Environmental issues, above all the topic of climate change, have an increasingly great impact on political and social developments and decisions. Students are more and more affected by them, also in their everyday life. However, living in the information age it has become more difficult at the same time to differentiate between facts, "alternative facts" and fake news. The more complex a topic is, the more people tend to participate in populist discourses. We believe that for the younger generation, a cooperation on an international level is the best chance to secure a sustainable livlihood. That is why we regard it as indispensable to teach the students skills and competences which enable them to understand, analyse and possibly contribute to a solution of these problems also on an international scale. This includes providing them with solid knowlegde about the topic, choosing a scientific apporach to deal with ecological questions, reflecting with the students the consequences and scope of the individual acting and enabling them to thoroughly take part in an international discourse. Within the normal classes and curriculum it is impossible to develop the skills mentioned above, at least in an intensive way. Apart from that the required framework to work in an international and interdisciplinary way are not given in the regular classes. Our aim is to train "climate embassadors", i.e. multipliers, who diseminate the knowlegde aquired during this project and make students and teachers aware of environmentally related topics. It is the students who can best initiate sustainable processes in the schools and their environment and raise awareness. Thus, the guiding questions of this projects are: To what extent are our climate and the environment influenced by us? What are the consequences? What possibilities do we have to influence these processes in a positive way? How do we find followers? Who are reliable role models in the past and present? What can we learn from them? Firstly, the students will collect empirical data from their schools and local environment related to the ecological footprint and will identity problems. In the following they are supposed to recognize and deal with questions like the impact their individual acting has on the environment on a local and global scale and in what time ecological developments proceed. Moreover, they are supposed to deal with the role civil groups have on decisions and developments and what they can do to change things. Different forms of activism like civil disobedience and current and historical examples will play a role here. The students will deal with the question like who becomes a popular voice, if we can trust them and if they are reliable. Examples of those voices can be Alexander von Humboldt, Greta Thunberg, Sebatiao Salgado or politicians like Donald Trump. In this context they will also reflect on various forms of how to convey messages and publish information expecially to the younger generation. The final product is an app to measure the ecological footprint and enable students to take measures and influence our climate in a positive way. A competetition might serve as an incentive to get the app started.
Environmental issues, above all climate change, are increasingly influencing political, economic and scientific developments and decisions. Students are more and more affected by them also in their everyday life. At the same time, in the information age, under the presence of social and alternative media, it is becoming more difficult to distinguish between scientific, credible information, half-truths and so-called "fake news". The complexity of the issue tempts parts of society to participate in populist discourses. A scientific discussion with experts and the communication of facts in workshops and with the help of renowned institutes in each country contributed to getting a differentiated picture of the topic and being able to participate competently in the public discourse. Our conviction is that international cooperation is the only way for the upcoming generation to ensure the preservation of the foundations of life. Therefore, we consider it essential that they acquire competencies that enable them to engage in this cooperation. We see the learning of a (natural) scientific approach to ecological issues, the reflection of the scope of individual action as well as the ability to participate in international discourse in a differentiated way as decisive for their success. After completion of all mobilities, all partners confirmed the positive implementation of this goal. The intensive exchange between the students and schools should be emphasised, which has already led to further follow-up projects. Within the framework of regular subject teaching, it is not possible to develop the described competences in a sufficient way. Although some of the subject-related contents and competences are partly taken into account in the subject-related curricula, there is a lack of time resources for the necessary deepening in the subject-related lessons in view of the complexity. Furthermore, the school structures are not geared to the necessary interdisciplinary treatment of the subject complex. The analysis of water quality from the source to the estuary, the measures taken by a metropolis to improve water quality or to protect against floods are only a few examples of the project that illustrate that the pupils have learned the interrelationships of a topic and have dealt with it for two years. Within the framework of regular subject teaching, it is not possible to develop the described competences in a sufficient way. Although some of the subject-related contents and competences are partly taken into account in the subject-related curricula, there is a lack of time resources for the necessary deepening in the subject-related lessons in view of the complexity. Furthermore, the school structures are not geared to the necessary interdisciplinary treatment of the subject complex. The analysis of water quality from the source to the estuary, the measures taken by a metropolis to improve water quality or to protect against floods are only a few examples of the project that illustrate that the pupils have learned the interrelationships of a topic and have dealt with it for two years. Our aim was to open up spaces of experience through the project that serve to raise awareness and gain knowledge. These experiences were brought into the respective schools by the participating students and published through reports on the school homepage. The immediate and sustainable results for the respective schools should be emphasised: working groups were founded with the aim of making the ecological idea tangible across the schools and bringing about concrete change (e.g. setting up a water dispenser, planting projects, setting up a green classroom, participation in regional projects on the topic of sustainability). The joint development of an app to measure the ecological footprint deserves special mention. This app was elaborately created in terms of content and technology, is freely available to schools and other interested parties, was designed in a motivating way using elements of gamification and serves the process of ecological design of the schools.