Parents and pupils were upbeat as The Green School's first day got under way last week.
Londoner Jeremy Brown, working in Bali and with two daughters at the school, said: 'This is an amazing project. I like the sustainability, that's all part of it of course but it's more what they're actually doing, the energy. They're writing their own agenda.'
Chris Majors, an environmental anthropologist writing a PhD at Perth's Murdoch University, said he wanted his seven-year-old son to become 'an open-minded thinker so he's able to ask questions and seek answers himself'.
'I believe the Steiner philosophy in general and specifically what this school is trying to create will maximise his potential. I have strong environmental opinions and I aspire, like many other parents, that my children will have a similar ethic.'
Jac Peeris, a Canadian-Sri Lankan, working in Bali with a son and daughter at the school, said her hope was that they would be able to help solve environmental and humanitarian issues.
'My hope and dream is that my children will come out at the age of 18 and be able to contribute and solve the problems that threaten the survival of all us.'
Ketut Susana Zanzan, who works in Bali's museum of art and has two children at the school, felt 'integrated' with the school because of its green approach. 'Also they want to create leaders for their generation. As a parent I feel so lucky and so proud of it.'