Spark the Movement inspires schools to learn for and to work towards a circular economy and a sustainable society. In this movement young people, teachers and staff of all schools in all levels, from primary schools to university level, are involved.

Spark is partner of Vereniging Circular Friesland (https://circulairfriesland.frl), an association with over 100 members from local governments, companies, educational institutes, NGOs and artists. Our aim is to create broad prosperity, by putting up all kinds of projects and initiatives. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN provide us a clear picture of what we strive for.

Recently SPARK got acknowledged by the United Nations as RCE, regional community of expertise on education for sustainable development. RCE SPARK Fryslân sees itself as a node in the Frisian (Northern) ecosystem of partners that promote sustainable thinking and acting by learning together.

“We want to train our talents from pre-school to post-doc to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to cope with the challenges of the 21st century. In 2025, ESD should be a common practice in our region for all learners, on all levels, at all ages”, says Heleentje Swart.

Swart (info@sparkthemovement.nl) is coordinator of this RCE. “We strive to strengthen the values and the behavior of our community to work towards broad prosperity, here and now and for living beings elsewhere on the planet and for the generations to come”.

SPARK works according the Whole School Approach to sustainability. This holistic framework invites educators to embed sustainability into the DNA of the school.

In building the movement SPARK distinguishes three phases. In phase 1 initiatives for sustainable development are activity-oriented, undertaken by individuals and ad hoc; in phase 2 people work together on project base; in phase 3 learning for sustainable development is fully embedded in the region.

RCE SPARK Fryslân represents this third phase: we form a Regional Community of Expertise where all triple helix partners (local governments, entrepreneurs and educational institutes) learn together for sustainable development. Our RCE ESD is supported and governed by young people, actively participating in building a sustainable, thriving future.