Teachers and representatives of city administrations from Poland, Slovenia and Bulgaria are visiting Berlin to plan new climate protection measures at their schools and exchange experiences. The aim is to take more measures, particularly through the participation of pupils. Teachers and school representatives from a total of 6 municipalities and three countries are visiting Berlin. The delegation, which is networking with each other in Berlin and visiting numerous examples of climate action, is part of the “Visions 2045 – Schools as drivers for climate neutrality in cities” project.
Schools are major energy consumers in municipalities and cause highCO2 emissions. However, as places where future generations learn, schools play a special role when it comes to early learning and acceptance of climate protection measures. If people learn at a young age how important it is to act in an environmentally friendly way, this increases their awareness of the issue. However, self-efficacy plays an important role here. Learning about the climate crisis can quickly have a paralyzing effect if people are not offered opportunities to act. The project therefore networks the various schools with one another in order to create synergies and learn from one another. To this end, UfU is calling for more funding and support for schools. This is because adaptation to climate change and, if possible, the containment of global warming must be promoted in schools. The project plans and implements targeted projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in schools. We want to promote climate protection in schools in the partner countries and here locally and anchor it structurally in everyday school life.
The climate protection measures are based on ideas from the school community, which is why their participation is central. This means that pupils, teachers, the school and building administration, parents and also representatives of the city administration come together and jointly develop an internal vision for a climate-neutral school with concrete measures on the way there. The concept is used in the Berlin KlimaVisionen project and is now being taught during the study visits and expanded with the experiences of the participants. The 50 or so teachers from Poland, Slovenia and Bulgaria discuss methods and concepts such as the vision workshop with teachers and organizations here in Berlin and adapt them to their own context. They also experience the Frei Day concept at Schweizerhof Primary School, in which pupils plan and implement projects independently and thus experience problem-based, holistic learning. They will be inspired by game ideas for food appreciation from Restlos Glücklich and learn more about the potential of vegetarian school meals and climate- and energy-efficient kitchens from Malte Schmidthals from the IZT. The Peter Lenné School shows how it was able to implement effective water cycle and greening measures with the district administration and Kiezwald e.V. encourages mini-forests at schools and their neighborhoods. The study visits and the associated exchange support networking between the schools from the different countries. This is very valuable, because climate protection doesn’t just happen, it thrives on cooperation and joint action. In the next few weeks, vision workshops will be held at the partner schools and next year we will be able to report on the students’ actions.
