The school EB 2,3 Padre Bento Pereira of Borba adopted in the school year of 2005/2006 with the autarchy’s support, the Eco-Schools Program. This initiative, co-ordinated at the international level by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) and at the national level by the Blue Flag Association (ABAE), intends to promote activities developed by the school which benefit environment and all the local community where the school is inserted. It’s a complement to the Local Agenda 21 and wants to count on the involvement of the school community, whether it be students, teachers, other employees or parents among others. The school has to apply a work methodology which will end out, if the developed work is worthy, with the bestowing of a Green Flag which certifies the existence, in that school, of a coherent and quality environmental education.

The adopted methodology includes seven elements, being the first the creation of the Eco-School Council that will be the organ responsible by the implementation and execution of this program. In the Eco-School Council should be represented all the sectors important to the school community, counting on representatives of the students, parents, teachers, autarchy, parishes, non-teaching personnel, among others whom the school finds to be convenient.
The second step is an Environmental Auditory whose objective is to do the diagnosis of the school situation relating to the activities with environmental impact. It allows us to evaluate which are the problems of the school and will count on the student’s involvement who will give their opinion about what should be bettered in the school.

After the Environmental Auditory, the Eco-School Council will be ready to elaborate the Action Plan to that school-year. This should be a planning with the several actions to undertake indicating the chosen themes, that can be related with water, wastes, energy, biodiversity, transports, noise, biological agriculture and open-air spaces.
All this process should be constantly inspected and evaluated and can be introduced changes in the Action Plan always it is needed.

The program also foresees the articulation between the Eco-Schools work themes and the curricular programs, allowing every classes to be involved and environmental themes studied in class to influence the school functioning.
It is important that during this process all the undertaken activities are divulged, truing to inform and involve not only the school but the whole local community.
To complete the Eco-Schools Program implementation, it should be established an Eco-Code, that is, a set of rules to fulfil by the whole school community and that should be divulged in the local community.

At the end of every school-year, she school can run for the Eco-Schools Trophy, which consists in the attribution of a Green Flag and its certification as Eco-School.
The adoption of this program is an important step in the way to local sustainability, being an essential contribute to create an environmental conscience among the younger ones and to the improvement of life quality in our municipality.