Background
The Blue School concept was pioneered in 2007 by the International Rainwater Harvesting Alliance (IRHA) in 52 schools in 13 different countries in Asia, West Africa and Latin America and was further developed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). A Blue School goes beyond activities related to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH). It promotes a school garden 'as a practical place to demonstrate the relationship between food production and an efficient management of water; as well as a demonstrative place for watershed and land management practices' (SDC factsheet). The concept builds on good practices of the WASH in School (WINS) community of practice as well as other sectors.

The SDC-funded Swiss Water & Sanitation Consortium (SWSC), composed of eight Swiss NGOs¹, has implemented different WASH projects in 16 countries since 2011. With the aim of contributing to the know-how of the sector, SWSC members have piloted innovative approaches, exchanged experiences and documented good practices. This includes the Blue Schools concept, implemented in more than 200 schools in Bangladesh, Benin, Ethiopia, Madagascar, and Nepal.

Why working with the youth to achieve SDG 6?
In September 2015, the UN General Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: Transforming our world. The Agenda is commonly known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and includes 17 areas for action. SDG 6 Water Supply and Sanitation is an important one that contributes to the realisation of many other SDGs.

Children are the leaders of tomorrow and key change agents in their communities. As changing behaviour of children is easier than changing those of adults, building a new environmentally-friendly generation is a promising path to contribute to the achievement of the SDG 6.

The Blue School concept contributes to all SDG 6 targets.