eco-Schools Programme
One year ago, when the staff at the preschool Enbacken decided to go in for the EcoSchools programme, they invited an educator from the Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation for an
EU environmental policy course within the Com-U project. That was the starting point, and
from that evening on, all the teachers were highly motivated.
TEXT AND PHOTO OLA JACOBSEN
16 the keep sweden tidy foundation – school and preschool/inspiration
reflects the objectives and guidelines in
the revised curriculum. Working actively
with the different themes within the EcoSchools programme allows us to work
more explicitly towards the objectives regarding natural sciences, technology and
the environment,” says preschool teacher
Cecilia Jacobsson.
Facts / Enbacken
Preschool
Fakta/Enbackens
Location: Edvalla
förskolathe Municipality Municipality:
of Tierp
Number of children/pupils: 24.
Number of years with EcoSchools: 1
“once we got started with the EcoSchools programme that was it, everything else had to fit into that,” says team
leader Carina Ederyd.
To carry out the theme as efficiently as
possible, all other objectives regarding for
instance languages, mathematics, motoric
skills and physical movement, were linked
together with the the Eco-Schools programme.
“Going in for the Eco-Schools programme was a common decision and all
of us have been educated by the Keep
Sweden Tidy Foundation. One of the
main reasons why we prioritize working
with nature and environment, as we do
in the Eco-Schools programme, is that it
the teachers have received a lot of help
by teaching material from both the World
Wide Fund for Nature and the Keep
Sweden Tidy Foundation. Especially the
Lightning Patrol material has been much
appreciated by the children. (Read more
about the Lightning Patrol on page 26.)
“The children have become the Lightning Patrol themselves. It is exciting to be
part of a secret environmental club that
goes out looking for litter,” says Cecilia
Jacobsson.
“We already had this interest for nature and for the environment, but through
the Com-U project we have become more
eco-conscious, and it rubs off on the children. They are very engaged, and they also
teach each other things they have learnt
at home,” says Cecilia Jacobsson.
Today the preschool class gathers round
the fireplace out by Eneboa, the shelter
right at the edge of the forest on the large
outdoor yard of the Enbacken Preschool.
“What happens with the earth if there
is too much pollution?” Cecilia Jacobsson asks.
“It will have a fever!” the children call
back.
It’s time for the Eco-Schools gathering,
and the five year olds are going to make
an experiment within the theme Energy
and climate. They are going to pour salt
on big blocks of ice, in order to simulate
global warming. The water from the melting ice is colored red to make it easier
to see.
“It’s breaking! Now the polar bears will
drown!” the children cry after a while.
“The Preschool magazine had a theme
issue on sustainable development, and
there was a story in it that made us realize that we can work with the Climate
and energy theme also with the younger
children,” says Carina Ederyd.
According to her, Eco-Schools is also a
good tool for teaching the children basic
democratic values.
“We must teach them that there is
hope for the future and that all people
can make a difference, no matter what
age they are.”
By concretely trying, discovering and
doing different things, the Eco-Schools
programme improves the action competence of the children. When they have
tried something at the preschool, they
want to do the same thing at home. Furthermore, the wish and the knowledge to
change things do not go away.
“The children turn into Environmental
Police Officers at home, it can almost be
a bit tiresome. But the children really do
influence their parents, I find that pretty
awesome,” says Cecilia Jacobsson. a
Theme/ Climate
and energy
The schools work with, for exTema/Klimat
ample: global warming, energy
and
energi
sources, energy efficiency, transports.
Through their work, the schools
and preschools help obtaining:
the Swedish Environmental Quality Objectives: Reduced Climate
Impact, A Good Built Environment, Clean Air, A Magnificent
Mountain Landscape, Natural
Acidification Only.
The EU environmental policy:
Climate change, Nature and
biodiversity, Natural resources
and waste.
school and preschool/inspiration – the keep sweden tidy foundation 17
Eco-Schools
­Programme
­ akes ­Environmental
M
Objectives ­Concrete
this year’s theme, Water resources, will
teach the children about the properties
of water and the water cycle and about
some of the animals and plants down
by the swimming lake. The theme begun with various experiments through
which the children were to learn more
about the properties of water.
“Experiments are fun; it’s different
from ordinary classes. We work more
in small groups and the teacher doesn’t
lecture as much,” says twelve year old
For ten years, the Green
Flag has fluttered outside the
Arentorp School in Vara.
