The Blue School is a great concept. In Kenya we currently have the WASH friendly schools being implemented. This concept compared to Blue School lacks the environmental concept and is also confined to the schools. I wish we could go the Blue School way so as to reach a wider coverage. Kindly make available the resource materials so that as stakeholders in the implementation of school health we can lobby for inclussion of the Blue School concept.

Phyllis Ministry of Health - Kenya

Hello Blue Schools. This sounds great. I once coordinated an Eco schools program in Kenya, which was more of an Environmental Education employing the action learning, that could still be relevant even for Blue Schools. I however felt, there was need for an intentional design and well thought out approach to incorporating WASH aspects into the school curriculum. Pedagogy, Curriculum Content, Teacher capacity and appropriate policy/strategy are all critical for the success of the implementation.

Stockholm, the 29th of August 2018

In the framework of the World Water Week, the Swiss Water & Sanitation Consortium launched the Blue Schools Kit in Stockholm. The Kit supports education authorities and teachers to include environmental education in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goal for Clean Water & Sanitation. Blue Schools aims to inspire students to be change agents in their communities and promotes the next generation of champions in the water and environment sectors.

Building on Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) interventions in schools, a Blue School exposes students to environmentally-friendly technologies and practices that promote sustainable watershed and land management. It promotes a school garden as a practical place to demonstrate the relationship between food production and an efficient management of water. The concept considers that children are the leaders of tomorrow and key change agents in their communities.
In a Blue School:
• Students have access to safe drinking water, use well-maintained latrines, maintain good hygiene practices and participate in gardening activities and solid waste separation and collection.
• Students practice sustainable land and water management practices through the school garden and the other environmentally-friendly technologies or practices in the schoolyard or in nearby locations.
• Teachers enrich the theoretical lessons from the existing national curriculum on biology, chemistry, agriculture, etc. with practical exercises so that students can learn by doing.
• Students encounter, in a visual and fun way, concepts beyond WASH, such as watershed, water cycle and solid waste reduction, reuse and recycling.
Project teams, education authorities and school stakeholders expressed their need for more examples of practical exercises that could complement the national curriculum as well as examples of environmentally-friendly technologies and practices that can be demonstrated in a school yard and replicated at home or in the community. These insights led to further develop the Blue School concept, including support materials in the form of the “Blue Schools Kit”.
The “Blue Schools Kit” is neither a new curriculum, nor intended to add to the current workload of teachers. It provides ideas to project staff, education authorities and school stakeholders on how to transform a school into a Blue School. More specifically, it contains a number of materials that have different target audiences and different purposes, including a Concept Brief, a Catalogue of Technologies, a Catalogue of Practical Exercises, and a Facilitator’s Guide for teachers.
By using safe and improved WASH facilities and experiencing good land and water management practices, students are more likely to adopt healthy and environmentally-friendly behaviours in school and at home.
The Blue School concept was pioneered in 2007 by the International Rainwater Harvesting Alliance (IRHA) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). Under the aegis of the Swiss Water and Sanitation Consortium, Blue Schools has been implemented in over 200 schools in Bangladesh, Benin, Ethiopia, Madagascar, and Nepal since 2011. The Blue Schools Kit is a result of a joint effort of Consortium members of Caritas Switzerland, HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation, Terre des hommes – Helping children worldwide, and The Swiss Federal Institute for Aquatic Science and Research (Eawag).

More information : waterconsortium.ch/blueschool/

Dear All,


Over the last 18 months, a team from Helvetas Intercooperation, Terre de hommes, eawag and Caritas Switzerland has been working on developing the Blue Schools Kit.

We will launch it at Stockholm World Water Week on Wednesday 29th of August, 16.00 – 16.45, in room FH Cabaret.

Please join us to find out more about Blue Schools and the Blue Schools Kit!

Very best,

John

Dear Catherine Wanjihia,

Could you please tell us more about this concept, and why do you ask?

The concept of combining WASH with agriculture and environmental practices is not new but I hadn't hear the term "blue school" before.

When I think about this concept, the work of Peter Morgan in Zimbabwe comes to mind. He has built school toilets and school gardens using urine as fertiliser, together with the school pupils. You can find his publications in the SuSanA library by searching for "Morgan" (www.susana.org/en/resources/library?search=morgan). But probably you are aware of his work and are looking for further examples?

Regards,
Elisabeth

Caritas Switzerland would like to know if there someone with experience with blue school concept i.e combining WASH with agriculture and environmental practices.