Minister for Education and Youth announces delivery of over €850,000 in funding for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) projects in schools
- Published on: 22 December 2025
- Last updated on: 22 December 2025
Minister for Education and Youth Hildegarde Naughton TD has announced the delivery of over €850,000 in funding for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) projects in 390 primary and post-primary schools across the country.
Funding of between €1,000 and €2,500 is being delivered to schools who successfully proposed their 2025 / 2026 sustainability projects for funding under the 2nd National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD to 2030).
Some of the wide range of school projects in receipt of ESD funding include the development of school gardens and outdoor classrooms, forest schools, recycling systems, biodigesters and food waste management systems, composting systems, fast fashion projects, recycling initiatives, irrigation and rainwater collection systems, energy education initiatives, student led sustainability projects, teacher CPD and a range of sustainability themed workshops.
Minister for Education and Youth Hildegarde Naughton TD said:
“I am so impressed by the range of ESD projects underway in our primary and post primary schools across the country. It is essential that our learners have the opportunity to learn the skills needed to support, promote and take action for sustainable development. This year, schools have incorporated ‘local level action’ into their ESD projects, extending engagement beyond the school walls and out into the wider community, building essential partnerships for sustainability.”
ESD to 2030 aims to ensure that all learners have the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development. A priority aspect for school projects in 2025/26 is local community action, empowering students to take action for sustainable development in their local community.
The strategy has five priority areas: Aligning Policy, Transforming Learning Environments, Building Capacity of Educators, Empowering and Mobilising Youth and Accelerating Local Level Action.
The ESD to 2030 funding can be used by schools to further support ESD projects, to engage with their local communities building partnerships for sustainability and building teacher capacity to support implementation of their Sustainability Policy Statements and the School Sector Climate Action Mandate. The Sustainability Toolkit for Schools published in September 2023 is supporting schools in developing and publishing their Sustainability Policy Statements and in progressing more sustainable school and local environments.
ESD to 2030 supports implementation of the Climate Action Plan, the Sustainable Development Goals National Implementation Plan, the EU Green Deal and the UNs 2030 Agenda.
Note for the Editor
The 2nd National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development – ESD to 2030 – is co-sponsored by the Department of Education and Youth, Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and the Department of Children, Disability and Equality.
ESD aims to ensure that all learners have the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development. ESD is a target under the Sustainable Development Goals (Target 4.7) and acknowledged as a key enabler for the achievement of all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
ESD to 2030 has five priority areas, in line with UNESCO’s framework for ESD for 2030:
- Aligning Policy
- Transforming Learning Environments
- Capacity Building of Educators
- Empowering and Mobilising Youth
- Accelerating Local Level Action
The accompanying ESD to 2030 Implementation Plan 2022 – 2026 sets out the roadmap to achieving target 4.7 by 2030 across the Education Sector from Early Learning and Care to third level and beyond to non-formal and informal education.
ESD has three interlinked and equally important strands: Environmental, Social and Economic Sustainability.
Funding of over €850,000 is being delivered to schools across the country to support them in carrying out ESD related projects in their school, including for example; making the school and its grounds more sustainable; teacher training in ESD; student-led projects; collaborative projects between the school and the local community etc. Detailed criteria were set out in the funding call document. Funding was allocated based on the criteria and subject to level of demand.
Further ESD funding of €466,000 was delivered to 20 organisations in June 2025 to support a range of ESD related projects for schools including Teacher CPD and resource development.
ESD to 2030 supports the implementation of the Climate Action Plan, the Sustainable Development Goals National Implementation Plan, The EU Green Deal and the UNs Agenda 2030 (17 Sustainable Development Goals).
Sustainability toolkit
The Public Sector Climate Action Mandate highlights the main Climate Action objectives for the Public Bodies and supports those bodies to lead by example, including through the development of Climate Action Roadmaps.
