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Today Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful launches its manifesto for the upcoming local government elections. The manifesto outlines specific proposals to help each council make improves in their local area over the next four years. This year we have put an emphasis on environmental education, community engagement and improving environmental standards.

Speaking about the launch of the manifesto, our Chief Executive Ian Humphreys said;

“Our aim is to continue changing behaviours across Northern Ireland. We have always worked incredibly well with councils in tackling key issues such as littering, dog fouling and public attitudes towards our environment. There has been a lot of progress since 2014, but we still have some distance to go. We need to go further and at a faster rate than we have in the past. The proposals our organisation launches today are another important stepping stone towards the better society that we want to build.”

He added;

“I am asking every candidate standing for election, to back our five positive policies for the next term of office. If each council can implement these five key asks then we will be able to achieve some important environmental improvements by 2023. At this stage for our climate, change simply cannot wait”

If you would like more information please contact, Ian Humphreys, Tel 90736920, Email; ian.humphreys@keepnorthernirelandbeautiful.org

Schools across Belfast are tackling the important topic of food waste with the launch of the exciting Wheelie Big Challenge run by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, Eco-Schools and supported by Belfast City Council. With alarming figures like 7 million tonnes of food being thrown away from UK homes every year, pupils are investigating what can be done in school and at home to reduce waste.

Pupils from Botanic Primary School have discovered that recycling food at school and at home means great compost, and great compost means great veggies! They have seen the process full circle to the benefit of their school vegetable patch. They also know it is not just their vegetables that benefit, but the environment as well, as food waste going to landfill is a top contributor to greenhouse gases – 7% of all global greenhouse gas emissions, 3.3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent.

Last year saw pupils from 34 Belfast schools investigate and engage in practical actions to reduce waste, particularly food waste, in school and at home by reducing, reusing and recycling. Botanic Primary School placed food caddies in all their classrooms and managed to reduce the food in their bins by over 90%. They went on to impress the judges at the Wheelie Big Challenge competition in June and scooped first prize and £500 for their eco work.

Ruth Van Ry, Environmental Education Manager, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful said: “The Wheelie Big Challenge is an action based, fun project and competition for all schools in Belfast to think about how they could improve the environment by reducing waste and recycling more. We are delighted to be once again supported by Belfast City Council and are looking forward to seeing all the interesting ideas from schools. We invite all school pupils in Belfast to put their eco-thinking caps on and get involved”.

Alderman Tommy Sandford, Chair of the People and Communities Committee, Belfast City Council said: “We are pleased to be working with Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful again on this competition, building on the success of the past few years. This competition gives schools the opportunity to win great prizes while helping to protect the environment and reduce waste disposal costs. With research showing that around a third of food is wasted, we hope this competition will encourage pupils and their families to think about the food they waste at home and in school and do something about it. ”

The Wheelie Big Challenge is open now to all schools in Belfast City Council and will run until April. You can register your interest in the competition and receive resources and information by emailing cathy.gorman@keepnorthernirelandbeautiful.org or by calling 02890 736920.

The Eco-Schools Programme is the world’s largest environmental education programme which aims to make environmental awareness and action an intrinsic part of school life. Eco-Schools work through a simple seven step process to implement behavioural change and study a range of topics, such as waste, litter and energy. By participating in projects such as the Wheelie Big Challenge schools throughout Belfast will be able to reduce their environmental impact and become more sustainable as they work towards their prestigious, internationally recognised Eco-Schools Green Flag award. To find out more please visit www.eco-schoolsni.org.

Schools across the country have been tasked with taking on the Food Waste Challenge, run by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful and supported by the Department of Agriculture, Environment & Rural Affairs (DAERA).

DAERA was delighted to recently report that Northern Ireland has achieved a 50% recycling rate across the country for all types of waste for the first time. New food waste legislation introduced last April has helped households reach this target, and so it is pertinent that this project is focusing on food waste in particular. Around 10 million tonnes of food, with a value of £17 billion, is wasted in the UK each year - 60% of which could be avoided.

Food is an expensive part of our weekly budget with families in Northern Ireland spending, on average, £64 every week on food. The food we waste can be worth up to one third of the value of our shopping spend. Across Northern Ireland we waste the equivalent of up to six meals per week. As such, food waste going to landfill is placing a strain on our purses and the environment, 20% of the UK’s CO2 eq. emissions comes from food and waste.

The Eco-Schools programme, run by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, is a pupil-led, environmental education programme, which encourages a hands-on approach to creating a more sustainable school and home environment. With an estimated half of all waste in schools being food waste it is a really important issue to tackle.

Pupils will be asked to highlight the great resource that could be produced from recycling food waste, namely compost. Not only will pupils learn about the 3R’s of Reducing, Reusing and Recycling food waste, but they will also learn about the great benefits to the environment that making compost has too.