“The Eco Schools programme
helps us to concretize the
environmental objectives,
but now we have been doing
this for so long that we have
learnt a way of thinking,” says
Camilla Lundmark, teacher at
the Arentorp School.
TEXT AND PHOTO OLA JACOBSEN
Clara Johansson.
The older pupils also arranged an Environmental Field Day for the younger
ones. One of the activities was to melt
an ice cube as fast as possible.
“Some put it under one arm and some
Theme/Water resources
Facts/Arentorp
School
The schools work with, for example: properties of water and the water cycle,
animals and plants, global water issues.
Through their work, the schools and preschools help obtaining: the Swedish
Environmental Quality Objectives: Good-Quality Groundwater, A Balanced
Marine Environment, Flourishing Lakes and Streams, Thriving Wetlands.
EU environmental policy: Nature and biodiversity, Environment and health.
Location: Arentorp
Municipality: the Municipality of
Vara
Number of children/pupils: 130
pupils, age 6-12
Number of years with Eco Schools: 10
18 the keep sweden tidy foundation – school and preschool/inspiration
put it in their mouth. The ones who put
it in their mouths won, but it did get
a bit cold!” says twelve year old Alma
Engblad.
For a long time, the teachers at the
school had wanted to work more specifically with environmental questions.
The only problem was to find a way
to break down statements such as “We
will take care of the environment” into
concrete objectives that they would be
able to communicate to the pupils.”
“We did not know how to begin. We
had ideas about what we wanted to do,
but we found it difficult to tie it together
in a good way,” says Camilla Lundmark.
A colleague of hers found the Eco
Schools programme on the web.
“The Eco-Schools programme was
perfect for us; it was exactly what we
were looking for. It had specific goals
to work with,” says Camilla Lundmark.
the arentorp school has worked with
the Eco-Schools programme for ten years.
Every year, when it’s time to choose a
new theme, a couple of pupils from the
Environmental Council, together with
Camilla Lundmark, consult the webpage
of the Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation to
get suggestions and ideas about how to
work with each theme. Later, they will
present different suggestions to teachers
and pupils in the combined Environmental and Student Council, who will make
a decision.
Before starting to work with the theme,
the school sends an action plan to be approved by the Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation.
“Then they usually come up with
thoughts and ideas on how to develop it
further. The Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation also comments on the final report,
giving us good advice and ideas of how
to go about it next time.”
Ten years of working with the EcoSchools programme has changed the way
that the teachers at the school think.
“The Eco-Schools programme helps us
to concretize the environmental objectives,
but now we have But we have done this
so many times so we have created a way
of thinking.”
According to Camilla, the most demanding part of the Eco Schools work
is the documentation. However, working
with the Eco-Schools programme does not
Safety in School – an Impetus
Anna-Karin Karlsson is devoted to
increasing the feeling of safety at the
school.
“I love working with basic values. I
want the children to feel good inside.
They should not have to feel insecure
and unsafe when they are at school.”
During a re-organization in 2009,
the Arentorp School introduced daily
EQ-hours within the mentor groups.
That means that every day they will
talk about things that have happened
and about how to behave among each
other. Anna-Karin Karlsson works as a
leisure time pedagogue. She is also a
member of the School Safety Team and
has coordinated all the work with basic
values on the school.
“When there is a dialogue about
things that happen and about the way
we treat each other, the children feel safer and are able to focus on the school
work the rest of the time. It is hard to
learn something if your head is full of
worries,” says Anna-Karin Karlsson.
The Arentorp School won first prize
in a competition arranged by the Keep
Sweden Tidy Foundation and Länsförsäkringar within the Com-U project
“We care”. The school won partly
because of its well considered cooperation between parents, children and staff
but also for its work regarding safe and
unsafe places on the school grounds.
Four times a year, the children answer
a survey about where they feel unsafe
in the school building and on the school
grounds. The survey includes a map
where the pupils mark the places they
perceive as unsafe with a cross. The
result is then displayed on a Styrofoam
model of the school.
“How did you come up with that
idea?”
“I was thinking that there must be a
way for school prefects and monitors to
know where the children don’t feel safe
at the school grounds, so they can keep
increase the general workload for her and
her colleagues.
“A lot of the work that we put in to the
documentation within Eco-Schools can be
an extra eye there. It was really easy to
make the model; I just used the fire protection plan as a base. We have used it
for many years now.”
