Minister for Education announces over €65,000 for sustainable development projects in Tipperary schools

Minister for Education Norma Foley TD has announced the delivery of €65,251 in funding for sustainable development projects in County Tipperary schools.

The successful projects range from fairy door houses and gardens, to a fairtrade mini company, a 12-school cluster to create green spaces and gardens on school grounds, an ‘environmental leadership’ course, a polytunnel with raised beds and more.

Approx. €550,000 is being provided in funding for the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) projects in 65 primary and 64 post-primary schools across the country. This is a three-fold increase on the ESD funding of €167,000 which was provided to 49 schools in 2022. 

Funding amounts of between €1,000 and €5,000 are being paid to schools who successfully proposed their 2023 / 2024 sustainability projects for funding under the second National Strategy – ESD to 2030.

Minister for Education Norma Foley TD said: “It is timely to announce this funding during the opening of COP28, the 28th annual United Nations (UN) climate meeting, in Dubai today. 

“It is inspiring to see the wide range of creative and innovative projects which schools proposed and congratulations to all of those who are now receiving this vital funding which will help them turn their ideas into reality. Whether pupils will now progress to develop active wildlife walkways, nesting boxes for birds, bike libraries, weather stations, Fair Trade mini companies, or any one of a whole host of other projects, they will be leading the way on promoting sustainable development in their communities.” 

Last year, Kinsale Community School in Cork received ESD funding to buy a biodigester to deal with the problem of food waste at the school.

It converts food waste using anaerobic digestion into methane gas and liquid fertiliser. The methane gas is used for cooking in the school’s home economics room and the liquid fertiliser is used in the school’s greenhouse. 

This year, the poetry for climate action and climate justice project in Our Lady Queen of the Apostles National School in Clondalkin in Dublin is going to feature at COP in Dubai next week.

It is one of five projects internationally that has been selected by the Ministry of Education of United Arab Emirates, in partnership with the Office for Climate Education and ALEF Education, to be presented at the Teachers COP during COP 28. 

Minister Foley said: “We are committed to supporting schools to address the transformation needed to make our schools places and spaces for sustainability. We have recently published a sustainability toolkit for schools, so that they can develop their own Sustainability Policy Statements.

“We have also published a new Primary Curriculum Framework, which includes a new area of learning – ‘Social and Environmental Education’. This will help children to develop an understanding of the human and natural environments and empower them to promote a more sustainable future.” 

The ESD to 2030 strategy is about equipping students with the knowledge and skills to promote sustainable development. The strategy has five priority areas: Aligning Policy, Transforming Learning Environments, Building Capacity of Educators, Empowering and Mobilising Youth and Accelerating Local Level Action.    

Included among the successful proposals for ESD to 2030 are projects focusing on inclusion through creativity in a cluster of schools including two Schools for the Deaf. Other projects are focused on eradicating poverty and improving water and marine sustainability. Many of the projects include workshops for students and Continuous Professional Development for teachers.