Vila Nova de Famalicão is once again the municipality in the country with the most Eco-Schools, with 79 educational institutions awarded by the Eco-Schools programme, recognition for the work carried out in the 2023/2024 school year, with all the schools registered having their applications approved. It's a record that extends to all seven school groups in the municipality, a feat achieved for the first time since the municipality began supporting applications to the programme in 2016. For the first time, there is also a higher education institution, CESPU, which has joined the initiative and will receive the award.
The programme rewards the work done by schools to improve their environmental performance and in the area of environmental awareness/education, and the result achieved ‘validates the effort that the municipality has made to promote environmental education among the younger generations,’ points out the mayor, Mário Passos.
It should be remembered that in the last school year the municipality of Famalicão won the most eco-school awards of all the municipalities that submitted applications to the programme. This school year it has increased from 72 to 79 recognised educational institutions that will receive the award.
A school/educational institution that joins the programme undertakes to develop a set of actions and activities that involve the different elements of the school community, with a special focus on students, teachers, educational assistants, parents and the surrounding community, namely the municipality.
More than the numbers, Mário Passos emphasises the work that has been done in this area, especially by the school community, with various awareness-raising activities that instil in young people ‘this responsibility to preserve the common space where we live’.
This year, Vila Nova de Famalicão has also recognised the seven school groups in the municipality with the Eco Group distinction (two more than in the previous school year).
Eco-Schools is an Education for Sustainable Development Programme promoted in Portugal by ABAAE - Associação Bandeira Azul de Ambiente e Educação (Blue Flag Association for the Environment and Education), the Portuguese branch of the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE). Developed in Portugal since 1996, the programme is currently implemented in 2145 schools throughout the country, covering all levels of education. Its aim is to disseminate a methodology for tackling environmental issues inspired by Agenda 21.
