About The Programme

About

Promoting long-term, whole-school action for the environment Green-Schools is a student-led programme with involvement from the wider community.

About the Programme

Leading environmental management and education programme for schools

Promoting long-term, whole-school action for the environment Green-Schools is a student-led programme with involvement from the wider community. The programme is operated and coordinated by the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce (FEE member for Ireland). Have a question? Check out our FAQs!

Green-Schools’ mission is to protect planet Earth – our shared home to which we all belong – and we want everyone involved! We warmly welcome participants of all backgrounds, cultures, races and ethnicities, religions and belief systems, abilities, sexual orientations and gender identities. Equity, diversity and social justice are fundamental to our values – so whoever you are, we can’t wait to have YOU involved!

Green-Schools, known internationally as Eco-Schools, is coordinated by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE). FEE’s programmes include: Eco-Schools, Young Reporters for the Environment, Learning About Forests (LEAF), Blue Flag and Green Key.

Eco-Schools is a fundamental initiative which encourages young people to engage in their environment by allowing them the opportunity to actively protect it. It starts in the classroom, it expands to the school and eventually fosters change in the community at large. Eco-Schools is currently operating in 62 countries worldwide with over 16 million students taking part.

An Taisce works to preserve and protect Ireland’s natural and built heritage. An Taisce is an independent charitable voice for the environment and for heritage issues.

Our work is focused in three areas:

Education: Our Environmental Education Unit is responsible for some of Ireland’s most popular and successful environmental programmes, including Green-Schools, Green-Campus, Clean Coasts, National Spring Clean, Neat Streets, Green Communities, Learning about Forests and the Blue Flag award.
Advocacy: The Advocacy Unit is dedicated to promoting the conservation of Ireland’s nature and biodiversity as well as its built heritage.
Properties: An Taisce own a range of heritage properties in trust, including historic buildings and nature reserves.

How the Programme Works:

The Green-Schools Programme works on a two-year cycle of theme work in a fixed order.

Schools registering for the first time begin on the Litter and Waste theme and work their way through all ten themes, before moving on to more self-led project themes.

These themes are:

In YEAR ONE of each theme, schools:

Set up a Green-Schools Committee
Teachers! Don’t forget to attend the online seminars per theme hosted by Green-Schools in September/October
Committee completes the Environmental Review (find out what your school is doing well and where you can improve)
Write an Action Plan and get working on it! (checking the essential actions for the theme)
Don’t forget to link the theme with the curriculum and inform the whole school and wider community of your plans!

In YEAR TWO of the theme, schools:

Keep working through the action Plan ,
Have a visit with their Environmental Awareness Officer
Submit their online theme Application forms!

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE APPLICATION PROCESS HERE.

