Students’ participation in EkoSkola : the transition between schools

Abstract

Education has a vital role in sustainable development. Schools can achieve this, through the principles of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and with the help of the EkoSkola programme. The EkoSkola programme is a global network that promotes ESD by engaging students in bringing about sustainable actions. This study seeks to investigate the students’ participation in the EkoSkola Committee in relation to their experience of transition. The main focus of this study is to understand why students join the EkoSkola Committee, what are the self-reported benefits they gained, and how the transition affects their decision in terms of participation in the EkoSkola programme. A mixed method approach was deemed to be more feasible for this research. This involved the use of questionnaires distributed among the EkoSkola link persons (n=23), and group interviews carried out with three different EkoSkola Committees. The main findings in this study show that both EkoSkola link persons and EkoSkola members decide to participate in the EkoSkola programme because they care for the environment and feel the need to do something positive about it. Moreover, through their commitment and belonging to the EkoSkola Committee, they manage to overcome the transition phase and experience a sense of ‘home’ within the new environment. Peers seem to influence students’ participation, both positively and negatively. The research findings led to a number of recommendations to help ease the transition and eventually improve participation in the EkoSkola Committee. The results from this study are targeted towards the EkoSkola co-ordinators and EkoSkola link persons to use the EkoSkola Committee as a tool for a smoother transition. Furthermore, additional efforts between schools and the EkoSkola co-ordinators, as well as flexibility and forward planning, can contribute to the further implementation of the programme.