It came about after staff and students wanted to take action reflecting sustainability priorities of their school, which formed ‘Terra Tomodachi’ — the school’s action team.
“Congratulations to all the schools that entered this year’s awards, and for showcasing your incredible achievements, your sustainable thinking and action show that our future is in very good hands,” state Member for Northern Victoria Mark Gepp said.
Using data from a survey of nearly 2000 students and staff, the project team saw waste management as the top concern, and found improvement opportunities to introduce to the school.
They demonstrated the power of student-led initiatives from starting sustainability action plans, auditing resources at home and school, uniform repair workshops, environmental film festivals and building a butterfly garden.
“Climate empowerment starts in the classroom; we’re celebrating students, teachers and schools who are learning and acting, inspiring contributions to our goal of net-zero by 2050,” Energy, Environment and Climate Change Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said.
The new award, Emerging School of the Year, will acknowledge schools that started their sustainability journey from July 2019 onwards.
From this year’s finalists, one school will be recognised as the overall winner of the ResourceSmart School of the Year.
Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony at the MCG on June 2 ahead of World Environment Day.
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