Environmental education initiatives

Woking Borough Council is keen to promote education of local environmental issues and of sustainable living to all ages. The following initiatives and resources may be of interest to schools, educational institutions and other groups .

Eco Schools

Eco schools is a great way to make sustainable development a part of the life and ethos of your school. Designed to fit into the curriculum, it's an award scheme that gets everyone in the school community involved in making the school environment better.

A Surrey Eco-School Support Programme has been developed that will assist schools to achieve the recognised benefits of Eco-School activity, the integration of sustainable development issues across the curriculum, the bottom line cost savings that can be made through more effective use of resources and the community benefit of a strong environmental ethos within a school. For more details about the support programme see the Surrey Eco Schools web page.

Financial Support for Schools to Become Eco Friendly

Schools, together with their pupils that wish to make a positive contribution to the environment can register to become an Eco School. Once registered as an Eco School, schools will be part of an international group of schools working towards education for sustainable development and a better quality of life for local and global communities and will be eligible to apply for funding of to help them progress through the programme.  In England, grants of £5,000 are available to allow positive change and development within a school. Priority is given to projects that clearly demonstrate an energy efficiency element or identify technology solutions to environmental improvements.  See www.eco-schools.org.uk/.

Environmental Health Promotions

Woking Borough Council's Environmental Health Service organise a range of activities throughout the year to educate and raise awareness of local Environmental Health Issues. Initiatives range from the popular 'Dog of the Year' competition, to 'Roadside Vehicle Emissons Testing'. For further details of upcoming promotions, see the Environmental Health web pages.

Waste and Recycling educational resources

A comprehensive range of educational resources have been developed by Surrey Waste Management, aiming to assist teachers at both primary and secondary schools in educating pupils about waste management and recycling issues. Materials include lesson plans, ideas for assemblies, fact sheets and classroom activities. It may also be possible for someone to visit a school and give talks about waste related subjects. For full details of the support that is available to schools, email surrey.waste@sita.co.uk.

Environmental Education Directory

A comprehensive environmental reference guide produced by Woking Borough Council in response to requests from local teachers.

Features include:

  • Local sites of interest
  • Local and national educational contacts
  • Possible sources of funding
  • Local speakers
  • Information on Environmental Management

The directory was printed and distributed to schools across the Woking Borough. For more details or for a photo-copy email la21@woking.gov.uk.

Further information

For more details on these initiatives, contact

Woking Borough Council

Civic Offices
Gloucester Square
Woking
Surrey
GU21 6YL

Telephone: 01483 755 855
email: wokbc@woking.gov.uk