Story

We've all been to school once. 

Today, 1 in 3 families attend a school every day. It is a central public place in the daily life of the neighbourhood. In 50 years, she has hardly changed. 

Parents can recognize the classes they attended 20-30 years ago. The places have visibly deteriorated, we do not know when they will be renovated. But when we talk with our neighbours, we see profound changes (environment, society, economy, education). By 2030, almost 2/3 of schools will need to be renovated, 1/3 are already completely obsolete.

And our good grandmother told us "school is the place to start to build tomorrow".

In our street, our neighbourhood, our village, we see these changes coming; 

• shared spaces and co-managed spaces are making a comeback, 

• mobility will be soft and mutualised, 

• short circuits and bio-canteens are the new standard. 

• By 2030, buildings must become energy producers, 

• 20-30% of artificialised free ’spaces whose schoolyards could be quickly replanted.

On the threshold of schools we are 3 generations... and we hesitate to take the first step.

Where to start, who to involve, with what method, what resources? 

What if the school, through its renovation, would become a place where we could, with the educative community, children, professionals and associations co-learn to become part of change?

So, let's start together, make this step aside to test-learn-consolidate-upscale a change making cooperative solution!

Systemic problem

The preliminary question (documented, co-designed within Lille Metropole 2020 World Design Capital) is: 

" How to eco-renovate more than 150 schools/year, in connection with their neighbourhoods / villages in transition, at 3 generations? "

As official partner of the New European Bauhaus, Alliance Sens & Economie has started sharing this question ; through the independent NEB conversation "ECO²-SCHOOLS of the GreenDeal? Let's make this step aside and cooperate to test-learn-consolidate-upscale next education".

Learn more about the systemic problem we have studied in details (within Lille Métropole World Design Capital 2020 and ASHOKA Changemakers Everywhere Academy Programme).

Our motivation : 

is to test, learn, consolidate, upscale a common set of solutions (change of design, learn experience, offers  and habits)  shared between 6 climate-cultural regions in the European Union.

We initiate within the official "NEB LAB" a cooperative living lab bringing together concerned stakeholders (complemetary initiatives, in common method, knowledge-expertise, resources, tools, co-investment) and volunteer pilot-sites willing to demonstrate relavance of a systemic learn by doing opproach.

Challenge is to test/demonstrate how to combine actions :

- needed sustainable renovation of educative buildings that have a role of enablers, for neighbourhoods/villages in transition, involving 3 generations (NEB, Mission 100 Climate Neutral and Smart Cities),

- with an innovative learn by doing pedagogic approach, fitting with EU Climate Law goals (Education for Climate Coalition challenges).

- a common "Design thinking" method, key to success in the alchemy of combining views-skills-expertises-cultures-user centred approach.

- a cooperative governance and investment approach, as shared involvement is important to reach systemic scalable impact.

Target population is the school community and to be renovated site as enabler for neighbourhoods/villages in transition, at 3 generations.

ECO²-SCHOOLS focuses on 5 themes for a systemic change and in cooperation sustainable quality approach:

Theme 1- Solutions for retrofitting schools in series,

Theme 2- Multifonctional, open for the neighbourhood,

Theme 3- Other configurations for co-learning better,

Theme 4- A community engaged in the eco-transition,

Theme 5- Restore a cycle with nature.

Starting the open cooperative Lab

The will of ECO²-SCHOOLS (thematic NEB-Lab program) is to break down the silos, initiate a dencentralized transformation of a variety existing educative buildings, with(in) their context (schools, university campuses, third places, sports facilities, museum, educational forest-garden and farms, open schooling sites, neighbourhood houses). This by considering the role they can play as enablers of change for neighbourhoods/villages in transition at 3 generations.

Our approach is willing to combine, consolidate and grow existing initiatives distributed in 6 climate-cultural regions, for testing-learning-consolidating-upscaling a common approach that responds to the need for systemic eco-renovation of Educational Buildings in the European Union.

ECO²-SCHOOLS living-lab will be step by step structured, as a "European Cooperative Society" (inclusive governance, cooperative resources, expertise-tools-coinvestment approach) giving opportunities for all stakeholders to engage. This will support a variety of (existing) territorial hubs/communities that are in situation to deploy the approach in the spirit of the New European Bauhaus in a decentralized cooperative way.

Ex. In crossborder Eurometropolis Lille-Kortrijk-Tournai, POC Lille 2020 World Design Capital connects +50 concerned stakeholders.

Aimed physical transformation

In phase 1 / 2022-2024, ECO²-SCHOOLS connects stakeholders in the 6 climate-cultural regions in EU (geographic cross border territories, not institutional). Intention is that number of engaged educative places receive local support for their renovation project, with help of a Chamber of Quality and SCE (for non profit hybrid structure). 

In phase 2/ 2024-2025, The NEB LAB activities can be strengthened with EU funds and missions. 

Each involved school (educative site, campus), will build a learn-doing demonstrator with the neighbourhood/village enlightening how youth, educative community, families, companies, institutions and associations can engage in the transition. This is a key for building scalable impact, necessary to achieve the goal of +150 schools renovations each year.

First pilots will deliver a consolidated method and shared tools to engage more follower projects. The aimed physical goal is creation of beautiful sapces, usefully transformed with changemaking infrastructures and uses; rising positive carbon/environmental handprint, augmented shared added value, reduced environmental and social footprint.

In simple words, what will be different in 5 years is “concerned schools will live a shift of their educative posture, the young students will test-learn-consolidate-upscale ECO²-SCHOOLS process, they will live this experience with their families and an open circle of stakeholders that will follow and be step by step actively engaged. The way we see the school will have changed, this will be open and connected to a new generation of offers/habits in the neighbourhoods/villages.