(An item from the ISHN Member information service) The Center for Green Schools in the USA has released its comprehensive, multi-intervention model for promoting sustainable development through schools. The Whole-School Sustainability Framework is a complement to the US Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools school recognition program criteria and a resource to guide schools in setting the cultural conditions needed to support sustainability efforts. The framework is organized into the three components of schools: organizational culture, physical place and educational program. Within these three components, there are a total of nine principles identified. The report defines each principle, gives relevant research findings (social science, business, education and building science fields), and includes a short case study of a school or district.
The release of the Whole School Sustainability Framework was accompanied by an enlightening discussion of eco-school models, beginning with a reference to the US Green Ribbon Schools. "The Green Ribbon Schools criteria are helpful in organizing all of the ideas inherent to green schools into actionable metrics. A critical point to be made alongside any discussion of Green Ribbon Schools is that these pillars are meant essentially to drive measurable outcomes. They do not directly take into account the community connectivity, social action and environmental justice values that are central to realizing these sustainable outcomes. One way to look at the utility of Green Ribbon Schools is to see it as the reporting mechanism that is supported by a deep foundation of these values. Schools must foster and support a culture of conservation and shared responsibility to accomplish the goals set out in the three pillars. Where the Green Ribbon Schools criteria guide a school’s roadmap toward sustainability by defining the ideal outcomes, the Whole-School Sustainability framework can serve as a compass to stay the course. Its components complement Green Ribbon Schools, addressing necessary foundational elements of healthy school culture and leadership."
The Center's release closes with a comment about the various green school models which can equally be applied to all school-based or school-linked models of human development. " It is often tempting to compare and contrast frameworks and systems that exist around green schools and extract their differences, looking for commonalities that would make the ‘perfect’ green schools measuring stick. Such an exercise does not accomplish what it sets out to do—and, worse, it often serves to weaken the movement around healthier, greener, more inspiring school environments. There is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ framework for a school but only the one or combination of several that works best to accomplish a school’s particular goals." Read more>>
The Center's release closes with a comment about the various green school models which can equally be applied to all school-based or school-linked models of human development. " It is often tempting to compare and contrast frameworks and systems that exist around green schools and extract their differences, looking for commonalities that would make the ‘perfect’ green schools measuring stick. Such an exercise does not accomplish what it sets out to do—and, worse, it often serves to weaken the movement around healthier, greener, more inspiring school environments. There is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ framework for a school but only the one or combination of several that works best to accomplish a school’s particular goals." Read more>>
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