Ishikawa Prefecture has drawn up the "Ishikawa Environmental ISO for Schools," a set of guidelines for environmental activities in schools. The prefecture has so far certified six schools for their action plans, including elementary, junior high and senior high schools.
The guidelines are for schools to smoothly and effectively implement environmental activities and continuous improvements. The guidelines have been adapted for schools, based on the "Environmental Activity Evaluation Program," a simplified environmental management system developed by the Ministry of the Environment.
The environmental activities include energy consumption, waste generation, use of water and paper, purchase of supplies, environmental education, and local environmental conservation, along with aims set individually by each school. The schools assess the environmental impacts and evaluate the progress of each activity, to help them formulate an environmental action plan. The schools implement, assess, and review the plan, incorporating the "plan-do-check-action" (PDCA) cycle.
Activities such as saving energy, using less water, and reducing waste tend to be perceived as a list of "do not" rules, but it is crucial to emphasize the more positive "can-do" aspects to create enthusiasm among students and teachers. Certified schools engage themselves proactively in various efforts such as implementing children's suggestions to use rainwater and carrying out cleanup activities and practical training in forest maintenance. Ishikawa Prefecture intends to certify more schools, eventually aiming to cover all 451 schools in the prefecture.
Posted: 2003/04/04 11:26:56 AM
Japanese version