Bay Tree Design's EcoSchool Design®

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Key Organizations Working to make the World's Schoolyards Greener

Many organizations around the world are working to make schoolyards greener. Some of them have national and international programs that address this issue on a large scale, while others are focused on their own local city, state, or region. Many of these organizations produce written materials and guidebooks that are designed to help schools start their own greening processes.

The list of "schoolyard greening organizations" below, arranged by country, includes some of the organizations that I have found most useful in my own research. The second list, "environmental education organizations," presents additional groups that are working toward a broader environmental education mission.

Please contact the webmaster if you know of additional organizations that should be added to this page. Thanks! sharon@ecoschools.com

Schoolyard Greening Organizations

*Resource Title*	*Description*	*Location*
The School Learnscapes Trust	"A non-profit organization dedicated to helping schools develop their grounds for learning."	Australia
Evergreen	Canadian national non-profit organization with "a mandate to bring nature to our cities through naturalization projects." Evergreen's Learning Grounds program applies this idea to school grounds. They have written a number of excellent publications that are available through this website.	Canada
Green Teacher Magazine	"Green Teacher is a magazine by and for educators to enhance environmental and global education across the curriculum at all grade levels." The magazine is produced four times per year and some back issues are archived on their website. Many articles focus on school grounds.	Canada
Greening Canada's School Grounds, Tree Canada Foundation	This program that seeks to improve school grounds by planting trees and other greening methods.	Canada
Greening Schoolgrounds, Wild Bird Trust of British Columbia	A program of the Wild Bird Trust of British Columbia, working to make BC's school grounds greener.	British Columbia, Canada
Nova Scotia Model Schools Project, Ecology Action Centre	"The Model Schools Project aims to restore habitats; to develop local communities; and to enhance the health of school children within the province of Nova Scotia by naturalizing school grounds through a collaborative and multi-sectoral approach."	Nova Scotia, Canada
School Grounds Transformation, Canadian Biodiversity Institute	"The Canadian Biodiversity Institute helps schools transform their grounds into stimulating, biologically-diverse outdoor classrooms and healthy enjoyable play and social spaces...by developing demonstration school sites, providing comprehensive how-to materials, offering expert advice and training, and facilitating networking."	Canada
Eco-Schools	Eco-Schools is a green school grounds program run by the Foundation for Environmental Education, a European organization with branches in 21 countries.	Europe
Children's Landscape	Website with excellent content, links and photographs from projects around the world.	Norway
Living School	A green school demonstration project sponsored by the Agricultural Univ. of Norway and the National Gardening Society.	Norway
The Association of Nature Schools in Sweden	An organization that coordinates the work of the 70 nature schools in Sweden, focused on outdoor education	Sweden
Naturskolan in Lund	"Naturskolan encourages schools in and around Lund, Sweden to study the natural world in the classroom, the school grounds, the local community and on the county and international levels."	Lund, Sweden
Skapande Uterum	Organization devoted to greening school grounds in Sweden. (Website is in Swedish)	Sweden
Eco-Schools, UK	Branch of the larger European Eco-School organization	United Kingdom
Learning through Landscapes	LTL is a large, nonprofit membership organization that is working to improve school grounds in the UK. They encourage schools to develop multifaceted outdoor teaching resources, and have written many excellent publications that are available through the website.	United Kingdom
Center for Environmental Education of Antioch New England Institute	CEE's mission is to create greener K-12 schools and communities through its online resource center and programs with individual schools in New England (north eastern USA).	USA
Kidsgardening, National Gardening Association	Promotes green schoolyards while concentrating mainly on school gardens and composting	USA
National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities	NCEF's website lists resource "links, books, and journal articles on the design, construction, and maintenance of school grounds."	USA
Natural Learning Initiative, North Carolina State University, College of Design	Organization helps communities to create exciting places for children to play and learn. Emphasis on environmental education and outdoor learning environments. Program director: Prof. Robin Moore.	USA
Schoolyard Wildlife Habitats, National Wildlife Federation	Promotes green schoolyards while concentrating mainly on schoolyard wildlife habitats	USA
Boston Schoolyard Initiative	Promotes green schoolyards in Boston, Massachusetts, using a participatory planning process	Boston, Massachusetts, USA
San Francisco Green Schoolyard Alliance	Coalition of organizations in San Francisco, California working to make the city's schoolyards greener. Related websites: 1, 2	San Francisco, California, USA
D.C. Schoolyard Greening Consortium	"The D.C. Schoolyard Greening Consortium (SGC) is a group of nonprofit organizations, government agencies, teachers, and concerned individuals interested in green spaces at schools and expanding the outdoor educational opportunities for Washington, D.C. students. The mission of the D.C. Schoolyard Greening Consortium is to increase and improve schoolyard green spaces to promote ecological literacy and environmental stewardship among students, teachers, parents and the surrounding community."	Washington, DC, USA

Environmental Education Organizations

*School Name*	*Project Title*	*Location*
Environment and School Initiatives	A network of environmental education organizations in Europe	Europe
North American Association for Environmental Education	A network of professionals and students in North America; hosts annual conferences, publishes related works, etc.	North America
EE-Link	EE-Link is a collection of environmental education-related resources on the internet, and is a project of the North American Association for Environmental Education.	North America