The Green-Campus Programme is based on the successful Green-Schools Programme and provides an ideal way for fostering environmental awareness in a third level institution in a way that links to everyday activities and study, and ties in with operational requirements of a complex multi use facility.
In essence Green Campus is an advanced version of the Green Flag Programme for Third Level Institutions. The programme is based on the EU EMAS (Eco-Management and Auditing System) approach, and the Seven Steps correspond with the criteria of the ISO14001:2000 Environmental Management System Standard. There are currently a number of third level colleges and universities undertaking the programme in Ireland. These include University College Cork, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology Castlebar, St. Patrick's College, Drumcondra and Sligo IT.
The Green Campus Programme promotes a partnership approach to environmental management in third level institutions. This is a modification of traditional environmental management systems which tend to be management driven. The Green-Campus programme identifies the campus as a community and places significant importance on the inclusion of all sectors of the campus community in its environmental management and enhancement. The Green Campus Programme does not reward specific environmental projects or implementation of a new technology or other rather it rewards long term commitment to continuous improvement from the campus community in question. In order for a Campus to qualify for the Green Campus Award (Green-Flag) the college must be registered with the Environmental Education Unit at An Tasice for a minimum of one academic year and have successfully implemented all seven steps of the programme. The seven steps are: establishing a green campus committee, undertaking an environmental review, implementing an action plan, monitoring and evaluating actions carried out, linking the programme to curriculum work, informing and involving the campus and wider community and developing a green charter.
University College Cork have been working on the programme for the last number of years and have been recently awarded the Green-Flag for their adoption of the programme. To see their progress click here.