Castilla-La Mancha approves its II Environmental Education Action Plan 2026-2030

The Governing Council of Castilla-La Mancha, in its session on October 13, 2026, approved the II Action Plan 2026-2030 of the Environmental Education Strategy of Castilla-La Mancha. Horizon 2030. The agreement is published, together with the full text of the plan as an annex, in the Official Gazette of Castilla-La Mancha (DOCM) no. 206, of October 27, 2026, section III, starting on page 37,686, by means of the Resolution of 10/20/2026, from the General Secretariat of the Department of Sustainable Development, signed by María del Carmen Martín Sánchez (official reference: 2026/7685).

Five objectives and 55 measures to culminate the Strategy

The plan provides continuity to the first Action Plan, conceived for the 2020-2025 period following the approval of the Strategy by agreement of the Governing Council on June 2, 2020. Once that first cycle was completed, the Department considered a review process necessary to reorient the Strategy until 2030 while keeping its principles and objectives intact.

The result is 55 measures articulated around the five objectives and the twelve strategic lines already in existence, with the involvement of administrations, entities, companies, educational centers, media, and citizens. The five objectives are:

• Integrate environmental education into regional policies, with preferential attention to education, environment, and sustainability, and incorporate a gender perspective.
• Modify learning environments toward a transformative education, based on innovation and the reduction of gaps.
• Strengthen the educational capacities of the educational, professional, and other strategic sectors.
• Empower and mobilize the youth population.
• Accelerate sustainable solutions at the local level, reinforcing alliances and territorial networks.

The document also identifies two transversal elements that must drive the execution of actions across all objectives: strategic communication and training.

Three stages and alignment with other regional strategies

Execution is organized into three consecutive phases: a first phase of impulse and consolidation (2026-2027), a second of expansion and articulation (2028-2029), and a third of consolidation and final evaluation (2030). The plan incorporates a system of indicators for monitoring and the preparation of periodic reports on the Strategy in a visual and accessible format.

The design adapts the Strategy to new national and international trends and seeks to align with other planning instruments approved subsequently, in particular the Environmental Education Action Plan for Sustainability and the regional strategies for Circular Economy and Agenda 2030. The text is signed by the Environmental Planning and Promotion Service of the General Directorate for Circular Economy and Agenda 2030, dated January 2026.

Schools, local entities, and rural areas

A significant portion of the measures is directed toward educational centers: networking of schools with sustainability projects, programs adapted to different stages, renaturalization of courtyards and gardens as “living classrooms,” and an accreditable training itinerary in environmental education for teaching staff.

At the local level, the plan provides for itinerant programs for municipalities with high geographical dispersion or limited educational offerings, prioritizing areas at risk of depopulation, as well as guidance and training for local entities to design and evaluate their own initiatives. Furthermore, the Castilla-La Mancha Environmental Education Facilities Network, the Regional Environmental Education Commission, the annual regional meeting, and exchange with other communities through CENEAM are reinforced.

A two-phase participatory process

The preparation of the plan included an evaluation of the first Action Plan and a proposal of actions for the new period. The participatory process was structured in two phases: a first phase open to the general public and a second developed through expert groups from the main sectors involved.

The text also contemplates the creation of a map of environmental education agents with a cartographic viewer, a periodic electronic newsletter, awareness campaigns, and training actions aimed at media professionals to combat misinformation.

Over the next five years, the new plan conditions the region’s educational programs, the activity of school centers, and the environmental policies of municipalities, by establishing the framework to which calls for proposals, resources, and public-private collaboration in environmental education must adjust until 2030.

Source: Official Gazette of Castilla-La Mancha (DOCM), no. 206, October 27, 2026, section III, page 37,686 (official reference: 2026/7685).