Eco-Schools Scotland is a whole school, pupil-led approach to Learning for Sustainability. This programme has an established methodology for empowering young people to engage with local communities and improve our environment.

By fulfilling the seven Award Criteria, your school can achieve the internationally recognised Green Flag Award and join others in guiding the next generation to lead by example!

The programme includes 10 Topics to choose from during the process. To help facilitate schools in their Eco-School journey, we have summarised resources for each Topic below. These can be used by schools or youth groups to learn about climate change related issues and inspire action for change!

We live in a world rich with biodiversity and interconnected ecosystems that keep our planet healthy. But did you know that we are in the midst of a nature emergency caused by human activity? Use the resources below to learn about nature's importance and what you can do to help enhance biodiversity in your local area.

Recommended Learning Materials:

Our Planet is a series hosted by David Attenborough that teaches about the wonders of the natural world and how habitats are intricately linked around our planet. The website provides resources for schools and young people, including education packs and activities linked to the series.

To learn about Scotland's natural environment, NatureScot, the Scottish Wildlife Trust and Perth and Kinross Countryside Trust all provide excellent resources, including some curriculum-linked activities as well as project inspiration.

Suggested Actions:

Investigate and boost biodiversity in your school grounds or local greenspace using Natural Nations Surveys! This project has developed accessible surveys covering habitats, birds, minibeasts and pollinators.

Citizen science is key to delivering conservation work in Scotland. NatureScot has listed a range of citizen science projects your eco-group can get involved with to help expand our knowledge of Scotland's natural environment.

If you are looking for a more advanced activity, you can organise and deliver an Our Planet’s Future Summit workshop. Over the course of two hours, your group will take on the roles of ‘World Leaders’ and ‘Our Planet Experts’ to roleplay an international summit aimed at defining a sustainable future for our planet.

Climate Action is required at all levels if we are to address the crisis and create sustainable places to live. It is important to have an awareness of the causes and impacts of climate change so we know how to reduce our carbon footprints. Then we can inspire others to do the same!

Recommend Learning Materials:

Register for a Climate Ready Classroom session delivered by Keep Scotland Beautiful to receive carbon literacy training for your class.

NASA Climate Kids website provides answers to some of the big questions on climate change that is accessible to children.

WWF's Climate Change Resources include a range of curriculum linked resources and activities to explore issues surrounding the climate crisis and inspire meaningful engagement.

Sustainability First has curriculum-linked workshops for Primary and Secondary year groups that explore the climate crisis and ways to take action against the climate emergency.

The European Space Agency's Climate Change Initiative has provided Climate for Schools Teaching Resource Packs for all age groups.

The Met Office has produced a lesson plan aimed at 7-11 year olds exploring climate impacts.

TROP ICSU provides climate change education across the curricula with excellent resources across a range of climate topics.

UN CC:Learn provides guidance and quality learning resources to support people understand, adapt, and build resilience to climate change.

Suggested Actions:

Use the WWF Footprint Calculator to learn more about your environmental footprint and come up with ideas on how to reduce your impact. Try finding creative ways to share what you have learned with others! For example, making posters or infographics are a quick and easy way to share information.

Write to your Local Councillor, MSP and/or MP to have your voices heard! The #GetOnWithIt toolkit can help young people develop ideas that will get the attention of decision-makers.

The Climate Café® movement started in Perth and Kinross and has taken off in communities all around the world! Check the map to find your local Café and get involved in local conversations, or try starting your own Climate Café®.

The European Space Agency's Climate Detective is a project schools can participate in to investigate a local problem related to environment and climate, then come up with solution to act on their findings. Both primary and secondary schools can participate to earn certificates of participation.

Looking for a challenge? The World Climate Simulation is a role-playing game that gives participants the chance to experience mock UN climate change negotiations. (Recommended 16-18yrs)

Energy is a leading cause of climate change due to the burning of fossil fuels we have historically used to produce it. We use energy every day to light, heat, and power our buildings. The resources below will help build an understanding of the different sources of energy and what we can do to be more energy efficient.

Recommended Learning Material:

The Pod's Energy Information Pack provides all you need to introduce the topic of energy and sustainability.

Sustainability First's Sparking Conversation Workshop explores energy and the climate crisis. This introduction helps us understand our journey from fossil fuel dependence to renewable energy in the UK.

For information on energy in Scotland, Scotland's Environment website provides a range of resources for all age groups.

This Wind Power Challenge is an interactive activity to get your group thinking about how we use electricity and the potential of renewable energy generation to address climate change.

Suggested Actions:

Have your group run an annual campaign for Earth Hour in the school, at home, and in the community. Gather pledges, and don’t forget to submit them on the Earth Hour website so they are included in the global count! You can keep a record each year to see how far your reach goes in the community.

Sign your school up for The Pod's Switch Off Fortnight to find out how to inspire your students to save energy at school and home. You will gain access to the Pod Energy Saving Dashboard so you can measure the school's energy savings.

