Many people and organisations have been involved along the way, each has had something unique to contribute. We visually map our progress each year in the annual Enviroschools Scrapbook, to record the people and events that are part of the journey.
The journey of Enviroschools / Kura Taiao has been driven by the kaupapa of creating a sustainable world. It began with the seed of an idea about young people creating healthy peaceful, sustainable schools, and has developed into a diverse and rich network of learning and action in communities nationwide, which is now even reaching other countries.
At the heart of the development of this programme are the strong connections between people; the trusting relationships, the commitment to long-term change and a culture of creativity and sharing. The following is a very simplified timeline that shows the main stages of the programme development and what the next stage might be.
Pilot (1993-1998)
1 region, 3 schools
Experimentation with a range of environmental action projects in three schools within the Waikato region.
Framework Development (1999-2001)
2 regions, 12 schools and kura
- Trialing techniques and developing the framework to integrate student-centred learning, Māori perspectives and sustainability, into a whole school approach.
- Resources, in English, to guide a long-term process in school/kura
- Design of the professional development process to introduce people to the Enviroschools kaupapa, including facilitation training and an annual national hui.
Partnership Building (2002-2003)
10 regions, 120 schools and kura
- Establishment of The Enviroschools Foundation and consolidation of the partnership with Te Mauri Tau.
- Design of professional development for Māori Perspectives in the English Kit.
- Councils begin establishing Enviroschools Regional Coordinators and Facilitators.
- Training of the first facilitators.
Regional Capacity Building (2004-2006)
13 regions, 419 schools, kura and early childhood centres
- Collaboration between regional networks.
- Schools/kura beginning to mentor each other.
- Strengthening the regional and national professional development programme.
- Strong national identity emerging.
- Designing Kura Taiao resources for kura Māori (in Māori).
- Early Childhood Centres trial the Enviroschools Programme.
Deeping Practice and Widening the Network (2007-2009)
15 regions, over 680 schools, kura and early childhood centres (one quarter of all schools), 250 schools/kura waiting
- Production of draft He Kete Taiao for kura Māori
- Professional development for the first kaitakawaenga
- First and second national Youth Jams
- Youth-teaching-youth model emerging – Regional Youth Jams.
- Establishment of partnerships in a range of sectors for technology innovation.
- Establishment of post-school youth networks.
- Broadening of community projects.
- Deepening practice in mainstream schools.
- International interest in the Enviroschools model.
- Development of Kaitakawaenga network and rangahau.
Community Regeneration (2010-2012)
New Zealand: 15 Regions, 1,300 schools, kura and early childhood centres (half of all schools). Networks in Chile, Singapore and Brunei.
- Publish He Kete Taiao and disseminate.
- Continue development of the Kura Taiao network and the supporting network of Kaitakawaenga.
- First Kura Jam.
- Broaden the youth/rangatahi engagement and community action.
- Establish youth/rangatahi facilitator roles in each region.
- Develop new facilitation models to support increasing numbers of schools and kura.
- Grow the technology innovation projects.
- Create employment partnerships in technology and ecosystem enhancement.
- Develop the Enviroschools International model.
