About Globalfootprints - history and background

The 'global footprint' builds on the concept of the 'ecological footprint' developed by Wackernagel and Rees. This is a way of measuring the land area necessary to sustain current levels of resource consumption and waste discharge by a given population. In short it is a measure of human impact on the environment.

The original Global Footprints project, a collaboration between HEC and six other Development Education Centres (DECs)*, enabled schools to examine, measure and reduce their impact on the environment, but also explore a footprint which takes account of the social and global effects of human activity. The current website builds on this and enables school communities to learn more about issues that relate to our 'footprint' and how we can act to reduce our impact. This remains crucial in today's world and is one of HEC's major priorities. As with all HECs work another key aim was to provide children with the essential knowledge and skills to challenge and tackle poverty, injustice and environmental destruction both locally and globally and understand the links between countries of the North and those of the South.

*Deed, GlosDEC, Highland One World Centre, Global Education Centre, and Leeds DEC