However, the work with safe and
unsafe places does not end with putting
needles on a Styrofoam model. In a
survey last year, all of
a sudden there were
eleven marks by a
copse of trees on the
school yard.
“We do the survey to
bring problems to the
surface, and then we
must go on and solve
Name: Annathem. By the copse,
we kept some logs that Karin Karlsson
Age: 37 years
were used for building
Lives: Arentorp
little houses. The chilFamily: Yes,
dren often fell out over husband and
two daughters.
them, and many bad
Best advice on
things aroused from
how to create
that,” says Anna-Karin
a safe school:
Karlsson.
Simply, to care.
The logs were
removed, and the situation was also
discussed in the mentor groups. In the
next survey, the result showed.
“All the eleven crosses were gone.
There was simply no one feeling unsafe
there anymore. The children should feel
good and safe when they are here; we
always have to be here for them and
always do what we can.”
“What motivates you to do that bit
extra every day?”
“I like this communication with the
children, what is going on in their heads
at these ages; the social interaction, to
be able to work with that. It’s exciting.”
“What would happen if you would
stop working like this?”
“We have to talk about how we treat
each other and be reminded of it every
day. I have worked at this school for 15
years, and I have never dared to try not
working like this.” a
copied directly into our Quality Report.
We can also use part of it in our Equal
Treatment Plan. So they are texts we need
to write anyway.” a
school and preschool/inspiration – the keep sweden tidy foundation 19
Litter Transformed into
At the preschool Äppelgården,
the children have transformed
waste from their homes into a
mobile city with its own recycling station – and into waste art.
Tonight it is the opening of the
exhibition.
“Since we just started working
with the Eco-Schools programme, it is especially important to
display the work,” says Monika
Bloomberg, teacher at the preschool Äppelgården, located in
Vaxholm, in the archipelago of
Stockholm.
TEXT AND PHOTO OLA JACOBSEN
the minimal outdoor yard, that is, the
space between the preschool building
and a rock-face, made it easy for Äppelgården Preschool to choose the first the
Eco-Schools theme: Local surroundings.
“Since we have such a small yard, the
local surroundings are a great resource,”
says Monika Bloomberg.
They have recently pursued the first
objective, waste management, and part
of the result is being displayed at the exhibition. On the combined opening night
and parent-teacher meeting, the preschool
is packed with parents and siblings.
what is being displayed started with an
idea of making a city out of waste. The
children were encouraged to bring waste
from home. Everyone participated, the
older children made the houses and the
city’s waste station while the youngest
made trees out of play-dough and ice
cream sticks.
“It is important that the youngest children also participate. Everyone should be
included and involved in the work with
the eco-schools programme on their individual level. You can create something
useful out of waste. It’s all about making
Facts/Äppelgården
Preschool
Location: Vaxholm
Municipality: the Municipality of Vaxholm
Number of children/pupils: 36
Number of years with EcoSchools: 1
the children aware that you can reuse
things, you don’t have to throw everything away,” says Monika Bloomberg.
The waste city is mobile; you can take it
apart and rebuild it to play with it somewhere else. However, when the city was
finished there was still plenty of waste left,
and that is how the idea of the waste art
was born. Glitter and spangles were used
to decorate the not so nice looking waste
and to turn it into the magnificent art that
now adorns the walls of Äppelgården.
20 the keep sweden tidy foundation – school and preschool/inspiration
the work with the eco-schools programme started with an eu environmental
policy course at the preschool, arranged
by the keep sweden tidy foundation within the frames of the COM-U project. Since
then, Monika Bloomberg has stayed in
touch with the educator.
“I think it can be what you make of
it yourself. If you get in touch with the
foundation you will get feedback. I feel i
can call them at any time and ask questions when i need to. Next year we will
hopefully get our flag, but we will have
Waste Art
Theme/
Local surroundings
The schools work with, for example: littering, housing, nature
in the local surroundings, Right of
Public Access.
Through their work, the schools
and preschools help obtaining: the
Swedish Environmental Quality
Objectives: A Good Built Environment, A Non-Toxic Environment,
Sustainable Forests, Flourishing
Lakes and Streams.
EU environmental policy: Nature
and biodiversity, Environment and
health, Natural resources and waste.
“There is so much happening on planet earth.
