The ecological footprint as an educational tool for sustainability: A case study analysis in an Israeli public high school

Education is widely acknowledged to be a means for advancing environmental sustainability. Many schools have recently introduced the idea of sustainability into their educational agenda and curriculum. This study uses an innovative method of communicating the principle of sustainability, the ‘Ecological Footprint’ Analysis, which illustrates the impact of community lifestyles upon the natural environment. This paper describes the process of integrating the concept of the ecological footprint at the high school level, analyzes the school's ecological footprint, and discusses its contributions to education for sustainability in schools.

► We implemented the ecological footprint (EF) as an educational tool for sustainability in high school.
► The result showed that the size of the EF of the school was 320 gha for the year 2008/2009.
► This means that the land consumed by the high school community is 160 times larger than its built-up land which accounts for 2 ha.
► Analyzing EF in the framework of an educational program is meaningful method for communicating the message of sustainability to students.