The Eco-Schools Program. Sustainability education and the National Curriculum in Iceland
Katrín Magnúsdóttir
Landvernd, Icelandic Environment Association, http://landvernd.is
My final project in the course was writing a book for schools participating in the Eco-Schools program in Iceland
The Eco-Schools program is an environmental award for educational institutions that focuses on empowering students to make changes towards sustainability within their institution.
The main aim of the book I wrote is to explain how the Eco-Schools program can be used to help schools to implement the National Curriculum for all school levels in Iceland (pre-, primary, secondary and upper secondary schools). The National Curriculum is based on six fundamental pillars, one of them being sustainability. The other five, equality; democracy and human rights; health and welfare; literacy, and creativity, are also central to the Eco-Schools project and a vital part of sustainability. The book explains how schools can involve the fundamental pillars of the National Curriculum by participating in the Eco-Schools program. Furthermore, the book explains the aims of the Eco-Schools program and how it should be implemented within the schools. It also gives a short overview over sustainability education and action competence. Each of the twelve themes that schools can choose between in the program are then explained, examples are given of school projects that schools can work on within the program as well as live stories from schools that are participating in the program.
The book is decorated with illustrations made by Ari H.G. Yates. The theme character in the illustrations is a fox who has become the mascot of the Eco-Schools program in Iceland. The fox was chosen as it was the only terrestrial mammal living in Iceland before the first human settlers.
The book is was published online by Landvernd, Icelandic Environment Association, in February 2017 and can be viewed here. The book is only available in Icelandic.
