Case Study: Mars UK Snackfood
Mars UK has a strong heritage of working with schools in Berkshire to support
learning and encourage responsible citizenship and good environmental practice.
The company has identified the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead as a key
community partner and the Borough's Learning for Sustainability initiative
promotes and encourages schools to embrace sustainability in their teaching and
promote
sustainable behaviour within the school.
Mars UK's main focus of support for schools in the Borough is the provision of a
consultant to help schools begin their Eco-Schools programme.
Eco-Schools is a
national award scheme that supports Sustainable Schools and is particularly
useful in ensuring pupil participation. Eco-Schools provides a framework for an
environmental management system, which links to the national curriculum.
For schools that wish to go for an Eco-Schools standard, Mars UK offers a free,
informal visit to identify current good practice and advice on how to move
forward. So far 27 assessments have taken place and of those, 23 schools are
now
registered with Eco-Schools – over one third of the Borough's schools.
In addition, Mars UK has donated £14,000 towards the purchase and sponsorship of
two giant
Earth Balloons, and also hosts and facilitates annual conferences and
workshops for teaching staff from local schools to learn about the latest
national and local sustainability developments.
The initiative won a silver award at the 2008 Community Partnership Awards:
Education Category
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More Information
FDF has published a booklet called Working in the Community: the food industry in action
(pdf, 1.2Mb) . This publication features a range of company case studies and
Community
Partnership Award winners demonstrating how our members are forging
links
with
their local communities and consumers.
Last reviewed: 14 May 2009