Our People

Meet the Team

Management Team

Cathy Baxter

Director, Environmental Education Unit

cbaxter@antaisce.org

Joanne Scott

Manager, Green-Schools

jscott@antaisce.org

Allison Phillips

Manager, Green-Schools Travel

aphillips@antaisce.org

Green-Schools Team Leaders and Coordinators

Claire McDonald

Senior Green-Schools Coordinator, Projects

cmcdonald@antaisce.org

Clare Patten

Green-Schools Biodiversity Theme Coordinator

cpatten@antaisce.org

Caoimhe O'Brien Moran

Green-Schools Marine Theme Coordinator- CURRENTLY ON LEAVE

cobrienmoran@antaisce.org

Sabrina Moore

Green-Schools Water Theme Coordinator

smoore@antaisce.org

Robert Nelson

Senior Coordinator - Green Schools Energy

rnelson@antaisce.org

Birgit O'Driscoll

Senior Green-Schools Coordinator Global Citizenship

bodriscoll@antaisce.org

Chiara Hanrahan

Green-Schools Travel Officer / Team Leader: Leinster

chanrahan@antaisce.org

Angela Wall

Green-Schools Travel Officer / Team Leader: Munster

awall@antaisce.org

Anne Nospickel

Green-Schools Travel Officer / Team Leader: Dublin

anospickel@antaisce.org

Lukasz Krzywon

Green-Schools Travel Officer / Team Leader: West

lkrzywon@antaisce.org

The Green-Schools Team

Aengus Kennedy

Senior Green-Schools Travel Officer

akennedy@antaisce.org

Aidan Gray

Green-Schools Officer

agray@antaisce.org

Aoibheann Gillespie-Mules

Green-Schools Marine Officer

agmules@antaisce.org

Aoife Buckley

Senior Green-Schools Administrator

abuckley@antaisce.org

Catherine Russell

Senior Green-Schools Travel Officer

crussell@antaisce.org

Chloe Devlin

Senior Green-Schools Marine Officer / ACTING COORDINATOR

cdevlin@antaisce.org

Ciara O'Sullivan

Green-Schools Travel Events Administrator

cosullivan@antaisce.org

Ciarán Hussey

Green-Schools Travel Officer

chussey@antaisce.org

Danson Matekwa

Green-Schools Global Citizenshiip Officer

dmatekwa@antaisce.org

Darren Donohue

Green-Schools Travel Officer

ddonohue@antaisce.org

David MacIlwraith

Green-Schools Officer

dmacilwraith@antaisce.org

Dolores McWeeney

Green-Schools Travel Officer

dmcweeney@antaisce.org

Edwina Coman

Green-Schools Travel Officer

ecoman@antaisce.org

Ellen Kissane

Green-Schools Travel Officer

ekissane@antaisce.org

Ellen O'Sullivan

Senior Green-Schools Travel Officer

eosullivan@antaisce.org

Francesca Pawelczyk

Green-Schools Travel Officer

fpawelczyk@antaisce.org

Friederike Eimer

Green-Schools Marine Officer

feimer@antaisce.org

Gerard O'Callaghan

Green-Schools Travel Officer

gbocallaghan@antaisce.org

Julianne Pickard

Green-Schools Travel Officer

jpickard@antaisce.org

Laura Tannian

Green-Schools Travel Officer

ltannian@antaisce.org.

Lisa O'Grady

Senior Green-Schools Travel Officer

logrady@antaisce.org

Lorraine Farrell

Green-Schools Travel Officer; #AndSheCycles Coordinator

lfarrell@antaisce.org

Lorraine Flanagan

Senior Green-Schools Travel Officer

lflanagan@antaisce.org

Meadhbh Ní Laoghaire Nic Giolla Phádraig

Green-Schools Irish Language Officer

molearyfitzpatrick@antaisce.org

Michèle Castiaux

Green-Schools Travel Officer

mcastiaux@antaisce.org

Paula Carroll

Green-Schools Travel Officer

pcarroll@antaisce.org

Rachel Mackarel

Green-Schools Travel Officer

rmackarel@antaisce.org

Rishibha Anand

Green-Schools Communications Officer

ranand@antaisce.org

Roisin O'Connor Flanagan

Green-Schools Litter & Waste/ Biodiversity Officer

roconnorflanagan@antaisce.org

Rory Maguire

Green-Schools Travel Officer

rmaguire@antaisce.org

Siobhán Hughes

Green-Schools Global Citizenship Education Officer

shughes@antaisce.org

Tania Lipper

Green-Schools Travel Officer

tlipper@antaisce.org

Tori Rickman

Green-Schools Water Officer

trickman@antaisce.org

Job Vacancies

Current Vacancies with Green-Schools / Programmes within the EEU.

Check all the job vacancies

Number of Schools involved

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Length of time programme is running

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Number of flags awarded in 2026

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students involved

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Our Vision & Mission

An Ireland where our environment, natural and built, is actively prioritised and a lasting legacy of sustainability and resilience is ensured. We aim to equip students and teachers with the knowledge and skills to support this.

Awards & Recognition

Green-Schools was named an SDG Champion in 2023, and now serves as an SDG Ambassador. Eco-Schools is the largest, most successful environmental education programme in the world, with over 59,000 schools participating.

Feel free to contact us by phone or email. We look forward to hearing from you!

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