Owen Lyttle, Head of Waste Policy, DAERA said: “With more household waste being recycled now than being landfilled in Northern Ireland this Food Waste Challenge provides a timely reminder to families to keep up the good work. Christmas is just around the corner and now is a good time to re-emphasise the need to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle as much as possible. The Department of Agriculture, Environment & Rural Affairs applauds the enthusiasm of all the schools and pupils involved in the Challenge through their Eco-Schools work.”

Ruth Van Ry, Environmental Education Manager, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, said: “We are delighted to be supported by DAERA in this Food Waste Challenge. It is a great opportunity for pupils to examine the issue and take real practical actions to make a positive change in school and at home. We are looking forward to seeing all the fabulous ideas they will have.”

Participating schools will have the chance to win prizes for their photos of school and home based actions. £200 for the best photo – in each council area - and a further £300 for the best overall school actions.

By participating in projects such as the Food Waste Challenge schools will be able to reduce their environmental impact and become more sustainable as they work towards their prestigious, internationally recognised Eco-Schools Green Flag award. To find out more please visit www.eco-schoolsni.org.

Northern Ireland schools continue to excel in the international Eco-Schools programme, achieving a record number of Green Flag awards for the 6th consecutive year and awarding their 1000th Green Flag.

Eco-Schools is the world's leading environmental education programme. It is a pupil-led initiative with the aim to make environmental awareness and practical action an intrinsic part of school life.

Eco-Schools is operated by environmental charity, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, which is dedicated to inspiring everyone to help make Northern Ireland a cleaner, greener and healthier place in which to live. The programme which has gone from strength-to-strength in recent years is supported by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs.

This year marked a landmark moment when Walker Memorial Primary School, Dungannon, received their first Green Flag and Northern Ireland’s 1000th Green Flag.

Diane Lockhart, Eco-Coordinator at Walker Memorial Primary School said: “The children were totally delighted that we got the 1000th Green Flag. All pupils are very involved with the areas of the Eco-Committee’s action plan it has brought these areas of learning alive. Pupils are highly motivated, inspired and focused to partake in lessons related to Eco-Schools. The programme provides pupils with another avenue of learning, those who are more practical and creative thrive on being involved in identifying the needs of the school and sharing their ideas for future action.”

Ian Humphreys, Chief Executive, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful added:

With support from the Department, Local Councils and many other partners, Eco-Schools is engaging our young people, who will be the next generation of business and political leaders, in developing eco-friendly behaviours that also help our economy. The programme is growing every year with more and more schools and young people making a real, tangible and positive impact on our environment through saving energy, reducing waste, picking up litter, travelling sustainably, providing biodiversity habitats and much more. Congratulations to Walker Memorial and all our schools who have achieved their Green Flag award; together we have reached this landmark 1000th Green Flag.’

This school year 149 schools achieved the prestigious, internationally recognised Green Flag award in recognition of the excellent progress they have been making in protecting the environment and moving towards a more sustainable future. The first Green Flag in the world was awarded to Downpatrick Nursery School in 1994. Since then the programme has consistently grown. There has been a year-on-year increase in the number of schools achieving the award for the 7th year in a row - increasing from 55 in 2010/11 to 97 in 2011/12; 103 in 2012/13; 114 in 2013/14; 128 in 2014/15; 136 in 2015/16 and now 149 in 2016/17.

More resources than ever are being devoted to maintaining a clean and welcoming environment in Northern Ireland, according to the Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful.

In a report published today, the environmental charity said that 2016-17 had seen a record £43Million spent on cleaning the streets. In response the year ahead will see nine of the eleven councils working together to tackle littering behaviour. Among other figures the charity highlighted was 233 groups ‘adopting a spot’ in order to keep it clean and inviting, and 24,500 children taking part in anti-litter education.

This intensification of efforts by Councils was welcomed by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful CEO, Dr Ian Humphreys, who said “The rising street cleaning bill, being met by ratepayers, is simply unsustainable. This is why many organisations are joining forces to change littering behaviour. Together we can begin to make a difference and this move is being supported by tens of thousands of volunteers who show they live here and love here through clean-ups. With over a third of the public admitting to littering we still have some way to go and so if we want a better place to live we all have to do our bit and get involved.”

While the year saw a slight rise in the percentage of places that were unacceptably littered, it also saw the biggest annual drop in the rates of dog fouling since their surveys began in 2008, and the highest percentage of spaces with no litter – not even a single cigarette butt – at 5%.