Use the Energy Audit Sheet before and after running an energy-saving campaign to measure your impact.

Food Education is important to develop an understanding of how the way we grow, process, and transport food can impact our health, environment, and climate change.

Recommended Learning Material:

Education Scotland's Food Education webpage provides excellent resources to get you started.

There are several BBC Bitesize modules that cover the topic of food in relation to health and environmental sustainability.

The WWF has developed Food Growing Resources to help get pupils aged 5-11 started with growing guides and fun activities for the classroom!

Food Mission provides a resource pack aimed at creating awareness of food issues relating to sustainability, health, and food science communication.

Foodeducators provide a range of materials to help your group learn about the relationship between food, health, and environment.

Suggested Actions:

Host a One Planet Picnic to get your group and even the local community involved in the conversation about healthy and sustainable food sources.

You can get started growing in your school by starting a small herb or vegetable garden. This is a great way to take your learning outdoors and make it hands-on.

Looking to discuss how to grow food? Contact Perth and Kinross Council's Community Food Growing Officer ([email protected]) to discuss. You may also find local food growing initiatives that you could work with on the Growing Together Storymap.

Global citizenship is integral to Learning for Sustainability and will help develop an understanding that our challenges are interconnected. Use this topic to explore how climate change disproportionally affects communities around the world and embed a think global, act local approach to your work!

Recommended Learning Materials:

UNESCO offers a free global citizenship course designed for the 12-16 age group. Participants receive a certificate on completion that will help bolster CVs.

These climate justice toolkits from Ideas for Global Citizenship (curriculum-linked) and Trócaire are an excellent resource to begin exploring this topic with young people.

Fairtrade is another global citizenship topic that can be used to learn about our interdependent world and explore the challenges our global society faces.

Suggested Actions:

Youth Climate Dialogue is a UN project bringing young people around the world together online to discuss their perspectives on climate change. Register your youth group or classroom to take part for free, and you will also receive a United Nations certificate.

Similarly, you can request to twin your school through the international network of Eco-Schools! This will help you establish ongoing exchange of ideas, projects and successes.

Could you start a fundraiser? For £60, Toilet Twinning will help a community build a toilet, access clean water, and learn about hygiene. You will receive a certificate showing a photograph and the location of your overseas twin toilet – a great way to start a conversation about global citizenship!

Participating in the Fairtrade Schools or Rights Respecting Schools programmes will demonstrate your commitment to global citizenship education and gain accolades for your school.

Health and Wellbeing has a natural overlap with many of the other topics, as it focuses on the physical and mental wellbeing impacts of being active outdoors in a healthy environment.

Recommended Learning:

These BBC Bitesize Modules on Health and Wellbeing provide a good introduction to a range of subjects within this topic.

Play Scotland and Learning through Landscapes both provide a great range of resources on outdoor play and learning. Playing outdoors helps children develop connections to nature and an appreciation for a healthy environment while having fun and getting exercise!

Suggested Actions:

Commit to at least two days of outdoor learning a year by signing up for the Outdoor Classroom Day campaign.

Use this guidance on Playing in Nature for ideas to help develop connections with nature by being active outdoors.

Perth and Kinross Countryside Trust's work includes a focus on nature's role in health and wellbeing. Get in touch to see if you can get involved with one of their health and wellbeing projects.

Litter & Waste focuses on keeping our environment clean and reducing the impact of production and consumption processes. This section includes information on litter pick events as well as resources to learn about topics such as the circular economy and food waste.

Recommended Learning Material:

Sustainability First has provided a workshop introducing waste related issues, such as its environmental and social impact, as well as what we can do to reduce it.

Zero Waste Scotland has a series of educational resources that relate to waste, recycling, and littering within the context of the circular economy. They have also created a Love Food Hate Waste Education Resource page that focuses on food waste.

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation provides a range of teaching resources aimed at helping young people understand the concept of the circular economy. They developed this Circular Brand activity to help raise awareness of fast fashion.

This Practical Action activity teaches about the properties of plastic and gets your group thinking about how we can address the global plastic waste problem.

Suggested Actions:

Zero Waste Scotland has created Food Waste Monitoring Toolkits to help your school take its first steps towards reducing food waste! There is a toolkit for teachers and pupils. Once you have gathered data, come up with solutions and run a campaign to reduce food waste.

Take the next step and help manage food waste by starting a composting project. Use these top tips to compliment any garden projects you may be working on.

Join and promote the annual Spring Clean Scotland campaign run by Keep Scotland Beautiful. You can help by organising and registering a litter pick, completing a litter survey, and encouraging others to do the same! Encourage participation by using this guidance to make your next one a Litter Pick and Play.

Sign your school up for The Pod's campaigns that encourage pupils to recycle old toys, batteries, and textiles in exchange for book vouchers.

