It’s our birthday and, while we have achieved significant milestones over the past six years, our celebrations are muted by the many challenges that still lie ahead.

Global heating and the environmental crisis are intensifying. Change is clearly urgent and we have so much to gain from helping to redirect our future away from insecurity, extreme weather and food shortages, towards a resilient, healthy and sustainable society. Yet, it is hard to push environmental action up the agenda where it belongs.

Still, we know most people care about environmental issues and there is plenty we can do. So we look towards our seventh year full of hope that many more people and institutions will translate concern into action as the crisis becomes increasingly hard to ignore.

Over the past six years we have achieved key milestones

Six years ago, we developed a rigorous and highly regarded accreditation system and since then we have accredited language schools from eleven different countries. Our whole-institution approach has not only helped green-minded schools expand their environmental activities but also helped guide schools at the very beginning of their sustainability journey.

We have signed agreements of cooperation with a number of national and multinational associations of language schools, who have helped boost our message.

We have given webinars and presentations to a wide audience of people from our industry, sparking essential discussions about environmental sustainability as a core part of our work.

And, thanks to a grant from the EU’s Erasmus scheme, we developed a range of environmentally focused study materials and lesson plans in English, Spanish and French. By making ready-to-use study materials freely available, we are making it easier for teachers and learners to engage with topics like biodiversity and pollution in their language classrooms.

But there is still a great deal more work to do

The picture is worsening across the globe.

Record land and sea temperatures are provoking heat waves, droughts and catastrophic floods, such as the recent disaster in Nepal. Deforestation is continuing, leading to a dramatic loss of biodiversity as well as increased climate pressures. And serious food shortages may not be far away. 

The need for serious collective action has never been more urgent, and the language teaching industry has a moral obligation to play its part.

The good news

Although the challenge is great, there is a lot we can do. 

There are all sorts of ways we can reduce the environmental impact of our activities, and Green Standard Schools is ready to provide help and advice, wherever it is needed.

From a warmup activity discussing environmental news with students, to plastic free challenges, meat free Mondays, or lowering our use of fossil fuels, our sector can be a catalyst for positive change. 

The rewards are great too: the environment is vital to our health, through clean air, safe water and nutritious food; reducing waste and improving efficiency generates financial savings; and climate literacy encourages critical thinking and gives students agency to tackle global issues.

We all want to live in a world that is healthy, stable and safe. We hope many schools and language teaching colleagues will join us in pushing for this future.

If your school is ready to take the next step, we would love to hear from you.

Six years ago, Green Standard Schools was established to help transform environmental practices in language schools and to recognise schools that are demonstrably taking environmental sustainability seriously. 

Find out more about our work.