GreenVET pathway

Sustainability Spotlight in Staff Meetings

Allocate a short amout of time during all staff meetings to highlight sustainability efforts, share success stories, and brainstorm innovative solutions. These sessions can inspire educators to incorporate sustainability into their teaching and school culture.

Key People and Partners Involved

School leadership team
Teaching staff

Description of the practice

Incorporating a sustainability focus into regular staff meetings is a simple yet powerful way to embed environmental consciousness into the school culture. By allocating just a few minutes in each meeting, schools can maintain a steady dialogue around sustainability, ensuring it remains a visible and shared priority among staff. These sessions typically include updates on ongoing green initiatives, recognition of successful classroom projects, and open discussions for new ideas.

Teachers are encouraged to share how they’ve integrated sustainability into their lessons or school activities, which not only celebrates their efforts but also inspires others to take action. Suggested topics include reducing classroom waste, organizing eco-friendly school events, promoting biodiversity in school gardens, or integrating climate education into different subjects. To further strengthen this approach, schools can form a ‘Green Team’—a group of teachers who act as leaders of the initiative. This team can coordinate sustainability efforts, gather and share best practices, and ensure that ideas discussed in meetings are translated into concrete actions.

Over time, this practice builds a collaborative and innovative environment where sustainability is not seen as an extra task, but as a natural part of teaching and learning. It also strengthens the connection between staff and the school"s broader environmental goals, making it easier to implement whole-school sustainability strategies. By regularly exchanging ideas and experiences, staff members become more confident and creative in promoting sustainable values throughout the school community.

Where it’s being implemented

This link might not lead to content in English language. Use your browser's translate function or automatic captions to explore this resource.

Impact and Results

Increased staff engagement in sustainability initiatives
More frequent integration of sustainability topics in classroom teaching
Stronger collaboration among staff on green projects
Greater visibility of sustainability in school culture
Recognition and celebration of staff efforts

Implementation Tips and Insights

Keep the segment short and focused (5-10 minutes)
Rotate who presents or leads the discussion to involve more staff
Use visuals or quick presentations to make it engaging
Encourage sharing of both successes and challenges
Link discussions to the school's sustainability goals or action plan

Useful Links and Resources

This link might not lead to content in English language. Use your browser's translate function or automatic captions to explore this resource. This ETF report can serve as a foundation for staff meeting discussions by offering real-world examples and strategies for integrating sustainability into vocational education. It helps educators connect green skills with their specific professional fields and teaching practices.
https://www.etf.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2023-05/GRETA_Greening%20of%20VET.pdf
This framework from the GREEN-VET project offers practical guidance for integrating sustainability into vocational education. It can be used during staff meetings to inspire subject-specific discussions on green skills and to support teachers in aligning their teaching with sustainability goals.
https://green-vet.eu/content/pdf/framework_en.pdf
This GREEN-VET SDG 2024 site provides a practical way to explore the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in vocational education. During staff meetings, educators can focus on one SDG at a time, reflect on how it connects to their professional field, and discuss how it can be integrated into teaching and school activities.
https://sites.google.com/oep.fi/greenvet-sdg-2024