The Challenge

can Romania's children learn in buildings that…

…have abundant natural daylight and better lighting

…are free of toxic substances

…have great acoustics to hear the lessons

…save energy and protect Romania's ecology

…positive and aesthetic environments encouraging better learning and attendance?

From the first day of kindergarten all the way through graduation, we all aspire to put our children in schools that can lead them to the most promising of futures. We look closely at who is teaching them, and we pay attention to what they are learning.

But how often do we think about where our children learn?

There are students and teachers in more than half of households in Romania. A quarter of all Romanians walk through the doors of a school every day. Yet instead of walking into places of opportunity, millions enter buildings where the air they breathe is filled with toxins and mold, where classrooms are poorly lit and overcrowded, and where resources are limited and outdated.
Romanian students miss more than 10 million school days each year because of asthma symptoms that are worsened by poor indoor air quality. Too many of our children are learning in buildings that are compromising their health and ability to succeed.
Our kids deserve better. Where they learn matters.

The Opportunity

"Build Greener Schools" is an initiative of the Romania Green Building Council to put all children in schools where they have clean and healthy air to breath, where energy and resources are conserved, and where they can be inspired to dream of a brighter future. We know how to create high performing schools that save hundreds of thousands of dollars and provide safer learning environments for our children. But we can't do it alone.