It is important to start
working already with
the youngest children”
monika bloomberg, teacher at äppelgården
preschool in vaxholm
to keep up the work in order to keep the
certification.”
Äppelgården preschool is one of the last
in the municipality to join the eco-schools
programme.
“There is so much happening on planet
earth. It is important to start working already with the youngest children, to let
it be important to them from the start.
To me, it’s a very meaningful job,” says
Monika Bloomberg.
one way to display the work with the ecoschools programme, and also to involve
the parents, has been to circulate the little
teddy bear miljömulle (miljö is the swedish word for environment). The children
bring him home along with a notebook,
in which the parents are supposed to
write about the environmental attitude
they have at home; if they separate waste,
turn off the lights and the tv.
“Later on, when we gather the children,
they have used the book to explain to
each other how they do things at home.
Since the preschool started working with
the Eco-Schools programme, many parents relate that they have been told what
to do – and what not to do – with the
household waste.
“The work with the Eco-Schools programme creates circles on the water,
for both children and grownups. The
children carry along an awareness that
spreads to the parents.” a
school and preschool/inspiration – the keep sweden tidy foundation 21
Theme/
Consumption
Eleven Years with
Eco-Schools
Frans Suell Upper Secondary School is on its eleventh
year working with the Eco-Schools Programme. The latest
theme was Consumption – a theme that engaged a lot of
students. Among other things, they arranged a big swapping day at their school.
The schools work with for
example: production and
transport, reuse, advertising, ECO-labels
Through their work, the
schools and preschools help
obtaining: the Swedish
Environmental Quality
Objectives: Reduced Climate Impact, A Non-Toxic
Environment, A Varied
Agricultural Landscape,
Zero Eutrophication, A
Good Built Environment.
EU environmental policy:
Climate change, Nature
and biodiversity, Environment and health, Natural
resources and waste.
TEXT PETRA HOLGERSSON PHOTO HÅKAN EKBERG
the trademarks of the Frans Suell Upper Secondary School are handicraft, entrepreneurship and service. There are a
number of vocational educations, such
as the Food Program and the Hotel and
Restaurant Program. Olle Bredin, contact
person for the Eco-Schools programme,
works at the Restaurant Program.
“we work every day with the environmental aspects of the education,” says Olle. It
becomes very concrete in the restaurant
cuisine, which ranges from delicacies over
take-away and classical restaurant food
to large scale kitchen where we cook for
1.300 students every day. At the moment,
we are for example working a lot to both
reduce the waste and to increase the share
of KRAV- labeled ingredients we use for
cooking. (KRAV is a Swedish association
that develops organic standards, and promotes the KRAV-label for products living
up to the standards.)
During last year’s theme, Consumption,
the school managed to increase the share
of ecologically and locally produced products they purchased from 6 to 18 percent
and the school will strive to further increase the percentage.
“We have, among other things, changed
our purchase system, making it easier to
order ecological products,” says Olle.
So hopefully we will reach beyond the
goal of the City of Malmö, namely that
ecological products should constitute 22
percent of the purchases.
It is not always easy to get students this
age committed. Lots of other things attract their attention. However, the theme
Consumption has been easy to communicate. Last year, for example, the students arranged a big swapping day on
which huge amounts of clothes exchanged
owners. Also, students from the Textile
Program have been very interested in the
effects of using palm oil. Their teachers
had attended a lecture held by Swedish
nature photographer Mattias Klum, and
passing on the information about the issue to the students, the students’ interest
was aroused.
the environmental council then tried to
arrange for Mattias Klum to lecture at the
school, but did not succeed. Instead, that
led to the school establishing a contact
with Malmö Museum – a contact that in
its turn has led to a future cooperation
22 the keep sweden tidy foundation – school and preschool/inspiration
between the school and Malmö Museum
around different environmental themes.
“We have been thinking about maybe
having Water resources as our next theme,”
says Olle. If so, we have discussed with the
museum that they can bring the students to
a number of showings and then the students,
together with the museum pedagogues, can
create an exhibition on the theme.
The students prepare
meals for 1.300 guests
every day.
However, it is not decided whether Water resources will be the next theme. In
the true spirit of Eco-Schools, the whole
school elects the theme together, which
means that one or two representatives
from each class, along with the Environmental Council, will elect the theme on a
big meeting.
“We will have to book the lecture hall
when it’s time for the election,” says Olle.
