National Wildlife Federation Introduces Eco Schools USA

Earlier this year the National Wildlife Federation was awarded United States host status for the International Eco-School Program. Started by the UNEP in the mid 1990s and under the auspices of the Foundation for Environmental Education it now has 43 participating nations and 30,000 schools enrolled. The U.S. and China joined this year. As coordinator for Eco-Schools USA, NWF plans a September 2009 launch and will be working with environmental education, green school, and science and civics education leaders across America to blend effectively with national, state and local green school efforts.

The Eco-Schools USA program has three key for goals for America’sK-12 schools:

a) green the buildings,
b) green the grounds, and
c) greenthe curricula and student experience.

NWF anticipates many thousands of U.S. schools participating in the program in the coming years. To download a fact sheet on the new Eco-Schools USA Program please visit their interim website. In 2009-2010 NWF will be emphasizing climate education via Eco-Schools USA with the help of a generous grant from HSBC. Please visit their climate change education site featuring the free NWF curriculum for An Inconvenient Truth. Contact: Kevin Coyle