School grounds or local greenspaces provide excellent opportunities to take your learning outside and take action through sustainable land use.

Recommended Learning Materials:

NatureScot's Learning in Local Greenspace resources can provide you with inspiration on how to take your learning outdoors.

The RHS School Gardening Campaign provides all the resources you need to get started on your gardening journey.

Young Tree Champions have provided excellent outdoor learning resources for all ages.

The Edina Trust provides links to a range of free gardening resources for all ages, including teachers and educators.

Learning through Landscapes provides resources to support schools and early years to make the most of their outdoor spaces.

Take your younger audience outdoors and take part in this We Love Our Planet activity, where you get creative with objects you find in nature.

Suggested Actions:

Creating a school garden is an easy step towards getting your group thinking about how we can use greenspace to increase biodiversity, sequester carbon, or even grow food. Register with the RHS School Gardening Campaign to receive a free welcome pack and access online courses to get you started.

Take your gardening project to the next level by participating in a Pocket Garden Design Competition or No Adults Allowed Gardening Competition.

Tree planting is a brilliant way for children to connect with nature while helping the planet. We encourage all schools to consider their tree planting potential. See our Planning for Tree Planting in Schools for guidance and links to access free tree packs to get started.

If you are looking for support with tree planting, there are programmes to help you get started. A Tree for Every Child and Young Tree Champions are established programmes that offer a range of support.

Transport is the largest carbon-emitting sector in Perth and Kinross, making it a top priority for climate action! By encouraging more active travel, we can help reduce transport-related emissions and create healthier communities through increased exercise and improved air quality.

Recommended Learning Material:

This BBC Bitesize lesson on Transport and Sustainability provides a good introduction to the environmental impacts of transport and what we need to change.

Sustrans and Living Streets Scotland both provide a wealth of resources, including lesson plans and activities, that will help your group understand why active travel is important and how to encourage it.

This Daydream Believers activity teaches how we can use data to tackle real-world problems by using active travel to school as an example.

Suggested Actions:

Get started by taking part in a travel mode monitoring activity, like Sustrans' annual Big Walk and Wheel. This will help start the conversation about how we travel and why. Remember to also complete the annual Hands Up Scotland Survey, which will also help measure the impact of your actions over time.

Take the learning outdoors and into the local area by conducting a Street Survey. Explore the area to identify barriers to safe active travel and come up with ideas that would encourage more sustainable travel. Take it a step further by writing to your local representatives to act on it!

Help your group gain confidence in cycling on the road by signing up for Bikeability training. Contact [email protected] to discuss training with the Perth and Kinross Council.

For a bigger challenge, work with your parents, teachers, and community to develop a comprehensive School Travel Plan. These can include a range of actions, from quick, easy wins to campaigning for school streets or improved infrastructure. Useful toolkits have been produced by Living Streets Scotland and Sustrans (curriculum linked) to get you started.

Water is key to life on Earth, but it can be something we take for granted in Scotland. It is important that we all take action to help manage our water resources to protect aquatic ecosystems and safeguard drinking water.

It is also important from a climate change adaptation perspective. In Scotland, we expect to see hotter, drier summers and wetter, stormier winters. Use this topic to explore how we can manage drought and flood risk in the future.

Recommended Learning Resources:

Scottish Water has produced an Education Resource Hub that includes modules, games, and campaigns for all age groups. This is a great place to start to learning about managing Scotland's water resources.

BBC Bitesize has a range of introductory modules that come under this topic, including the Water Cycle, Plants and Water, and Water Security. Browse their website to find more.

The UCAR Centre for Science Education's Climate and Water Teaching Box covers a range of topics and is suitable for secondary school age groups.

Suggested Actions:

Take part in The Pod's Water Week campaign to bring your school, young people, and community together to protect this natural resource and ensure clean water for everyone. Sign up and gain access to resources for all ages to get you started.

Practical Action has designed activities to get your group thinking about climate change adaptation. Beat the Flood and Regreen the Desert are both accredited for the CREST award scheme and will help you learn about mitigating drought and flood risk.

Register your school for Scottish Water's Generation H₂O Campaign to join the national movement of young people taking action for water. Get your team involved in raising awareness at school, home, or in the local community.

Discover Green Jobs for Nature is packed with information on what types of green jobs there are and how to get one.

LANTRA are the trusted experts in skills development for land-based careers.

Countryside Learning Scotland provide education and career pathways across all rural related business sectors.

GRANTS – Outdoor Learning and Play | Creative STAR Learning | I'm a teacher, get me OUTSIDE here!

Branching Out Fund - The Tree Council

Orchards for Schools - The Tree Council

Travel Grant Scheme - Cairngorms National Park Authority

National Park Travel Grant - Here. Now. All of us. - Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park (lochlomond-trossachs.org)

Resources Archive - Outdoor Learning Services and Information (outdoorlearningdirectory.com)