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10/10/2024 | Reports from the community

Socio-ecological education at elementary school: Kick-off conference at the University of Kassel

On October 7 and 8, 2024, the kick-off conference of the project "Social-ecological education for sustainable development in elementary school subject lessons" (polBNE SU), which is funded by the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU), took place at the University of Kassel. The event was jointly organized by the Department of Didactics of Civic Education at the University of Kassel and the Department of Didactics of Sachunterricht at Humboldt-Universität (HU) zu Berlin.

Primary school children at the reading of "Die Klimaschweine" with author Julia Neuhaus.Image: Jurik Stiller (HU Berlin)
A highlight of the conference: Primary school children at the reading of "The Climate Pigs" with author Julia Neuhaus.

Participants from Berlin, Kassel and various cities and municipalities in Hesse took part in the conference. Their schools will act as school practice sites for the project until June 2026, while their extracurricular learning sites will be a valuable source for the development of subject-specific educational materials. The students' expertise is also a central building block for the development of contemporary, child-friendly approaches in the field of sustainability education.

During the conference, participants were given the opportunity to take an in-depth look at the basic requirements of civic education and socio-ecological education for sustainable development. A keynote speech also offered valuable insights into how children deal with so-called "climate feelings". In short presentations, the project members reported on previous experiences and progress in relation to the goals pursued in the project. A particular highlight was the interactive reading of the children's book "The Climate Pigs" with author Julia Neuhaus, followed by an ideas workshop for a carbon-neutral future together with a second primary school class from the Dorothea Viehmann School in Kassel.

The kick-off conference was characterized by the variety of different perspectives that enriched the discussions. Teachers, student teachers, subject didactics experts and representatives from the school and education administration contributed significantly to the productive debates with their different points of view.

The first practical trials of the project will begin in the coming winter semester, in which children's perspectives on sustainability in rural and urban living spaces will be examined. The first teaching concepts will be developed on this basis. A particular highlight is the cooperation in the subject of general studies, in which students from Berlin and Kassel can co-constructively develop and refine their own approaches to sustainability education.