Students lead Britannica towards becoming the ‘Greenest’ International School in Budapest

In 2021, we started to reduce our carbon footprint by becoming proud partners of the ELMŰ-ÉMÁSZ Zöld Partner programme – this ‘Green Partner’ programme certifies that the school’s energy supply comes entirely from renewable sources.

To add to this, over the Spring break, we had a set of amazing solar panels installed on the school roof - which look quite spectacular!

Research has long shown how positive learning environments and access to green space have many benefits on student learning, engagement and well-being, and we know that environmental education helps both our students and our planet in many ways. The recent ‘Garden Project' was an excellent opportunity for our Upper Key Stage 2 students to learn, develop and apply their research, design, problem solving and mathematical skills in a purposeful and real-life situation, designing the KS1 garden, whilst also getting them to actively think about their environment and sustainability.

For our school uniform, we work with Trutex, who have always been committed to nurturing the future, becoming the UK’s first carbon neutral schoolwear company and have been a carbon neutral organisation since 2012. There are various clothing and donation drives organised throughout the academic year for a more sustainable use of unwanted items.

We of course also focus on recycling, our Eco Warriors are very active across the school, investigating new ways to keep Britannica clean and green, and our Gardening club in both Primary and Secondary School are ever popular too, looking after beautiful flower beds for butterflies, bees and other insects to enjoy, to name but a few projects! As a school, we continue to look for further ways to build sustainability into our school culture, in the curriculum, across all operations and management of the school, and throughout our connections and partnerships in the local and wider community.

Our Primary Student Council had the privilege to meet world-famous primatologist and researcher, Dr Jane Goodall at a Roots & Shoots event during her recent visit to Hungary, where our students presented all the great work we are already doing as a school on sustainability and conservation in our community: recycling, looking after our school garden, installing insect hotels in the school yard, having Eco-Warriors on duty every day, organising clothes swap boxes, and the solar panels project, for example. Our students felt truly honoured to have met the legendary scientist, conservationist, and humanitarian whose ground-breaking discoveries have shaped our understanding of what it means to be human.