EkoSkola Malta

Green Flag Awards Ceremony 2019

Whilst the country’s political leaders were busily engrossed debating who was the first to table the Climate Action Bill at parliament, thousands of Maltese students participating in EkoSkola have been busy working at will for the past 17 years to try to mitigate and adapt to the realities of the unimpeded climate change effects and other issues that affect our quality of life.

In a ceremony presided over by the President of Malta, H.E. Dr George Vella at San Ġorġ Preca College, Guardian Angel Secondary Education Resource Centre, Ħamrun, a total of 36 schools received recognition for bringing a marked positive change in their school communities. Maria Regina College Naxxar Middle School, St Margaret College Senglea Primary School and St Margaret College Vittoriosa Primary School were awarded the prestigious international Green Flag Award for the first time. St Benedict College, Żurrieq Primary School and St Clare College, San Ġwann Primary School have received the 7^th consecutive Green Flag. The number of schools flying the Green Flag in the Maltese islands is now 76.

Recognised by UNESCO as a world-leader within the fields of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and formally acknowledged as the largest international ESD network of teachers and students in the world, the Eco-Schools programme is now a well-established programme locally. The programme is not solely about promoting the care and protection of our environment, but also of the people who live in it, the communities who depend on it, the businesses who profit from it and the ecosystems which rely on it.

This student-led whole school approach methodology is not only an opportunity to assist in the holistic development of the child but is also serving to meet international commitments our island nation has as signatories to various treaties and conventions, not least the UN’s 17 SDGs – Sustainable Development Goals. Students investigate issues pertaining to these goals and take informed decisions to try and address them in the best way they can at the school level, at the community level and also at the national level.

In his opening remarks, Mr Vincent Attard Executive President of Nature Trust FEE Malta said ‘The Eco-Schools programme is instrumental at providing students with tools to think on environmental issues and come to conclusions and solutions. This can be witnessed on how today it is the younger generations that are questioning country leaders’ actions mounting pressure on them. This awareness is growing each year and the sooner leaders take heed of these calls the faster we would start mitigating not only environmentally but also socially and economically. Quoting the children themselves in the last EkoSkola parliament -We want to be heard not just liked’.