Create a project

You are probably already doing things at your school that reflect the teachers’ and students’ interest in caring for the environment and defending a decent life for everyone. Now the time has come to go one step further and make a school-wide commitment to making progress in education for sustainability as part of a structured process of action and reflection that will make your school a More Sustainable School.

More Sustainable Schools projects speak to the wish to make significant changes to achieve sustainability. These transformations may be large or small, aimed at the whole school or focussing on a specific element.

The tool used to submit the project and the report is the “Project Editor” application.

Project

Projects under the More Sustainable Schools programme involve planning the transformation of one or more aspects of a school to make it more sustainable. In order for these projects to last over time, they should ideally be integrated into both the school curriculum and the school’s educational vision. The aims and methods, which players will be involved, the decision-making approach, the initiatives to be carried out and the way they will be assessed are decided by the school itself. Drafting the project is an opportunity to analyse the starting point, set new goals and learn both from achieving them and, above all, from the process involved in attaining them.

Report

The More Sustainable Schools report is a document that sets out the entire process followed throughout the project. It includes an in-depth reflection on the process, the lessons learned, the challenges that have been overcome and any aspects for improvement in future projects.

The project and the report are written using the “Project editor” web application
- One-year initial projects or improvement projects: This is the option available to new schools that have only recently joined the network and to those that want to make further progress in the field of sustainability by making improvements to a project they have already started. An improvement is any change made to a previous project.
- Three-year projects: This option is only available to schools that have been members of the network for at least three years and that have completed the specific training on three-year projects. A three-year project involves an in-depth reflection on the progress made in order to set new long-term goals. All sections of the project editor must be reviewed, updated and/or completed.
- If you would like to receive financial support:
  For schools wishing to receive financial support, the deadline for submitting the project is linked to the call for applications. The application period is open until 12 of july. Find out more about the procedure and all the deadlines in the section on “Financial support”.
- If you are not applying for financial support:
  Projects for which no financial support is being requested must be submitted by 15 September of the school year in which the project starts. Drafting the project is mandatory for schools wishing to join the More Sustainable Schools network.
The report is submitted at the end of the school year, before the new project is drafted.
The More Sustainable Schools “Let's Get to Work!” guide may help you design your project. You may find the following sections particularly useful:
04. In what areas can we take action to make our school more sustainable?
05. Shall we get started?
- The first project
- The five stages of development of the project

You will also find interviews on the experiences of schools in the More Sustainable Schools network, as well as news from the newsletter, in the section on “Schools in action”!

Contact your designated More Sustainable Schools specialist for support and advice.