After eleven years with the Eco-Schools
programme, the school has good working
routines, but to Olle, the Keep Sweden
Tidy Foundation’s website within the
Com-U project still is a great help to get
inspiration and ideas regarding the work.
“It gets a lot easier to go to the website
and check what others have done – it’s a
great help,” says Olle.
the educations within the Com-U project
that the Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation
has provided, has also helped the school
to proceed with their work.
The school has received a lot of attention for its sustainability work, for example; the school has been awarded with
the Valfrid Paulsson Environmental Prize,
the Edberg Environmental Prize, and the
environmental prize of the Department
of education.
The school has also welcomed guests
from far way away, for example from
China, that have come to study their sustainability work.
“We are of course thrilled to get attention for what we are doing,” says Olle.
“We are proud of our work and our
school, and we are convinced that our
genuine work with sustainability at the
school also attracts students to our programmes.” a
“Among other things, we have
changed our purchase system, making it easier to order ecological
products.”
olle bredin, contact person for the eco-schools programme, the
restaurant programme, frans suell upper secondary school.
school and preschool/inspiration – the keep sweden tidy foundation 23
Composting It is a sunny day, and the garden plots are thriving outside of the school Pilgrimsskolan in
Aspudden in the south of Stockholm. Some of the pupils are picking weeds in the plots at
the front yard, and there is a frantic activity in the corner where the compost bins are.
TEXT AND PHOTO KATARINA HELLBERG
the pupils help each other to scrape today’s food waste down the bins. Macaroni, sandwiches, pieces of fish and a few
potatoes go into the bin.
“I find the compost disgusting, but exciting too,” says Masha. “It’s cool, because
I have never seen the inside of compost
before. There are insects in it.”
This semester’s last meeting of the
Eco-Committee has just finished and the
participants have gathered around the
compost bins at the yard. During the past
school year, a representative from each
class and two teachers have held meetings
more or less once a month.
One of the goals within their work with
the Eco-Schools programme has been
to look at the composting and find out
how much food waste there is left from
lunch and afternoon snack. Scales were
acquired and the class representatives of
the Environmental Council taught their
classmates how to weigh.
“what’s really the point with weighing
food waste?” physical education teacher
Susanne Ebers asks.
“To see how much we throw away.”
Masha answers.
“And if we need more compost
bins,”Adam adds.
Consideration of environmental cycles is important at our school,” says the
school’s administrator and supervisor Annika Piirimets. The food waste is put in
the compost, where it molders and turns
into soil that is put on the plots. In the
soil we grow vegetables that the school
cook will prepare for us to eat. That way
we have created an environmental cycle
that we can follow and examine.
“The way I think of Eco-Schools is
as a tool that brings our environmental
work forward”, Annika explains. “How
do we move on from here? How do we
get better? You have to think like that
all the time, and that’s where the EcoSchools programme enters the picture.
We do think about the environment in
many different ways at this school, but
Eco-Schools is what brings us forward.
We get everything down on paper, an action plan and then – bang – something
concrete comes from it. It’s a tool that
somehow speeds up what we are doing.”
Susanne Ebers adds:
“Another positive thing is the frames
that the Eco-Schools programme has
given us on how to carry out the environmental work, like for example with
the Environmental Council. The teachers have decided the objectives, but the
children decided what kind of activities
there would be.”
In the front yard, right next to the
school building, there are several plots
where potatoes, pumpkins, carrots, radish
and flowers are growing. Salma, Fabian,
and Kasper are sitting by one of the plots
picking weeds.
“It is fun to see the things we have
planted grow and become flowers and
potatoes and things like that. But it takes
a long time of course,” says Kasper.
“Here we grow chewing gum, come
take a look over here,” Eva Östman calls.
The children race there.
“That’s right, it’s mint, it tastes like
chewing gum,” says Salma. “Mmmm, it
smells so good!” a
24 the keep sweden tidy foundation – school and preschool/inspiration
Facts/Pilgrimsskolan
Location: Hägersten
Municipality: the Municipality of
Stockholm
Type of school: Compulsory
school, age 6–11
Number of pupils: 120
Number of years with EcoSchools: 1
and growing
Chewing Gum
Theme/Environmental cycles
The schools work with, for example: natural cycles,
reuse, recycling and cultivation
Through their work, the schools and preschools
help obtaining: the Swedish Environmental Quality
Objectives: A varied Agricultural Landscape, A Rich
Diversity of Plant and Animal Life, Flourishing Lakes
and Streams, Sustainable Forests, Thriving Wetlands.
