The Flemish Community guides international schools to obtain the European Green Flag for schools, both in Brussels and Flanders. The Flemish project is called Milieuzorg Op School (MOS, which stands for “Environmental Care at School”) and covers all ages from kindergarten to primary and secondary schools. In order to get this MOS logo you need to go through three stages and at the fourth stage you will get the European Green Flag for schools.

The principal objective of the project is to raise pupil’s awareness of environmental issues and this through the school’s own environment. A training package containing educational material can be requested, including some software to assess the current status of environmental care at school and some suggestions on where things could be improved. Each year one working area or theme is chosen by the school (e.g. year 1: waste, year 2: energy and year 3: mobility) and after three years – including their soft guidance and constructive evaluations - the MOS logo is awarded.

The power of the MOS logo is that you need to earn the three stages or puzzle pieces before you get the complete MOS logo and only after each year one puzzle piece can be obtained. This implies that the school has to embed an environmental awareness in the entire policy of the school instead of just having a single one-time event or one-week project on the environment. The environmental care will have become mainstream. Some of the international schools in Brussels and Flanders have already embarked upon this admirable road.

Will your school be the next one? For more info you can This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , the English-speaking responsible for the MOS project or go directly to their website.

If your school is trying to become greener or has already obtained the MOS logo, leave a comment and share your experience!