Recognising the variance between large public bodies and the school sector and the distinctive role schools are playing in the areas of Education for Sustainable Development and Climate Change, a School Sector Climate Action Mandate was published in 2023 with a revised version published in November 2024 and a further 2025 revision to be published shortly: https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/a1673-school-sector-climate-action-mandate/?
To support schools in implementing the mandate and ESD to 2030, the department, in collaboration with key stakeholders, published a Sustainability Toolkit for schools. The toolkit comprises 1) a self-assessment sustainability audit 2) sustainability guidelines and 3) Sustainability Policy Statement template. The department has started mapping Schools Sustainability Policy Statements.
Further information on ESD to 2030, funding grantees and the sustainability toolkit are available on the webpage: gov.ie - National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development in Ireland (www.gov.ie)
| County | No. funded schools - primary | Primary funding by county | No. funded schools – Post primary | Post- primary funding by county | Total schools funded | Total funding by county |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlow | 4 | 9,000.00 | 4 | 8,000.00 | 8 | 17,000 |
| Cavan | 5 | 12,450.00 | 7 | 13,500.00 | 12 | 25,950 |
| Clare | 6 | 13,500.00 | 1 | 2,500.00 | 7 | 16,000 |
| Cork | 23 | 55,145.00 | 23 | 42,935.00 | 46 | 98,080 |
| Donegal | 11 | 26,846.00 | 5 | 8,300.00 | 16 | 35,146 |
| Dublin | 34 | 78,505.00 | 28 | 58,390.00 | 62 | 136,895 |
| Galway | 16 | 34,608.00 | 7 | 13,000.00 | 23 | 47,608 |
| Kerry | 11 | 26,500.00 | 5 | 10,000.00 | 16 | 36,500 |
| Kildare | 14 | 31,800.00 | 4 | 8,500.00 | 18 | 40,300 |
| Kilkenny | 5 | 12,500.00 | 2 | 4,973.00 | 7 | 17,473 |
| Laois | 11 | 24,506.00 | 2 | 4,500.00 | 13 | 29,006 |
| Leitrim | 3 | 7,500.00 | 1 | 2,500.00 | 4 | 10,000 |
| Limerick | 6 | 15,000.00 | 5 | 10,500.00 | 11 | 25,500 |
| Longford | 3 | 7,500.00 | 2 | 3,000.00 | 5 | 10,500 |
| Louth | 3 | 7,363.00 | 4 | 7,964.00 | 7 | 15,327 |
| Mayo | 7 | 16,000.00 | 3 | 6,500.00 | 10 | 22,500 |
| Meath | 4 | 10,000.00 | 5 | 8,500.00 | 9 | 18,500 |
| Monaghan | 2 | 5,000.00 | 6 | 12,000.00 | 8 | 17,000 |
| Offaly | 5 | 12,480.00 | 4 | 8,980.00 | 9 | 21,460 |
| Roscommon | 6 | 14,980.00 | 5 | 9,500.00 | 11 | 24,480 |
| Sligo | 4 | 9,000.00 | 4 | 8,683.25 | 8 | 17,683.25 |
| Tipperary | 18 | 42,508.00 | 7 | 12,900.00 | 25 | 55,408 |
| Waterford | 6 | 14,000.00 | 5 | 10,450.00 | 11 | 24,450 |
| Westmeath | 8 | 18,670.00 | 3 | 4,500.00 | 11 | 23,170 |
| Wexford | 12 | 29,398.50 | 8 | 14,900.00 | 20 | 44,298.50 |
| Wicklow | 10 | 23,000.00 | 4 | 6,000.00 | 14 | 29,000 |
| €557,759.50 | €301,475.25 | €859,234.75 |
Climate Action Plan
The implementation of the Climate Action Plan will create jobs, new economic opportunities and it will protect people and the planet. Climate Action Plan 2025 was approved by Government in April of 2025. Click here for Climate Action Plan 2025 or visit www.gov.ie/climateaction for more. Click here to subscribe to the Government of Ireland's Climate Action newsletter.