Global Schools Program
For a sustainable future: we are part of the global school movement dedicated to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Sustainability at the heart of education
By joining the Global Schools Program within the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, Gökkuşağı Schools has declared, on an international stage, its commitment to raising students as responsible citizens of a sustainable future.
The programme connects our school to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and UNESCO's education priorities. With this understanding, we regard raising environmentally conscious, globally aware and solution-oriented individuals as an inseparable part of our educational journey.
Five core commitments
Through our Global Schools Program membership, we take on concrete responsibilities for sustainable development.
We Support UN Principles
SDG · UNESCO GAP-ESDWe uphold the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and UNESCO's Global Action Programme on Education for Sustainable Development (GAP-ESD).
We Equip Our Students
Knowledge and SkillsWe give our students the knowledge and skills needed to advance sustainable development.
Institutional Sustainability
Inclusive and GreenWe make our school operations and programmes environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive.
We Join a Global Movement
Global School NetworkWe are an active part of the global school movement dedicated to the Sustainable Development Goals.
Transparent Reporting
Monitoring and SharingWe regularly report on the progress of our activities that support the Sustainable Development Goals.
17 goals, one school culture
The Global Schools Program connects schools to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations for 2030. For us these are not a separate subject but a lens built into everyday school life.
Quality Education
Goal 4Building an inclusive, measurable learning environment where every child progresses at their own potential.
Climate Action
Goal 13Reviewing our energy and waste habits together with students and turning them into campus practice.
Responsible Consumption
Goal 12Recycling, reducing waste and mindful consumption as recurring themes of classroom projects.
Life on Land
Goal 15Gardening and ecology work is part of the weekly timetable from kindergarten onwards.
Reduced Inequalities
Goal 10Social responsibility and community service projects help students see the world beyond their own.
Partnerships for the Goals
Goal 17Through MUN and international collaborations students debate global issues first hand.
A commitment on the timetable, not on paper
Sustainability is not a once-a-year event for us. Each level has an age-appropriate counterpart, and the student moves from observer to producer as they progress.
- Kindergarten
Gardening and ecology is a weekly session. Children build their first relationship with soil, seeds and seasons; sharing and waste are discussed inside daily routines.
- Primary
Eco-School work and classroom recycling projects start the habit of taking responsibility. Students monitor their own classroom’s water, paper and energy use.
Our Eco-School work - Middle School
Social responsibility and community service projects begin; students develop a view that starts in their neighbourhood and reaches global issues.
Our social responsibility projects - High School
The CAP volunteering branch, MUN and the community service component of the IB come together. Students now design, run and report their own projects.
CAP activity branches
A generation that adds value to the future
The "Becoming a World School" vision we have sustained since 1997 today meets the goals of sustainable development. We prepare our students not only for today, but for the future of the world.
Global Schools Program frequently asked
It is an international school programme run within the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN). Member schools commit to bringing the Sustainable Development Goals and UNESCO’s education for sustainable development framework into school culture.
Children learn to connect knowledge to a real issue: noticing a problem, looking at data, proposing a solution and evaluating the outcome. This mindset pays off both academically and in university applications.
No. It sits inside science, social studies, mathematics and language lessons, CAP branches and club work. The aim is not an extra workload but a new lens on the existing programme.
They complement each other. The IB’s international outlook and service component and Cambridge’s inquiry-led approach overlap naturally with sustainability themes; a single project can be assessed in both frameworks.
Gardening and ecology in kindergarten, Eco-School work and recycling monitoring in primary, social responsibility projects in middle school, CAP volunteering and MUN in high school. Every level has an age-appropriate area of responsibility.
Transparent reporting is one of the commitments of membership. We regularly compile and share the progress of our work supporting the sustainable development goals.
Discover our international accreditations.
From our IB and Cambridge programmes to our international memberships, take a close look at our education to global standards.
Education for sustainability guide
The Sustainable Development Goals are 17 headings agreed by United Nations member states for 2030, ranging from ending poverty and hunger to quality education, climate action and reduced inequalities.
Their value for schools is this: they let a child read the world as a whole. A water-saving project is science, mathematics and citizenship at the same time. Because the goals are interconnected, students build knowledge as a web of relationships rather than isolated pieces.
Membership is not a certificate but a list of commitments. The school undertakes to uphold UN principles, to equip students with the knowledge and skills sustainable development requires, and to make its own operations environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive.
The school also joins a worldwide network of member schools and reports the progress of its work regularly. Membership is therefore an ongoing programme, not a document filed away once obtained.
The most effective support is when what the child discusses at school also has a counterpart at home. Separating waste, monitoring water and electricity together, and asking “do we really need this?” while shopping build small but lasting habits.
Taking an interest in your child’s school project and asking about its outcome matters too. Education for sustainability is more about habits than information transfer; what a child sees at home determines how much of the classroom learning sticks.