The Ministry of Rural Development and the Ministry of Human Resources are working together in the interests of environmental education and to promote the environmental awareness of future generations by ensuring that children gain suitable experience and practical environmental training beginning in nursery school. 226 nursery schools were awarded "Green Kindergarten" certificates in 2013 at a ceremony held in the Hungarian Museum of Agriculture on 19 December.

The goal of nursery school environmental education is to teach children environmentally aware behaviour and lifestyle habits in accordance with European norms and domestic characteristics. Promoting the best examples of teaching children about sustainability is an important task both at home and abroad. The "Green Kindergarten" classification system is an effective system for the achievement of these goals.

The goal of the programme is to teach children about sustainability and to create and develop the foundations for their future environmentally aware lifestyle and way of thinking through open-air lessons and nature field trips. The programme helps to increase the environmental awareness of teachers, parents and local communities, and helps residential communities with "Green Kindergartens" recognise their local treasures and better understand the importance of environmental protection. In accordance with rural development principles, nursery school children not only learn to respect natural treasures, but also gain wide-ranging knowledge of several related topics.

Nursery schools who applied for the "Green Kindergarten" award prepared a self-assessment of three years of teaching. The assessments were performed according to a 20-point criteria system spanning the level of environmental teaching within the institution, the successful passing on of the principles of sustainable development, new initiatives and the operation of the nursery school. The submitted assessments were then evaluated by experts.

This is the sixth time that the title of "Green Kindergarten" has been awarded since 2006, to 226 nursery schools this year. In 2013, 81 nursery schools applied for the title for the first time this year, 96 for the second time, 23 for the third time, and 26 institutions received the title of "Green Kindergarten for Life", which was awarded for the first time this year. There are now a total of some 650 green kindergartens operating in Hungary.

(Press Office of the Ministry of Rural Development)