A number of Kilkenny primary schools were the proud recipients of Green Flags, at the Green School awards last week in Hotel Kilkenny .
At the ceremony, 17 schools from Kilkenny were presented with the Green Flag to mark their involvement in the Green Schools programme. The programme involves schools in learning about environmental issues and taking positive action under themes such as litter and waste, transport, energy usage, and water conservation.
Speaking the award ceremony, Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Phil Hogan praised the achievements of the programme in schools across Ireland.
“I’m a great admirer of the Green Schools Programme, which has been running in Ireland for over 14 years and has been very successful during this time,” he said.
“The programme promotes long term environmental planning for schools and encourages practical actions which can help schools to save money.”
The Minister also outlined his intention to provide additional funding in 2011 to help develop the Green Schools programme at secondary level.
“I would like to see further development of the programme for secondary schools and I propose to provide some additional funding to be used for this purpose this year. My department will be discussing this with An Taisce and other youth organisations in the coming weeks,” he said.
Over 3,500 primary and secondary schools participate in the Green Schools programme across Ireland, and over 2,300 schools have been awarded the Green Flag. Green Schools is known internationally as Eco Schools and more than 35,000 schools in over 50 countries participate in the programme. Over 10,000 have received a Green Flag.
