Edinburgh College’s Waterfront Nursery achieves Eco-Schools Green Flag Award
Edinburgh College’s Waterfront Nursery has been recognised for its excellence in sustainable development education by taking home the Eco-Schools 2025 Green Flag Award.
The Green Flag Award is an internationally endorsed accreditation and the highest standard of award within the Eco-Schools programme. It aims to celebrate nurseries and schools who embed environmental action and awareness within their institutional culture and educational curriculum.
The nursery, situated on the College’s Granton Campus, earned the award by working with children on three key elements of sustainable education:
Water
Located near Granton’s waterfront and overlooking the Firth of Forth, Waterfront Nursery is the perfect place to instil a sense of interest and stewardship within children over local and wider oceans. Nursery staff encouraged a responsible attitude to water consumption and waste, conveying clean water as a precious resource, one that though seems unlimited or free, is a luxury that many live without. Pollution on the coast was acknowledged, helping the children understand that dirty water and human litter was a human problem with human solutions.
Climate Change
Inspiring children to build personal relationships with natural spaces was another priority for the Waterfront Nursery. Through regular visits to the Wee Granton Forest and waterfront areas, staff supported the pupils as they developed a sense of connection to the woods, shore, and ocean, and helped them identify when human actions cause harm to the natural environment, and where they could help. Establishing the act of Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling within day-to-day life at the nursery aimed to further instil a sense of responsibility in protecting and preserving the environment, reducing the gap between small individual choices and systemic change.
Food and the Environment
The Waterfront Nursery provides children with two nutritious meals and one snack daily, with an element of choice and self-service encouraged. This gave staff a natural opportunity to model making responsible food choices, healthy eating, and the appropriate disposal of food waste, ultimately ingraining a sense of awareness of the basic rules surrounding health-conscious eating. Children were also educated on the journey of food – from seed to fork. Understanding the process of how it is planted and farmed, before eventually becoming available in supermarkets, communicated that food is a valuable and precious commodity.
We’re delighted to have achieved the Eco-Schools Green Flag Award this year. It’s a real testament to our commitment to helping children understand their role in caring for and protecting the natural environment.Waterfront Nursery Manager, Catherine Buchanan
Find out more about the Waterfront Nursery.