EU environmental policy: Nature and biodiversity,
Environment and health, Natural resources and
waste.
school and preschool/inspiration – the keep sweden tidy foundation 25
the school has a key role in our society’s ability
to change towards sustainable development and
towards a more climate wise and energy efficient
society. But how do you teach climate and energy
in a good way? Our conclusion was that what the
teachers wanted was a guide that gave advice both
on teaching methods and existing teaching material. The Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation, together
with the Swedish Energy Agency, carried out a
survey in which teachers throughout the country
were asked about their needs. In conclusion, the
teachers expressed the need for teaching material, further education, and methods for teaching
climate and energy. They requested material that
is available on the internet, and that has a flexible structure so that the teachers can use it the
way they prefer. The teachers also want teaching
material that rouses the interest and the commitment of the students. Based on these requests, the
Foundation and the Swedish Energy Agency have
created a guide that works as a main thread in
teaching climate and energy. We give advice on
different types of teaching material such as books,
booklets, web based material and films. The guide
is based on the Eco-Schools way of work and has
examples of objectives and activities and how to
link the activities to the Lgr 11, Curriculum for
the compulsory school, preschool class and the
leisure-time center 2011.
the bogesund school in Ulricehamn has used the
guide to formulate their objectives in the EcoSchools programme within the theme Climate and
energy. They chose the guide because of the links
to the new curriculum, Lgr 11.
“This spring, when we will focus on the implementation of Lgr11, the guide’s way to work with
Climate and energy will make that work easier and
more concrete,” Solveig Ljunghager, teacher at the
Bogesund School, believes.
“Teachers spend an enormous amount of time
trying to find good material, so guides like this one
can save us a lot of time,” says Solveig.
“Then you still want to do things your own way,
but it is important to be inspired and get suggestions on concrete activities.”
“Another good thing is that when you use a
guide like this from a source you trust, it also gives
you quality assurance.”
ILLUSTRATION: GRO PLAY AND DESIGN
Your Guide to
Energy & Climate
9.000 Jigsaw Puzzles
within the frames of the Com-U project, the Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation in
cooperation with Gro Play and Design and PostkodLotteriet (People’s Postcode
Lottery) have created a material consisting of a puzzle and an instruction packed
with experiments, games and creative activities. The purpose is to work with issues
such as littering, recycling, reuse and the Right of Public Access in a way that is
concrete and fun. The activities encourage outdoor teaching and are linked to the
revised curriculum for the preschool.
In the material we get to follow the Lightning Patrol – a group of kids that have
formed a secret club. The children are very good at all sorts of things and together
they solve tricky problems and help people, plants and animals.
the jigsaw puzzle was sent to all the preschools that signed up for the National
Litter Picking-days 2011. Since there was nearly 4.000 preschools participating,
and many of them got several jigsaw puzzles for their different units, in all, many
thousands of jigsaw puzzles were sent.
A couple of months later, the Foundation asked all the preschools what they
thought about the material and how they had used it. The response was fantastic.
86 percent of those who had received the material had actually used it, most of them
(95 percent) were also able to use it within the frames of the pedagogical activity.
Voices on the material:
had great
“Yes, we have
parents, tellresponse from
mmitted their
ing us how co
l
environmenta
children are to
e
th
at
th
y tell us
questions. The
e
ak
m
ying to
children are tr
t on the train.
ge
s
nt
their pare
ly
that particular
Many express
ol
tr
Pa
ightning
forming the L
t
ildren find mos
ch
e
is what th
exciting.”
Text: Lisa Adelsköld
26 the keep sweden tidy foundation – school and preschool/inspiration
“A very good
guide. We are
impressed wit
h the range of
the
material, and
will use it for
a
long time. Chi
ldren and staf
f at
our preschool
have also form
ed
a Lightning Pa
trol.”
Nature Schools
Important Partners
The cooperation with regionthe EU environmental polial coordinators from Nature
cy. The information simply
has spread.
Schools throughout the country
has been one of the most important success factors for the Comthe five national conferU project.
ences attended by all the
During these three years, they
regional coordinators have
have supported the teachers,
been very rewarding. The
from preschool to upper seccoordinators have strengthondary school, in their work Riitta Carlström
ened their own networks
with sustainable development and the and the conferences have become a platform for knowledge exchange.
