In 2011 three pillars for establishing green schooling were introduced when the U.S. Department of Education launched the ED-Green Ribbon Schools award programme with the aim of measuring progress of the green schools movement towards:
Reduced environmental impact
Increased health and well-being
Increased environmental and sustainability literacy for all students.

A survey was published in 2020 by the ‘SPEAKERS for schools’ charity of 1,200 young people aged 15-18, who attend state secondary schools and colleges throughout the UK. It revealed that more than half (57%) have not been given guidance on green job options at school. This survey canvassed young people’s knowledge and appetite for pursuing a green job and showed that while 63% of young people said they know what a green job is, over half (56%) aren’t sure about the required skills and qualifications to get one.

Responses to other questions in the UK-wide survey indicate that young people also deeply care about climate change and sustainability in the context of employment, with 85% of respondents stating they care about an organisation’s carbon footprint and over a third (36%) planning to research an organisation’s green credentials before applying for a job.

There is clearly a continuity gap between green schooling, lifelong learning to be part of a green circular economy and green skilling for jobs in a circular economy.
A green school is about more than curriculum and more than bricks and mortar. It’s a school that supports global sustainability in every way. A green school begins with the future in mind, designing a learning experience for students that will prepare them to lead the world toward a healthier, cleaner, more equitable way of life. It follows a syllabus that uses the community served by the school as an outdoor laboratory to study the problems of poverty, hunger, resource consumption and the deterioration of ecosystems. The UN’s Local Agenda 21 and the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals provide an educational format for this to happen. The aim is for schools to help their communities detail an action plan for their sustainable development, working towards targets for actions that target future prosperity and environmental protection.

The following ten questions define the development of common measures for the green schools movement. When all answers are in the affirmative, students should have the momentum, through a year on year pedagogial thread of conservation management, to move smoothly into the green jobs market.

(1) Is your school part of the international Eco-Schools programme?

(2) Has your school taken part in any national campaigns or awards such as Plastic Free Schools, Kids Against Plastic, or the RSPB Big Schools Bird Watch?

(3) Does the footer on your school website include logos for any environmental campaigns and organisation such as WWF or Forest Schools?

(4) Does your school have a student council which initiates and directs student activities, and helps share students' ideas, interests and concerns, particularly those involving green issues?

(5) Does your school take part in a green skills community letter-writing challenge, writing and sending a formal letter to lobby either a local MP, Councilor or employer to do more to support the growth of green skills and green jobs in your area?

(6) Does your school know about the ‘Speakers for Schools’ program, which helps schools organise talks from today’s influential environmental activists?

(7) Does your school help the community it serves to make environmental improvements?

(8) Does your school use local nature reserves as educational resources?

(9) Does your school have a substantial area in the curriculum for the year on year practical study of conservation management systems?

(10) Does your school make action plans to help safeguard its community’s heritage of history and biodiversity?

https://www.speakersforschools.org/news/latest-green-skills-survey-reve…

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