Richard Yelland, Head of the Education Management and Infrastructure Division (Directorate for Education), at the international conference entitled "Sustainable School Buildings: From Concept to Reality" held in Ljubljana, Slovenia on 1-2 October 2009
In striving to create sustainable school facilities, policy makers, educators and facility planners are charged with the responsibility to not only ensure that schools are safe, healthy and accessible, but also that they are "green". The challenge in guaranteeing sustainability in schools rests in co-ordinating conflicting governmental policies, design philosophies and dynamic pedagogies. Facilitating progress in the provision of sustainable schools at the pre-primary, primary and secondary levels necessitates a collective response and enacting more integrated and coherent reforms.
1-2 October 2009, International Conference on "Sustainable School Buildings: From Concept to Reality", Ljubljana, Slovenia, co-organised by OECD/CELE and the Ministry of Education and Sport, Slovenia: conference summary, website, conference programme, summary
Green PEB Exchange, No. 61 (October 2007): Japan's Eco-School Programme; School Buildings in Greece: The Bioclimatic Challenge and a Photovoltaic Pilot Project; Using Minimum Energy in Ireland’s schools; Sustainability Actions in Australia; Green Buildings in Use: Post Occupancy Evaluations; Lessons Learned in the United Kingdom
Green at Fifteen?: How 15-Year-Olds Perform in Environmental Science and Geoscience in PISA 2006, The school building as a teacher.
Perspectives on sustainable school buildings
Interviews with participants from the international conference on "Sustainable School Buildings: From Concept to Reality." Discuss the value of exchanging information, the challenges encountered when building sustainable schools and the client/architecture process to creating sustainable schools.
Green Growth Strategy
Educational building programmes are at the forefront of “green growth” in many OECD member countries. Many stimulus packages include strategies for developing or renovating school buildings and using them to address the challenges of climate change through better energy performance, as well as the use of energy and materials from renewable sources.
The “Green Growth Declaration” agreed to by all 30 OECD member countries plus Chile, Estonia, Israel and Slovenia on 24-25 June 2009, commits countries to pursuing green growth strategies in response to the current crisis. It not only encourages green investment and the sustainable management of natural resources but also domestic policy reform aiming to avoid or remove environmentally harmful policies. This commitment recognises that economic growth can be achieved using cleaner technologies while maintaining low-carbon emissions. As governments continue to draft and adopt policies in stimulus packages, strategies emphasise “green growth” not only as a means to address climate change and other environmental challenges, but also to sustain economic growth. In the context of school facilities, this could mean encouraging natural resource conservation, reducing carbon emissions and heightening students' awareness of their engagement with the natural environment.
The Centre for Effective Learning Environments is focusing on “green growth” through policy analysis, strategies and practices that address climate change and the effective use of resources across all types of educational facilities.