One of the surprising facts Dr Humphreys pointed out was that the availability of a bin appears to have little or no impact on the likelihood somewhere will suffer unacceptable littering: “Having a bin in sight in an area makes no statistical difference to how much litter ends up on the ground. This suggests that for many people bins are either deemed irrelevant or invisible. We need to change people’s mind-set so that they look for and use a bin, or take their rubbish home.”

The charity has made a number of recommendations that it believes would go a long way to achieving its vision of a cleaner country.

The charity says that fiscal measures should be explored further as part of a wider system of measures.

The development of programmes that reward desirable behaviour such picking up after your dog have been put forward as ways of preventing littering – like giving a vaccine rather than treating an illness.

Perhaps more controversially, the charity is suggesting that the government and Councils consider introducing American-style parking restrictions, where on-street parking is banned in a particular area for a few hours once a week to allow thorough cleaning; their surveys suggest that mechanical sweepers are regularly prevented from doing their job because of parked cars.

Dr Humphreys concluded “As the evenings lengthen and we look to spend more time outdoors we all want to enjoy spaces free of litter and dog fouling. To achieve this requires us all to do our bit and show we live here and really do love here.”

Copenhagen 8 September 2016 – The Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) is holding its biennial General Assembly on 15-16 September in Ahmedabad, India. At the assembly sessions, member organisations from 75 countries will be discussing the most recent developments in FEE and elect their new President and Board of Directors.

The General Assembly is arranged and hosted by the Centre for Environment Education (CEE) India, FEE’s Associate Member in India. The first two assembly sessions will be addressing the latest developments and strategic planning for FEE and its five programmes, whilst at the Members’ Forum sessions, members will have the opportunity to join workshops on the implementation of programmes, projects and campaigns. 15 new organisations are to be confirmed as members of FEE.

The FEE President is elected every four years and the Board of Directors every two. Following the nomination procedure, a new President and Board of Directors will be elected for the period 2016-2020 and 2016-2018 respectively. The coming General Assembly will herald the end of an era with the retirement of Jan Eriksen. Current president and a member of FEE for over 26 years, Jan has steered the organisation through some its most demanding periods of transition and growth and is leaving it as the globally recognised and respected organisation that you know today: a fitting testament to his diligence and commitment to FEE over the years.

The assembly will be followed by the CEE Conference on ‘Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) for Transforming Education for Children and Youth’, to take place on 16–18 September 2016. The Conference aims at bringing together global experience and expertise to highlight and strengthen the role of ESD.

About the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) www.fee.global

With members in 75 countries around the world, FEE’s programmes represent the cutting edge in Education for Sustainable Development and Environmental Education. It is the vision of the Foundation for Environmental Education that its programmes empower people everywhere to live sustainably and in an environmentally conscious manner.

We are proud to launch the Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful manifesto for the 2016 Assembly election.

We would encourage you to have a read of some of our proposals to make Northern Ireland a cleaner, greener place for all of us to live in.

Please click the link below to find out more.

Environment Minister, Mark H Durkan, today launched a rallying call for people to protect hedgehogs.

In the 1950's it was estimated there were 36.5million hedgehogs in Britain. It seems likely that there are now fewer than a million hedgehogs left.

Hedgehogs play a positive role in our gardens by feeding on slugs and snails and are one of our priority species.

The Minister has teamed up with Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful (KNIB) to back the Eco-Schools hedgehog campaign here.

Speaking at Ballycraigy Primary School, Antrim which has its own “Hedgehog House” Mark H Durkan said: “36.5million hedgehogs in the 1950s with fewer than one million now. The statistics speak for themselves. We need to wake up to this before they disappear. That is why I am very much backing this schools campaign for people to protect them. Hedgehogs are very much a gardener’s friend. Their diet includes many garden pests including slugs, snails and mice. Leaving food out for them at night may attract one into your garden.

“As well as supplementary feeding, you can literally give hedgehogs a home in your green space by providing suitable habitat. They like thick dense undergrowth and a variety of lengths of grass which is a great excuse for a ‘wild’ area in your garden. Alternatively you can easily build a ‘hedgehog hotel’. A simple wooden box design with entrance holes and a watertight lid makes the perfect home for them.”

Minister Durkan visited two schools, Ballycraigy Primary in Antrim and Elmgrove in East Belfast to see at first hand work being undertaken by pupils to help preserve the hedgehog.

The Minister continued: “Our young people care deeply about the environment, something that we can all learn from and encourage. I believe passionately that this work with schools is vital for the local environment and wider community.

“I commend both Ballycraigy Primary and Elmgrove Primary in their efforts to protect our hedgehog population. I’m always happy to tackle the prickly issues of the day and I believe it is important that we all make a contribution to protecting hedgehog numbers.

“Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful plays a key role in promoting simple measures that can make a big difference through our highly successful Eco-Schools programme, to protect the hedgehog.”

