In February 2020 International House World Organisation (IHWO) added environmental sustainability to its corporate strategy and since then have started various projects and initiatives.

All of these seek to safeguard our planet and minimise the negative impacts we have on our environment. Our ambition is that the International House network of schools will lead the way in the ELT industry and make a real difference for the future of our precious planet.  

The 40,000 km walk challenge

We are launching the 40,000 walk challenge on 1^st October 2021.

We are challenging the staff and students of IH schools around the world to walk a combined 40,000km through October, November and December. This is for short every-day journeys instead of taking the car. We want to save harmful CO2 emissions and change peoples’ habits.  

40,000 km is the circumference of the earth. We want the whole IH community to walk around the earth by the end of the year, giving it a metaphorical hug.

How are IH schools taking part? 

We are encouraging staff and students in all IH schools around the world to challenge each other and keep a total of how many kilometres they are walking.

For extra motivation, and to provide academic material to support students’ learning, schools are being encouraged to “virtually” walk to each other, or “virtually meet” at a central point of interest. This creates many opportunities to engage with students and enrich the curriculum with environmental topics

The central IHWO team will be completing a “virtual” walk around the North Pole on the frozen Arctic Ocean, highlighting the environmental issues of the melting ice cap and the loss of habitat for polar bears and other rare arctic flora and fauna.   

We are looking forward to hearing how other teams are embracing this challenge!

The 40,000km totaliser

IHWO will be regularly updating a totaliser of all the kilometres being walked, hoping to reach our target by 31 December 2021.

Quote from Lucy Horsefield – Managing Director of International House World Organisation

As a network of language schools that teaches over 200,000 students a year, we know we are in a position to make a positive impact. Our 40,000km walk challenge is a fun way to encourage the International House community to think about how they can change their daily habits and reduce harmful CO2 emissions. This project is part of an ongoing commitment International House World has made to raise the issue of environmental sustainability throughout our network and within the language teaching industry as a whole.