“As long as the science is ignored, and the facts aren’t taken into account, and the situation is not treated as a crisis, then world and business leaders and politicians can of course continue to ignore the situation.” (Greta Thunberg). Speaking on the final day of the World Economic Forum, the 17-year old climate campaigner said leaders were not reacting to the crisis, and were not being held accountable for their inaction. The destruction of our environment and climate change, which is partly considered to be a result of it, has been a real threat for our future for a quite long time. Our children are going to be the victims of our ecological mismanagement and drastic weather changes. At the same time, they are considered to be one of the last generations which could actively prevent the disastrous consequences. But many children, students of all ages and young grown-ups will not be just victims any more. So we see regular peaceful demonstrations on Fridays since more than a year. Starting with Greta in Sweden 2018 the protests of young people take place all over the world still. Students across Europe and around the world have been walking out of school on Fridays to demand greater action on climate change. The protesters argue that governments everywhere are failing to adopt policies ambitious enough to avoid the worst effects of climate change. They say our current policymakers will be gone by the time the most serious climate impacts emerge, while their generation will have to deal with the consequences. The climate change impact might result in a world/environment where we could barely live in. Parts of our society are conscious about the situation and new attempts to rethink and revert the negative consequences have increased. Nevertheless, we are still at the beginning, and a long way is still ahead us. In this project our students will get actively involved with already existing environmental initiatives and establish their own projects guided by experts from the University of Cologne, Aachen, Warsaw and federal institutions in order to empower students. They will meet politicians, journalists and environmental activists to discuss problems, ideas and solutions. Conscience is a first step, the second one starts with actively doing something about it. In our project five European schools from Germany, Spain, Finland and Poland, with different environmental focus, will join efforts to impact the relationships towards the environment. The participants of this project are already interested in a change in order to tackle the environmental problems we are facing. Through scientific experiments, creation of their own sustainable textiles, policies of waste disposal and relationship towards the environment, our students will gain awareness for the environment and through different activities planed in regards to water use, textil industry, disposal of waste, they will learn to plan and develop new options in order to positively support, reuse, recycle and therefore influence and reduce our environmental footprint. But we aim not only to impact the lives of the pupils who directly participate in the activities or weekly meetings in their home schools through new programs or arrangements to the curricula, but to reach a wider community at local and -if possible- European level through social media, public discussions with experts, sponsoring of green areas and more. Our students will be then reproducers of this new lifestyle in order to protect the environment and help create a better world to live in. At best, the students will become ambassadors for a sustainable lifestyle for friends, families and other students at their schools and beyond.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we had to fundamentally change our project plan. The project was extended until August 2023. First teachers' meeting originally planed for Feburary 2021 couldn't take place on-site. That is why we decided to opt for a three-day teachers' training online (April 13th-15th 2021).The training activities were closely prepared and implemented with the collaboration of Petra Eickhoff and Stephan Geffers from "parto gUG" (http://www.part-o.de/). They provided materials and helped us to win new instructors for this project. During the teachers's training we worked on the following topics: Understanding the nature of science: What answers can we expect or not? We had a science talk: Future starts on my plate – Why do we need a shift in nutritional education and eating behavior? At the end we planned the next steps: work in the schools and organization of a first virtual meeting with students and teachers in October. Come together: Our planet - Our business! Nutrition and climate change (October 4th-6th 2022) We started with an introductory session within a virtual assembly room and were divided into various breakout rooms. During this session, they explore the significance of nutrition and cooking in the context of humanity. The primary objective is to plan and prepare a regional and popular meal. For this, the students had to produce photo stories and short videos. At the second day, students and teachers embark on a journey to explore and understand their individual carbon footprints. The day's task focuses on preparing a meal using climate-friendly cooking techniques. The participants documented their experiences again. These insights were shared on the project's Padlet, and a presentation was made in the assembly room to showcase the culinary creations. In the subsequent stage, students and teachers delve into the topic of "A Plastic Wave and a Plastic Ocean," gaining insights into the environmental impact of plastic pollution. At least, participants collaborate to create an online cookbook featuring all the climate-friendly recipes. How do we develop a campaign to make our school more sustainable? (April 27th- 29th) The program started with a presentation by a Greenpeace representative from Poland, who delivered an insightful lecture highlighting various effective campaigns conducted in Poland. Subsequently, participants collaboratively identified crucial milestones essential for initiating a school campaign. Following this, Students were tasked with developing at least one campaign tailored to their respective schools. On the concluding day, the student groups officially presented their own campaigns, including school management, steering group, and conference attendees. Waste Mangement and Recycling in Finland (September 25th - October 1) The students from all five schools started introducing their respective schools to one another. It was their first in-person encounter; therefore, a series of ice-breaking activities were done to facilitate acquaintanceship. All participating countries had previously conducted surveys regarding sustainable development and climate change. For this reason, the students had the opportunity to share and analyse their findings collectively. As part of their educational itinerary, an expert of material ecology and circular economy was invited to deliver a remote lecture to the assembled students via Zoom. Water: a scarce resource in Spain (November 18th - 24th 2023) and (February 5t - 11th 2023) The teachers visited oceanographic park, focusing especially on the problem of plastics in the oceans; Albufera natural park (animportant coastal wetland in Spain) and worked on the conservation of aquatic ecosystems; Devesa Natural Park, a coastal ecosystem, workshop related to the evaluation of biological water quality (Limné Foundation); Sagunto desalination plant; Tancat de la Pipa Natural Protection Area and the Climate change study center of Valencia Final meeting Cologne: How we creat a climate friendly lifestyle (April 21th - 27th) Students presented videos crafted by each school, showing their perspectives and initiatives related to climate change. To foster connections among our diverse group of students, we designed get-to-know-you games and icebreakers. Our educational journey continued with a visit to the Chocolate Museum in Cologne, where we delved into the principles of sustainability leadership, particularly in the context of the chocolate industry. Additionally, we had an engaging visit and discussion with A. Wolter, the district mayor of Cologne, at the City Hall. This provided us with valuable insights into local climate protection policies and initiatives. To promote a sustainable lifestyle, the students participated in an interactive upcycling workshop, where they learned how to repurpose materials into useful items. The highlight of our program was the presentation of our collective findings to parents and partners at the school.