Eco-Education through School Eco-Renovation

Copyright Kuromatsunai Junior High School (After Eco-Renovation)

Ten schools have been chosen by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment as targets in its three-year Ecoflow Project, in which ecology-conscious school building renovations function as environmental education material for teachers, building engineers and local residents, the ministry announced on August 29, 2005. The project aims to develop ecology-conscious architects, impart environmental knowledge to teachers and residents, and educate children on environmental issues through ecology-conscious renovation of school buildings. The ministry plans to make the project a model for future school renovations.

The project will be carried out by two study groups to be formed in the local government that supervises each model school. One will be an eco-school building study group to provide building engineers with technological knowledge about environment-friendly school buildings, and the other will be an eco-education study group to carry out eco-education for students and residents in the district. Building engineers, teachers, academic researchers, community residents, and members of non-profit organizations are invited to participate in these groups to formulate basic plans for renovations and draw up programs for environmental education.

The ministry conducted a feasibility study at elementary schools in Tokyo in fiscal 2004 prior to adopting this project. The eco-school building study group held workshops and organized a school-visit tour, all of which proved effective for raising participants' awareness and motivating them to utilize their experiences not just in their jobs but at their homes. The eco-education study group also elicited a good response that suggested the educational effect would spread from the school to homes. Parents showed interest in their children's summer vacation assignment of preparing a report on the topic of "how to feel cool in the summer heat."

In the expectation that increasing numbers of participants will share their learning and thinking, the project aims to encourage participants to use the knowledge they acquire in their own lives, and thus contribute to the growth of an eco-conscious community in the district.


- Ministry Promotes School Eco-Renovation/Education Project (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/db/796-e
- Environment Ministry to Train Engineers in School Eco-Renovation (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/db/898-e

Posted: 2006/03/30 09:12:23 PM
Japanese version