"Why aren't the roads always closed when we go to school?" - “Why are there still so many cars on the roads even though it's bad for the climate?” - "Who actually decides whether trees are planted or cut down in our neighbourhood?"
Children's questions like these are at the heart of the "Social-ecological education for sustainable development in primary school science lessons" project run by Humboldt-Universit?t zu Berlin (HU) and the University of Kassel. Together with students, teachers and extracurricular partners, the research team is developing educational units for primary schools and extracurricular learning centres. The aim is to integrate sustainability education in the context of biodiversity, climate protection and mobility into teaching practice. Five primary schools in Berlin and Brandenburg are taking part in the project. The pupils analyse political and administrative structures (who decides on the design of public spaces) and weigh up solutions to complex problems (redensification of biodiversity hotspots due to housing shortages) by putting themselves in different roles. From the jointly developed results, they derive requests and recommendations for political actors.
Project runs until June 2026
Prof Dr Bernd Overwien and Jurik Stiller from the Department of Sachunterricht und seine Didaktik at the HU are supporting the teams. "Our educational units have been tested and improved in three loops and we are now preparing to publish them as freely accessible educational materials for student teachers and teaching staff," they explain.
The project, which was launched in 2024, will run until June 2026 and is funded by the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU). It will conclude on 16 and 17 March 2026 with a transfer conference at the HU, where the findings and materials from the project will be presented to representatives of school practice.