In March 2013, at a round table entitled »Environment and the Youth: How to Motivate Them to Care for the Environment?«, which was held at the 32nd International Conference on the Development of Organizational Sciences, the participants discussed about the encouragement of the young people to the care for the environment and, thus, came to the idea that the students of the Faculty of Organizational Sciences should also be encouraged towards a responsible environment and waste management.
Gregor Cerar, MSc, a National Coordinator of the Eco-Schools Programme, who was an active speaker at the aforementioned round table, familiarized us with the possibilities of inclusion into the Eco-schools Programme that has been maintained by the DOVES Society for over fifteen (15) years and implemented by various educational-schooling institutions (kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, centres of school and out-of-school activities, and Halls of Residence).
In the academic year 2013/2014, the Eco-school Programme began to include the Faculties as well and, therefore, the employees at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences launched the environmental review and the action plan of our institution.
A Working Group, headed by the Eco-school Programme Coordinators for the Faculty of Organizational Sciences, Alenka Baggia, PhD and Petra Gorjanc, has been established for the purposes of the Eco-School Programme, and received an excellent response from the students, employees, and Lecturers.
The Eco-school Programme is an internationally recognised programme of comprehensive environmental education and schooling, aimed at promoting and raising the awareness about the sustainable development among children, pupils, and students through their educational and schooling programme and by means of an active participation in the local community and beyond.
Every year the most successful schools are awarded international recognitions, the so-called Green Flags. This is also the only public and international recognition of the Slovenian schools for the environmental activities, in accordance with the international FEE Criteria (Foundation for Environmental Education).
In the academic year 2014/2015, the University of Maribor, Faculty of Organizational Sciences received the Green Flag of the international Eco-School Programme and recognition for an outstanding achievement in education for sustainable development and its management, which helps to improve the environmental performance of the school and the wider community continuously.