Global Coalition for Green Schools Launched at Greenbuild

Aspiring to build green learning spaces for every child on earth within a generation, the group will share ideas around the globe.

Green building councils around the world have come together to form the Global Coalition for Green Schools.

With 29 founding members from Botswana to Brazil and from Singapore to Slovenia, network members will share resources, tools, case studies, and best practices to help one another realize a common vision of “ensuring that every child has the opportunity to learn in a green school within this generation,” according to the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and the World Green Building Council.

Acknowledging that building practices and communities vary based on climate and culture, Rachel Gutter, director of the Center for Green Schools, says different communities still need to learn from one another. “Our approaches to greening schools may look very different, but what we all desire is to give our children every possible opportunity to succeed,” she said.

The announcement, which follows a dual “Greenest School on Earth” award given to facilities in Hong Kong and Kenya, came during USGBC’s 2013 Greenbuild conference.