SDG Week 2023

We at Green-Schools celebrated Ireland’s second Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Week this year from 23 September – 1 October.

This was part of the wider European Sustainable Development Week (ESDW), which runs from 18 September – 8 October 2023.

As a National SDG Champion for Ireland, Green-Schools embraced the opportunity to showcase our projects and campaigns that promote sustainable development and create awareness about the SDGs. Read on to learn more.

Global Goals Book Club Slogan Competition

We put a call out to our schools to create a slogan that links the SDGs to the fantastic work being done in our schools. There’s a fabulous book bundle to be won, so get your entries in before it’s too late.

Find out more about the Global Goals Book Club here.

SDGs addressed: 1-17

#andshecycles Ambassador Programme Launch 2023

Our #andshecycles campaign aims to explore, understand and address barriers to cycling for teenage girls. Each year, we select a number of Ambassadors to become student leaders and take action to enable and empower teenage girls to cycle to school, through the support of the programme.

Applications opened just ahead of SDG week, and will close on Friday, 6 October.

SDGs addressed: 3, 5, 10, 11 and 13.

Let’s Fix Fashion Campaign Launch 2023

The Let’s Fix Fashion project focuses on encouraging students to think deeper about the clothes they wear, and aims to close the loop on fast fashion. Research has shown that the elements of fast fashion- trend replication, rapid production, low quality and competitive pricing, all have a detrimental impact on the planet and the people involved in garment production.

The project welcomes applications from eligible schools that are interested in finding out about the negative impacts of the fashion industry on our planet, and what we can do to slow down fashion: create less waste, use more sustainable materials, improve working conditions etc. We welcome those who are passionate about creating change!

SDGs addressed: 12 & 13

Launch of Global Classrooms Project 2023

Schools are invited to apply for the Global Classrooms Project for this academic year. This is a wonderful opportunity for any school from 4th class upwards, working on any Global Citizenship theme, to engage in meaningful project work connected to the Global Goals. Places are limited!

SDGs addressed: 17 primarily, in addition to chosen goals for projects

GS Travel Walking Bus Webinar

Green-Schools Travel Officers, Lisa and Cath, provided a webinar for teachers looking to start a Walking Bus in their school community. This was great timing ahead of Walk to School Week, which runs from 2 – 6 October, as it gave great advice as well as resources for teachers to get the ball rolling on their own walking bus!

SDGs addressed: 3, 9, 11 and 13

Teachers Seminars

We’ve been running a number of information seminars to help primary and secondary teachers, as well as secondary students. learn all about what is required for their current theme, as well as advice on how to approach it. These seminars are a vital resource for the year ahead.

SDGs addressed: 4, 13 and theme related SDGs.

Tree Day Webinar

Green-Schools have teamed up with LEAF to present an interactive webinar on Hazel Trees in celebration of National Tree Day on 5 October.

Learning about Forests (LEAF) is an international educational programme that encourages Environmental Education (EE) and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) through cultivating more awareness of the importance of our forests and environmental issues among students, teachers, and the wider community.

Register here.

SDGs addressed: 4, 13 and 15

Safe Routes to School

The SRTS Programme works to reach a number of Global Goals by implementing infrastructure that makes it safer and more environmentally friendly to travel to school. Have a look at their LinkedIn feed to see how these goals are met!

Clean Coasts

The Clean Coasts programme is a community of like-minded people working towards protecting the environment. They organise beach cleans, clean coats roadshows and several calls-to-action all supporting SDG 11. The clean-ups are not just a great way to help the environment but to also spend time outdoors in nature and exercise, supporting SDG 3. Their campaigns such as Break up with plastic, 2 minute beach clean, Plastic Free July, Reuse Month and Fashion Revolution Week create awareness towards SDG 12 to prevent and reduce waste & to put a focus on circular economy. Other campaigns such as Think Before You Flush and Think Before You Pour contribute to SDG 6 by tackling sewage related litter to keep our waterways clean. For several years, Clean Coasts has also been working towards SDG 14 and creating tangible improvements to Ireland’s coastal environment and to protect coastal biodiversity through beach cleans.

Climate Ambassador Programme

The Climate Ambassador Programme is an initiative to support individuals taking action on climate change and make positive changes supporting Global Goal 13 with their meaningful work. You can browse through their climate actions and communications or become one of Ireland’s Climate Ambassadors to support the many SDGs that their work aims to promote.

For the SDG Week, CAP along with the Sustainability Team at the University of Galway hosted a guided Biodiversity & Heritage walk along the River Corrib. The group walk started at The University of Galway, walking along the riverbank, taking in the sights and sounds of this scenic protected landscape, while learning about the local flora and fauna from biodiversity expert Dr Caitríona Carlin. PhD candidate and Climate Ambassador Hannah Aris shared stories about the historic Menlo Castle which was followed by a sustainable lunch.

GLOBE Ireland

The GLOBE Ireland Air Quality Campaign is a school-based citizen science project to assess traffic-related (nitrogen dioxide) air pollution outdoors at schools in Ireland. This is an educational project designed to raise awareness about air pollution; showcase the potential of citizen science to gather unique datasets and insights into our environment; and promote

behaviour change. The Air Quality campaign will begin September 26th, 2023 and run for 4-weeks until October 24th. Over 200+ Teachers have registered for the campaign in 2023. Students will create Clean Air Maps, identify air pollution hot spots and create Clean Air Action plans for their schools.

The GLOBE Ireland Air Quality Campaign is a school-based citizen science project to assess traffic-related (nitrogen dioxide) air pollution outdoors at schools in Ireland.

SDGs 3,4, 7, 11

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