The winning project, Stamp Stanley – Walk to Millfield Project, aimed to reduce traffic congestion by creating a long-term incentive for children to walk to and from school. The school installed permanent checkpoint machines along school routes so students could collect a stamp for each “green journey” made. Stamps are then saved up and exchanged at school for a wide range of rewards.
“Toyota Motor Europe, via the Toyota Fund for Europe, has been delighted to partner and sponsor the Environment and Innovation Project,” said Graham Smith, Senior Vice-President of Toyota Motor Europe and Chairman of the Toyota Fund for Europe. “Each school’s project, in some way, has helped to reduce our environmental footprint by tackling local issues in a very concrete and practical way. We congratulate every student whose creativity and perseverance have made a real difference.”
Millfield Primary School was crowned the European Winner from a shortlist of four national winners: Harkortschule Primary School (Germany), Tagliacozzo-Gramsci Primary School (Italy) and Leganés Eco-School Network (Spain). Project ideas included a road safety education programme (Germany), new software to encourage car-pooling and alternative modes of travel (Italy), and a bicycle promotion programme (Spain).
Jan Eriksen, President of FEE said: “We are really impressed by the way children and teachers have collaborated with local business and authorities, and applied creativity and ingenuity to tackle shared community problems. Once again, Eco-Schools from several countries implemented innovative projects that bring positive benefits not only for the school but also for the families and communities!”
The Toyota Fund for Europe and Eco-Schools, an international programme of the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), have been working together since 2005. The Environment and Innovation Project was launched as a pilot programme to promote innovative thinking and environmental education in schools across Europe.
Notes to the editors:
1) Toyota Motor Europe NV/SA (TME) oversees the wholesale sales and marketing of Toyota and Lexus vehicles, parts and accessories, and Toyota’s European manufacturing and engineering operations. Toyota directly and indirectly employs around 80,000 people in Europe and has invested over €6 billion since 1990. In 2006, Toyota sold 1,124,119 Toyota and Lexus vehicles in Europe, enjoying its tenth consecutive record year of sales. The company aims to sell 1.22 million units in Europe in 2007, including 44,500 hybrid vehicles. For more information, go to http://www.toyota.eu
2) Eco-Schools, a programme of the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), provides an ideal way to implement Local Agenda 21 in the school and its neighbouring community. The Eco-Schools International Programme was developed as a response to some of the needs identified at the UN Conference on Environment and Development of 1992. Initiated in 1994 with support of the European Commission, the programme offers a flexible approach for schools to implement an environmental management system, the 7 steps, based on the EMAS/ISO 14001 standards. For more information, go to http://www.eco-schools.org.
For more information please contact:
Toyota
Etienne Plas,
T +32 2 745 2022,
E-mail: etienne.plas@toyota-europe.com
Maria Mack,
T +32 2 745 2053,
E-mail: maria.mack@toyota-europe.com
Anne Gaublomme, T +32 2 745 2041,
E-mail: anne.gaublomme@toyota-europe.com
Eco-Schools International Coordination Programme
T +35 1 21 394 2745,
E-mail: coordination@eco-schools.org
www.toyota-media.com
www.eco-schools.org