Schools from all across Belfast gathered at Belfast City Hall on 4th June to celebrate environmental success with Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, Eco-Schools and Belfast City Council’s Wheelie Big Challenge.

The event was held in the spectacular setting of the Great Hall in Belfast City Hall. Schools were invited to present their final findings and actions for this year’s Wheelie Big Challenge. The project asked pupils in 30 Belfast schools to investigate and engage in practical actions to reduce waste in school and at home by reducing, reusing and recycling.

Lisnasharragh Primary School took first place in the Primary category and taking second in the same category were St Teresa’s Primary School and joint third places Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School and Holy Family Primary School.

Victoria College took first place in the Post Primary category and taking second and third places in the same category were St Louise’s Comprehensive College and Methodist College respectively.

All schools attending set up brilliant displays highlighting the work they had done for the Wheelie Big Challenge which included everything from worms to Eco-robots and welly-boot planters. Some schools had moved from having no recycling in school to having as much as 80% of their rubbish recycled by the end of the Challenge.

Six schools were also officially presented with the prestigious and internationally recognised Eco-Schools Green Flag award for excellence in environmental work in their schools: Victoria College, Donegall Road Primary School, Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School, Botanic Primary School, Lisnasharragh Primary School and St Peter’s Nursery School.

George Lyttle, Waste Manager, Belfast City Council, said: “It’s fantastic to see the effort and team work that these children have put in, to bring the “reduce, reuse, recycle” message to life in such a creative way. Congratulations to all the schools who made it through to the finals. It was also great to be able to celebrate the achievement of the Belfast schools receiving Eco-Schools Green Flag accreditation”

Carmel Fyfe, Eco-Schools Manager, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, said: “Congratulations to all the Schools receiving awards today through the Wheelie Big Challenge and Eco-Schools programme. Today was a wonderful opportunity to reward the efforts being made by those in the local area doing their bit to make Belfast a cleaner, greener and more sustainable place in which to live and we are delighted to be supported by Belfast City Council in recognising these efforts.”

The Eco-Schools Programme is the world’s largest environmental education programme which aims to make environmental awareness and action an intrinsic part of school life. Eco-Schools, sponsored by SSE Airtricity, is a free to enter programme. Eco-Schools work through a simple seven step process to implement behavioural change and study a range of topics, such as waste. By participating in projects like the Wheelie Big Challenge schools are able to reduce their environmental impact and become more sustainable as they work through their Eco-Schools Programme.

Schools who would like to get involved in the Eco-Schools Programme, or who would like to find out more, are asked to visit www.eco-schoolsni.org.

Eco-Schools is a global, student-led phenomenon, the world's leading environmental education programme and one of the international Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) programmes. It makes environmental awareness and practical action an intrinsic part of school life.

Eco-Schools is operated here by environmental charity, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, which is dedicated to making Northern Ireland a cleaner and more pleasant place. The programme has gone from strength-to-strength over the last few years with support from the Department of the Environment and sponsorship from SSE Airtricity.

Environment Minister, Mark H. Durkan, whose department supports the Programme said:

“This is a tremendous achievement for schools. Our young people have a proud history spanning over twenty years with a local school being the first in the world to be awarded an Eco-Schools Green Flag Award. The fact that every school is actively working towards getting the international Green Flag Award is testament to how important the environment is to young people.

“Getting young people involved is critical if we are to sustain our environment. During my many visits to schools I have seen at first-hand how young people of all ages are making a real difference, altering attitudes, behaviours, making real savings and contributing to a better environment.”

This year Northern Ireland became the first country out of the 59 countries in the international programme to reach 100% participation with all schools here registering to take part. This landmark achievement is testimony to the enthusiasm and determination of Northern Ireland’s pupils to make a difference and change their environment for the better.

This 20th anniversary year of the programme has also seen a record breaking number of schools in Northern Ireland achieving the pinnacle of the programme, the prestigious and internationally recognised Eco-Schools Green Flag Award. 128 schools received the award in recognition of the excellent progress they have been making in protecting the environment and moving towards a more sustainable future.

Carmel Fyfe, Eco-Schools Manager, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful said: “It is hugely encouraging to see the many benefits of the Eco-Schools programme, such as better pupil engagement, cost savings and environmental improvement, being shared by every school in Northern Ireland. Congratulations to all our Eco-Schools on their fantastic achievements this year and we look forward to seeing more and more of our schools achieving the prestigious Green Flag award.”

Paul Cooley, Head of SSE Airtricity's Renewables Business, the Principal Sponsors of the Eco-Schools Programme added: “We’re extremely proud to be associated with Eco-Schools and I’d personally like to congratulate all 1178 schools involved in the programme and in particular the 128 schools who have achieved Green Flag status this year.”

List of schools achieving the Green Flag Award in 2014-15.