SANTA MONICA, CA, NOVEMBER 16, 2009 – Siemens, a
global leader in green technologies and sustainable infrastructure,
has agreed to fund a one-hour broadcast, education, and community
outreach project, Growing
Greener Schools, to be produced by the Media & Policy
Center Foundation and distributed to PBS stations nationwide for
broadcast during Earth Day week, 2010. 

The Media & Policy Center is dedicated to creating television
programs that provide community leaders with the knowledge, tools and
support to undertake locally-based projects designed to create greener,
more sustainable communities.

"Our programs are designed to move beyond passive viewing to create
the inspiration and the support for communities to act. Growing
Greener Schools will enable the next generation of environmental
stewards to learn about sustainability and to translate what they learn
into direct action that will make their own school buildings greener,"
said Harry Wiland, co-founder of the Center. "We are delighted that
Siemens has joined us as a partner and collaborator to help lead 55
million young students to a more sustainable curriculum in a more
sustainable building environment," added partner and co-founder, Dale
Bell. "While we grow greener schools, we nurture greener students."

Growing Greener Schools is being developed by the Media &
Policy Center at the request of PBS Distribution, which provides
programming to thought-leaders across the nation. The program will
focus on two critical aspects of creating green schools, the
structural elements of building or retrofitting and maintaining green
schools, and the ways and means of integrating sustainability into
school curricula and community-based service projects.

"We are delighted to sponsor a program like Growing Greener
Schools because it is a natural fit for Siemens in so many ways,"
said Jim Whaley, Vice President, Marketing & Communications for the
Siemens Corporation and President of the Siemens Foundation. "It
complements our successful educational initiative with The Discovery
Foundation on the We Can Change The World Challenge, where we encourage
K-12 pupils to devise environmental solutions for their communities. And
it's aligned with our ongoing outreach into America's cities and towns
through the annual Sustainable Community Awards, which rewards 'green
thinking' at the municipal level."

According to Bell and Wiland, partners in the Media & Policy
Center, the program will provide practical, real-world guidance using
existing effective programs. "Growing Greener Schools will
take viewers to more than two dozen schools across the nation: for
example, two suburban schools in Maryland, one which has been a
successful green school for years and one which is planning to go green
within two years. We'll also look at the planning necessary to build a
green school with a visit to the Denver Colorado Green School Planning
Committee. Together, these examples will provide students, parents and
community leaders with the basic information they need to grow their own
green schools."

The program will also examine the roles in which architects,
engineers, sustainability experts and local elected officials can play
in building green schools and turning older schools green.

"Environmental awareness and sustainability are core to Siemens'
overall business philosophy and an integral part of what we do for our
customers in the U.S. and globally. We strongly support early education
on the importance of what it means to act and live in a sustainable way.
After all, they will be the leaders of tomorrow. There is no better way
to reinforce a 'green curriculum' than making the schools themselves a
showcase for sustainability," said Alison Taylor, Chief Sustainability
Officer Americas, Siemens AG.