One of Australia’s leaders in sustainability, Romilly Madew, will co-chair a new global network focused on building greener, healthier schools and increasing the environmental literacy of the next generation of students.
The Global Coalition for Green Schools was launched today as part of the US Green Building Council’s Greenbuild conference in Philadelphia.
The Coalition will consist of green building councils and other like-minded organisations from around the world, and will work at the grass-roots level to equip communities with the resources and support they need to transform their schools.
The Coalition’s founding co-chairs are the Green Building Council of Australia’s (GBCA’s) CEO, Romilly Madew, and the World Green Building Council’s (WorldGBC’s) CEO, Jane Henley.
“Just as investing in quality teaching and quality resources is essential, so too is investing in quality learning environments,” Madew said.
“Too many students in Australia learn in school buildings that are too cold in winter, too hot in summer, badly lit and poorly ventilated. This affects student health and learning, teacher morale and school operational costs – as well as the environment.”
Each of the 28 founding members of the Global Coalition for Green Schools will establish a national network to connect stakeholders, build partnerships and create a movement to advocate for change.
“With the support of the Global Coalition for Green Schools, we will bring the right people together to create an Australian centre for sustainable schools. This hub will share case studies and examples of great education facilities, and provide information on the range of programs and resources that already exist to teach students about sustainability,” Madew said.
The World Green Building Council (WGBC) has research showing that the classroom environment can affect a child’s academic progress over a year by as much as 25 per cent.
WGBC CEO Jane Henley said every child deserves the opportunity to attend a healthy, high-performance green school.
“By bringing together the leaders in the global green schools movement, the Global Coalition aims to ensure every child learns in a green school within this generation,” she said.
In Australia more than 120 education projects across the country – from entire schools to new university faculties – have either achieved Green Star ratings or soon will.
The GBCA recently released a report which outlines up-to-date international research and case studies which can help schools invest in better buildings and better learning outcomes. The future of Australian education: Sustainable places for learning can be downloaded from the GBCA website: www.gbca.org.au/greenschoolreport
