This year, 457 schools in Guanacaste will strive to earn the Blue Ecological Flag (Spanish acronym: BAE) through a new methodology based on completing eco-challenges. These range from reducing energy and water consumption and forming student brigades to creating gardens for pollinator species.
By completing each of the 24 eco-challenges, schools accumulate points that will later earn them anywhere from one to five stars on their blue ecological flag.
The Ministry of Public Education (MEP) and the organization Guardians of Nature partnered to launch this pilot project, starting with the four regional education offices of Guanacaste: Cañas, Liberia, Santa Cruz, and Nicoya.
The program also includes tools to enhance schools’ participation experience, such as automated reporting on actions taken, quarterly prizes in partnership with private companies, and an educational platform with more than 120 resources to support them in completing the eco-challenges.
Before, the format took up endless hours of paperwork, and now it’s much more accessible,” says Alice Canales, principal of the Barco Quebrado School in Nicoya. “It allows us to have more time to work on what really matters, not just filling out reports,” she adds.
Another innovation of the pilot project is that, by completing challenges, schools can earn ecoins—or ecomoney—which they can later exchange for monthly raffles of products and services.
“This is a pilot we’re launching in Guanacaste, and the goal is to expand it nationwide within three years,” explains Guardians of Nature founder Jessica Sheffield, who also mentioned that they will seek support from local governments to help fund the purchase of the flags, since in recent years, the MEP hasn’t always had the budget to cover them.
You can explore all the information about the pilot project on this website.
Schools have until December 5, 2025, to submit evidence of the completed eco-challenges. If your school has questions about the Blue Ecological Flag Program, you can write to: [email protected] or [email protected].
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