Participants from around Northland gathered at Hukerenui School for an Enviroschools workshop for school caretakers and teachers.
More than 70 Northland schools and several kindergartens are in the Enviroschools programme, a school-wide approach to sustainability, introduced by Northland Regional Council in 2003.
"Twenty-five participants from as far afield as Kohukohu and Otamatea took part, exploring a range of sustainable practices, as well as sharing problems and solutions to school property management, Enviroschools co-ordinator Susan Karels said.
The workshop last week for school staff had been held at Hukerenui School because it's one of the programme's "star performers" for the way it uses its school environment sustainably for educational purposes.
Beekeeping, waste management, animal pest control, lavender farming, native bush areas and keeping animals at school were topics, along with ways caretakers could involve students in their work.