EU environmental policy.
The Nature Schools have been exThe possibility to reach so many teachtremely important as an inspiration to the ers, thanks to the support from the EU
teachers. Riitta Carlström from NAVET and the Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation,
describes the thoughts behind the meet- has been another advantage.
ings they arrange for teachers: “By using different ‘eye-openers’ to show how
amazing life is, we hope to plant a seed Facts: The Swedish Nature School Asthat can grow into commitment to a sus- sociation is a network of Nature Schools,
using outdoor pedagogics as a method to
tainable future.”
“the inspirational meetings should not
be too formal, she continues. We don’t
want to get stuck in the steering documents, even though we want to show how
everything is connected and what role the
school and preschool has.”
Riitta thinks the project has been invaluable. The two hour long inspirational
meetings with all the school or preschool
staff has been a successful concept. Additionally, the venture has created resonance; towards the end of the project, she
has noticed that teachers on other courses,
that have nothing to do with the project,
have started to requested information
about sustainable development and about
made us
“It is good, it
a little bit
teachers think
vironmental
extra about en
d with a
questions. Goo
r material.
simple and clea
ne or little
Easy to use, no
needed to be
planning was
e material.”
able to use th
work with the objectives of the curriculum. It also aims to give children and
teachers a feeling for nature, outdoor
experience, and to contribute to public
health and sustainable development. Today there are around 90 Nature Schools
in Sweden.
The Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation has
cooperated with 20 Nature Schools and
similar partners. Together they have held
almost 700 courses for teachers during
the course of the project.
Text: Eléonore Elfström Fauré
Photo: Borås Energi and miljö
“The guide ha
s been awesom
e! We’ve really
gotten started
with for exam
ple recycling
and litter pick
ing, and the ch
ildren are so
attentive whe
n we go out fo
r a walk. There
are lots of disc
ussions about
what happens when we
litter, and the
children bring
the discussion
s home too. T
he interest for
animals and na
ture has increa
sed. Very good
setup, linked to
the revised cu
rriculum.”
3 Films
to encourage children, youth and adults
to get involved with environmental issues,
we need to communicate through many different channels; everything from web based
material to traditional textbooks. When
the Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation asked
a large number of teachers what kind of
teaching material they wanted, a majority
of them answered that they wanted material they could get from the web, and that
makes classroom teaching fun and varied.
They also want material that arouses the
interest and the engagement of the pupils.
With that in mind, the Foundation has
created three films aimed to support and
inspire schools and preschools in their environmental and sustainability work. The
films are available on YouTube and can be
used freely for teaching, or to be watched
at home.
the first film, the one we refer to as “the
Inspirational film”, is meant to create a
feeling of community, and to let us know
that there is already a young environmental
movement struggling for a more sustainable
society. Just tag along!
The second film, “the Information film,”
explains how to use the Eco-Schools tool in
order to achieve a structured and organized
environmental and sustainability work on
the school or preschool.
The third film “Why the Eco-Schools programme?” wishes to communicate why a
school or preschool should work with the
Eco-Schools Programme and the strongest
arguments are that by doing so, they will
reach the goals of the school or preschool
curriculum as well as national and international environmental objectives.
The films are available on www.youtube.
com/hallsverigerent and are also available
with English subtitles – feel free to use them!
They can be used, for example, at parentteacher meetings, staff meetings, or when
you want to talk about or get inspired to
work with the EU environmental policy
through the Eco-Schools programme.
school and preschool/inspiration – the keep sweden tidy foundation 27
SVERIGE PORTO BETALT B
Returadress:
Håll Sverige Rent
Box 4155
102 64 Stockholm
Join the
Eco-Schools Programme!
– The largest environmental movement in Sweden for children and youth
The Eco-Schools programme is a tool and a certification that stimulates
action competence, faith in the future and increased involvement
from children, students and school and preschool staff.
Join the Eco-Schools programme and get structure and long-term thinking
in your environmental and sustainability work. The Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation’s website
provides inspiration and support to start up or
further develop the environmental and sustainability work of your school or preschool.
Also, check out the films of the Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation at
www.youtube.com/hallsverigerent
Welcome to send your application to: www.hsr.se/skola